Free Republic

Remember last April when Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., clumsily described economically struggling small towners as "cling"ing to guns, God, and bigotry? Hank Williams Jr., does. In a new radio spot airing in Montana, Williams says: "When Barack Obama said folks like you and me were bitter, and clinging to religion, I knew he just doesn't understand small town America," says Williams, adding: "We love our God, and we love our guns, 'specially handed down from our grandfathers. And we resent it when liberals like Obama question our way of life. Don't be bitter, vote McCain." One has to say: Montana?...

Sen. Barack Obama leads Sen. John McCain in CNN's latest Electoral College estimates. 1 of 2 George W. Bush won Montana by 20 points in his re-election victory four years ago. But it seems times have changed in the state. CNN's new Electoral College map, updated Sunday morning, moves Montana from "leaning John McCain" to "tossup." The move is partially based on the new CNN poll of polls in Montana, compiled Friday, which suggests that McCain has a 1-point lead over his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, 46 percent to 45 percent. Nine percent of voters are undecided. "The fact that...

A new poll shows that Democrat Barack Obama could be edging ahead of Republican John McCain in Montana. Obama is at 44 percent and John McCain is at 40 percent in the Montana State University-Billings poll released Thursday. The poll reverses others from earlier in the fall that showed McCain with a lead in the state. The poll of 403 Montanans was conducted from Thursday though Monday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points. Both Obama and McCain did a pretty good job in the poll of holding their party's base, but Obama held...

Montana’s former Gov. Judy Martz, a Republican who served from 2001 to 2005, said her tenure in politics offers unique insight into Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Here’s what Martz learned: The women’s movement is hypocritical, Martz said, because it doesn’t celebrate all women, only those who align themselves with it. Too often the press ignores policy, favoring gaffes instead. Politics is tough on families. And although the electorate continually asks for authenticity, it seems to reward the phonies. The connection between Martz and Palin is less direct than intuitive. The two have never met. Yet, like Palin, Martz...

The state Republican Party this week challenged the eligibility of 6,000 registered Montana voters in seven counties historically considered Democratic strongholds. More than half of the people challenged statewide live, or previously lived, in Missoula County. Montanans who are registered to vote in Missoula, Butte-Silver Bow, Lewis and Clark, Deerlodge, Glacier or Hill counties and who filled out a change-of-address card with the U.S. Postal Service in the past 18 months will likely have to verify their correct place of residence before the Nov. 4 election. * Ignoring the situation, at the very worst, could disqualify a person's ballot. “The...

Sen. Max Baucus and his wife, Wanda, may be splitting after 25 years... Baucus, a Democrat who is running for his sixth six-year term this fall... "In 25 years of spirited marriage, it is natural for differences of opinion to arise..."

A new poll of Montana voters shows that Republican John McCain holds a solid lead in over rival Barack Obama in the race for president, and Ron Paul could be a factor in the race. The CNN-Time Opinion Research poll shows McCain leading Obama among likely voters by 54% to 43%. But, if third-party candidates are included in the question then McCain's lead slips. Likely voters pick McCain over Obama by 49% to 40%, with 7% throwing their support behind Paul.

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama's hopes for carrying Montana have diminished over the past few months, and Montanans say it comes down to one word: guns. "In Montana, we like our guns. We like big guns. We like little guns. We like shotguns. We like pistols. Most of us own two or three guns. Gun control is hitting what you shoot at," the state's Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer told the New York Times in April. When asked why he thought the Democratic nominee would not win his state, he replied, "guns."

After his strange speech in Philadelphia, Gov. Brian Schweitzer may have just hand-delivered an issue, wrapped in red ribbon on a silver platter, to his Republican opponent and his critics. The Democratic governor has seemingly been coasting to an easy re-election victory over Republican Roy Brown ... Schweitzer's meteoric rise may have been slowed down a tad last week. That's when reports surfaced of his odd speech July 14 to a national trial lawyers' convention in Philadelphia in July. "And the advantage is, you know, when you've got a governor on your side, whoa!" Schweitzer says in the speech. "You...

Schweitzer 'joke' may have grain of truth By JENNIFER McKEE Gazette State Bureau UPDATE 3:30 p.m. : HELENA - Gov. Brian Schweitzer said this week he was "just joking" this summer when he suggested he tampered with the hotly-contested 2006 Senate election. However, at least one Big Horn County observer was escorted out of a Crow Indian polling place that election night, (snip) Schweitzer has been criticized this week for remarks he made to a lawyer’s group in Philadelphia this July. In the remarks, Schweitzer insinuates that he tampered with election to secure a victory for Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon...

HELENA – Republican Ron Paul does not want to be on the Montana ballot as the Constitution Party presidential candidate, but state election officials said Thursday it may be too late to remove his name. Paul, in a letter to the secretary of state, said his name was nominated by the Constitution Party of Montana without his permission. The secretary of state's office said there does not appear to be a provision to remove Paul's name at this point. At least some counties have started printing ballots, officials said. "We have received the letter, and we are looking at the...

Gov. Schweitzer boasted in a speech in Philadelphia in July that he tampered with the 2006 U.S. Senate election in Montana to help Democrat Jon Tester win. Bozeman Republican activist Tamara Hall found the speech on the Internet and filed a complaint accusing the governor of vote-tampering in the race in which Tester narrowly unseated Republican incumbent Conrad Burns. She submitted a citizen's complaint against the Democratic governor this week with U.S. Attorney Bill Mercer and two state officials, Attorney General Mike McGrath and Secretary of State Brad Johnson. Hall said Schweitzer boasted in the speech that "he designed a...

A poll released Tuesday by Rasmussen Reports has John McCain up 11 points over Barack Obama, 53 percent to 42 percent, compared to the one point advantage he held in a similar poll conducted at the end of July. Other findings: McCain is now viewed favorably by 60% of Montana voters, little changed from 59% in July. However, the number with a Very Favorable opinion of the Republican hopeful jumped from 26% in July to 35% today. Obama earns positive reviews from 50% of Montana voters, down slightly from 53% in July. Sarah Palin is viewed favorably by 59% of...

John McCain has opened a double digit lead over Barack Obama in Montana. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the Treasure State finds McCain leading by eleven, 53% to 42%

Obama in Billings Wednesday Presidential candidate Barack Obama will be in Billings next Wednesday on his way to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, state Democratic Party officials confirmed Thursday. The trip will mark Obama’s fifth trip to the state during the campaign this year, an unprecedented amount of attention for a state with less than a million people and only three electoral votes. Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain has not yet visited the state. Art Noonan, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party, said no details of Obama’s Montana visit are yet available. He said he didn’t know if...

When Montana's governor, Brian Schweitzer, launched his campaign for re-election this summer he chose to be pictured on a horse lassooing a calf, and in silhouette against a barn door, presumably after a long hard day on the ranch. What was not mentioned was the word Democrat - a party affiliation that in some parts of the west still conjures up associations with gay marriage, gun control and abortion. Those sensibilities could be in for a shake-up as Barack Obama launches the Democrats' most aggressive drive for years for votes from the Rocky Mountain west. The strategy unrolling now across...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIxK9HWideQ&feature=user

Barack Obama is leading John McCain by five percentage points in Montana. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state shows Obama attracting 48% of the vote while McCain earns 43%. In April, the numbers were reversed with McCain leading 48% to 43%. That was before Obama clinched the Democratic nomination and defeated Hillary Clinton by fifteen points in Montana. Fifty percent (50%) of Montana Democrats want Clinton named as Obama’s running mate. Just 29% of all Montana voters would like to see Clinton as the Vice Presidential nominee. Against McCain, Obama leads among voters under 50, including a...

For the last 44 years, Kelleher has run for office 16 times and lost 15. His only taste of victory came in 1971, when he was elected a delegate to Montana’s Constitutional Convention. There, he helped replace the state’s century-old territorial constitution with one of the most progressive governing documents in the nation. Kelleher’s political passion then, as now, is unique - and largely unpopular: He wants to replace the U.S. Senate, House and presidency with a parliament. Under a parliamentary system, citizens vote for parties, not individual candidates. The party with the most votes selects a prime minister, who...

Bob Kelleher, a former Green who sued the Montana University System for excluding the Green and Libertarian candidates from a gubernatorial debate in 2004, scored an upset victory in the Montana GOP primary race for U.S. Senate. Kelleher, who still maintains his Green beliefs, will be the Republican nominee versus Democratic incumbent Max Baucus. The Montana Green Party does not currently have ballot access. The theme of Kelleher’s campaign was “no more tax cuts until hunger, health, HRDC, and job needs are satisfied and social security, Medicare and Medicaid funds are secure.” Ballot Access News reports that Kelleher apparently raised...