'Sleepless in Montana' - if you're GOP, that is

[janedrake]

Quote:Young, Liberal and Open to Big Government
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/11/us/pol...wanted=all

(Predictably, Republican lawmakers in Montana are now trying to institutionalize voter suppression.)

[pappy]

As the Republicans continue to restrict voting rather than expand their base they may delay their demise but I don't think they can survive with such a strategy. It is typical corporate short term thinking about a long term problem. Like a CEO looks at the next quarterly or yearly statement the Republican politicians are thinking about the next election and not about the product they produce or their base of support.

Besides ignoring the real problems of the party, and the country for that matter, their actions also serve to energize their Democratic opposition.

[sandnsea]

Actually this article isn't remotely accurate. Montana is an old, old union state going back to the mining days and then picking up new union voters when the railroad crossed the hiline. Silver Bow & Deer Lodge Counties (Butte & Anaconda) have only support Eisenhower & Coolidge, respectively. When I lived there the Governor, Senators & both House Representatives (yes there used to be two) were all Democrats. Also, Bozeman has become as liberal as Missoula, maybe more so. Don't forget, Jeanette Rankin was a Republican from Missoula. The politics in Montana aren't straightforward like in some parts of the country. These are also not the kind of liberals you will find in San Francisco, in fact a lot of them will disdain Californians as a whole and not know the difference between Orange County Republicans and Marin Liberals. They're *all* nimbys who want to change everything, as far as native Montanans are concerned. A big part of the reason they started voting Republican is that they thought some of the snooty Californians were Democrats. I suspect they've figured out that they're Republicans and gone back to their core Democratic roots. These voters joining the traditional union, indian and environmental coalitions are enough to shift the vote back where it was for decades.