yrs trly, lede in every Sunday paper

[bigsky]

http://m.missoulian.com/news/local/montana-remains-a-politically-divided-state/article_7cfbffa6-3b92-11e4-bc41-77dd4eed94e6.html?mobile_touch=true (Mobil link)

http://m.helenair.com/news/local/is-montana-a-red-or-blue-state-lots-of-both/article_30cf7565-9967-5165-bb33-e54fa5e5e29c.html?mobile_touch=true


http://m.ravallirepublic.com/news/local/article_a9694026-3b92-11e4-88f0-3b2a079caeb6.html?mobile_touch=true


my familiarity with jelly donuts is apparent A purple state or blue vs red turnout? My opinion as a moderate R is that no, there aren't more I's or "purples" and like everywhere else the divide is getting worse

[KeithKSR]

I agree, the divide is becoming more and more clear.

[CitizenBBN]

Hard to compromise when the two views of the nature of this nation and its goals are fundamentally incompatible.

You either believe "social justice" is more important than individual liberty or you believe liberty is more important than economic measures of equality. It's either equality of opportunity with everyone being responsible for their outcomes or equality of outcome and we enforce it with the force of the State.

those are fundamentally incompatible views, and we've gone back and forth battling the two for 80 years until now there isn't any more room in the middle. Those who believe in liberty first and foremost have seen so much of it taken they are saying "no more", and there is no way to pursue the social agenda without carving further into liberty. Instant deadlock.

[bigsky]

the "political scientist" in the article who has a PhD and teaches at MSU, says something about "growing number of independents". but she didn't point to a single I running or elected in the state. Because there really aren't any. some constitutionalists posing as libertarians out on the far right fringe maybe.

[MTcatfan]

IMO, not sure anyone actually runs as an Independent, but there are lots of voters that I think are a lot more independent, and will vote for either party depending on their relationship with the candidate or the issue they feel is most important in the race. I don't know if that is what she meant, but all I know is in my area there is no change, this is a fairly Republican area, though we have regularly sent a Democrat to the state house, as our Rep that just termed out was a Democrat, and the race to replace him has a pretty prominent person as a Democrat that definitely could win.

That race is a bummer to me because I know both guys and both guys support and have expertise in areas that are near and dear to my heart, but where one is a big supporter of one of my passions, the other doesn't have much experience there, and likewise on another issue near and dear to my heart the other candidate is a big supporter while the other one has very little experience in that area. So I am really, really, really, really, really torn who to vote for...

[suncat05]

I can see where you'd be torn between which one to vote for in that circumstance. Both have something to offer that you're interested in.
On the other hand, you don't have the situation like we do here in Florida for the governor's race. Neither is a good candidate. One cannot make up his mind if he's a Republican, Democrat, or Independent. The other guy is an unindicted crook who wouldn't answer questions in a deposition by pleading the 5th numerous times and whose Mother appeared in campaign advertisements with the simple message that "he's a good boy!"

So for you there's perhaps two good choices, and the quandry is which one is the best choice, in your mind.
For us down here the choice simply comes down to which one is the lesser of two true evils.

[MTcatfan]

I also hate those "lesser of two evils" votes...While I get torn, having two good choices is quite a quaint thing in politics today.