A few notes from a visit to my home state of Montana

[swag]

The DU Montanans are better equipped than I to track goings on in their state (formerly my own), so I'll only point out a few trivial impressions of my own from this visit to family members (which is now ending as I prepare to motor to the airport):

That Dixie Chicks song is playing almost constantly on country stations in towns both large and small.

Conrad Burns, struggling to squeeze out of Jack Abramoff's back pocket, is burning through his $3 million in cash on hand with big media buys. Conrad is on the radio and on TV everywhere, bellowing his platitudes about keeping America strong, keeping borders safe (from those darned Mexicans), etc. Most people I have talked to have tuned the jackass out.

Meanwhile, Burns' Republican opponent Bob Keenan, operating on a shoestring of $100,000 is getting lots of free media and seems to be holding the hopes of the state GOP to unseat the sleazy Burns in the June primary.

Montanans seem deeply ashamed of Conrad Burns.

On the Democratic side, Morrison is in big trouble not because of the extramarital affair that he concealed, but because of the perceived conflict of interest his office (State Auditor) had in pursuing Morrison's paramour's husband in a securities fraud case, and because of the way Morrison has handled the whole mess.

I have been pleasantly surprised to see so many Jon Tester bumper stickers in places like Havre. I would be delighted to see Jon Tester emerge from the June primary as the Democratic candidate for US Senate, and I think Montana would be well served by this man as their Senator.

People are completely fed up with the war and with Bush. Bush has zero credibility with his former supporters and it is impacting the perceptions of the Republican party among these folks. Two former Bush supporters I know aren't flipping Democrat, but they have sworn off voting forever. I'll certainly accept their self-disenfranchisement over their continued Republican support. Purple Montana may veer blue again with the help of former Republicans like these.

Finally, it has been a pleasant jolt to see the anti-Bush cartoons, letters, and opinion pieces in papers like the formerly jingoistic Havre Daily News.

That's it. I did most of my growing up in these parts and lived through the area's blind support of Reaganism and its clinging to Rush-style rhetoric and "reasoning." So it's refreshing to come back for once and see the anger in people who now understand how severely they have been betrayed.

Best wishes to all Montanans. I had a good visit. Certainly preferable to the time I had here in November, 2004.

[RufusEarl]

1. Thanks for the update from Montana!

Hope springs eternal that Dem's will prevail in November, and it would be great to see Montana go blue.

[Divernan]

2. Hear any comments on /opinions of Cheney while you were there?

nt

[swag]

5. No, everybody was pretty focused on Our Figurehead.

[PsN2Wind]

3. Having close family there

I'd be surprised to ever see Havre turn blue. Did you go to the Spike and ask the farmers, drinking on their CRP checks, how they felt?

[swag]

4. I use the Spike's drive-thru, myself,

so there's not much opportunity to talk.