Reply #6: I am born and bred in Montana [View All]

[LuminousX]

and thus I have the belief that Montana is unlike any other place when it comes to politics. Most people don't even think about national politics. When you live in a state where you can easily drive a hundred miles before seeing another car (only a slight exaggeration, that 100 miles would probably have to be between the hours of 11pm and 3am) most of the concerns are local.

Montana has been good at sending both Democrats and Republicans to Congress. When Democratic Presidential nominees campaign, they rarely campaign on issues that concern Montanans. Let's face it, the wants, needs, and desires of a state that doesn't even have the population of Chicago just don't make it on the platform. So Montanan's gravitate to which party is giving the best rhetoric for a small population state. Less government is a good thing when it seems like the Federal gov't owns most of the state (not true, but I grew up on Canyon Ferry Lake and everywhere I went the land was either BLM, Bureau of Reclamation, or Forest Service). Of course, what Montanan's sometimes forget is the Federal government is one of the largest employers in the state and without it, unemployment would be even worse.

I love Montana. I will return to Montana. And I will continue to vote Democratic and hopefully, one day, the National Party will make an effort to connect to the small population states that don't suffer the 'large city' problems that it likes to address.