Campaign 2012

Candidates need to address east, west concerns of Montana

Posted: Feb 13, 2012 11:48 AM by Jill Valley - KPAX
Updated: Feb 13, 2012 12:09 PM

Montana's 2012 election has been called the "triple crown," with the governor's mansion, a U.S. Senate seat, and the U.S. House seat all up for grabs.

If you cut Montana in half, you'd find two large areas focused on their own unique lifestyles and industries. The challenge for candidates running for statewide office is to figure out how to appeal to voters on both sides of the state, in the cities and on the ranches as well as everyplace in between.

Former U.S. Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) has fought that battle and knows how to win and lose, and understand that it's not easy to make everyone happy on Election Day.

Burns noted, "Montana is a huge state so every city and every county has its own culture and ideas, and you have to respect that."

There's tourism, small businesses and natural resource interests in the western part of the state, with agriculture, coal, oil and gas interests in the east.

Former U.S. Representative Pat Williams (D-MT) explained, "It's very different politically. Western Montana has throughout history been sort of a progressive, populous sort of mountain liberal, western liberal [area]. The 40 counties in eastern Montana have been mostly small...[and] some isolation has lent itself to conservatism."

The nine-term Congressman says one trick is to focus on the masses: "Well if you're going to pick cherries, go to the cherry tree, if you're going to go pick votes, go where the votes are - overwhelmingly in seven cities. So every candidate spends most, but not all [their time] in those cities."

Burns said, "I think Missoula is very important to any statewide race. It's tough to be a Republican out there, but you get more votes than you think you can."

State Democratic Party chairman Ted Dick is pretty confident about what he sees are the Democratic strongholds in the state: "Some places that are really strong, in particular here in Missoula [is] a good strong place for Democrats. [As is] Butte Silver Bow, Great Falls [and] Helena."

But not so fast, says GOP state party leader Will Deschamps, who remarked, "Missoula County is one we're going to watch. That's where a lot of the liberal votes come from, the urban areas. Those in Missoula feel they represent Montana, but they don't. There are other voters out there who live in the rural areas who don't necessary have the same beliefs of thoughts on how things should run."