All eyes on newly blue Montana, top Democrat says
By GINNY MERRIAM of the Missoulian
The national popularity of Gov. Brian Schweitzer and the upsurge of Democrats in office in Montana may give the state a serious political role in the next presidential election, Montana Democratic Party Chairman Dennis McDonald said Thursday in Missoula.
“The whole country is watching what's going on here in Montana,” he told an audience brought together by the Missoula Organization of Realtors. “We've become a blue state.”
People watched with “fascination and wonderment” as Democrats won back the governor's office - for the first time since 1988 - and control of the state Senate last fall.
“Brian's obviously a big part of that,” he said.
At a recent conference in Phoenix where Schweitzer was scheduled to speak, a delayed plane made the governor late. But people waited, just to meet him and talk to him, McDonald said.
That kind of national attention will continue into the presidential primaries in 2008.
“I have to tell you, without being too arrogant, I think Montana's influence is going to be significant,” he said.
Montana's participation in a proposed Western states primary, held earlier than the state's usual June election, could also boost its standing on the political map.
“From my standpoint, I'm just hopeful,” McDonald said. “It would be nice to be a player.”
At the same time, longtime Montana Republican Sen. Conrad Burns' star appears to be falling in the scandal involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Burns' current tour of Montana may be a move to rebuild his support, McDonald said.
“I don't think he'll run,” he said. “If you just want speculation, my idea is they've told him to come out here and get his numbers up, or they won't support him.”
Polls testing support for challenges by state Senate President Jon Tester and Montana Auditor John Morrison show Tester and Burns dead even at 45 percent each, and a Morrison-Burns race gives Morrison 43 percent and Burns 45 percent, a poor showing for a three-term incumbent, McDonald said.
“Obviously, I'm way partisan,” he said. “But however you view it, we've got to do something about this culture of corruption in Washington. It's an embarrassment for Montanans to have their senator named among the 13 most corrupt in Washington. ... We have a long history of sending good people to Washington.”
Montana Democrats elected McDonald state party chairman in July. A Sweet Grass County rancher and president of the Montana Cattlemen's Association, he and his family raise and train registered quarter horses, cutting horses and working cow horses and run 750 head of Angus and Brangus cattle at their ranch near Melville. He practiced law full-time in California for 20 years and has ties to the Bitterroot Valley, where his brother used to ranch.
Like Schweitzer, McDonald is serving to reunite the words “Democrat” and “agriculture.”
“It's been over 20 years since we've had a governor who knew how to pull a calf or sew up a prolapse,” he said.
Schweitzer's emphasis on energy development could revitalize some of Montana's small towns, especially those hard hit by the departure of railroads and decline of agriculture, he said. Wind energy development holds promise for the Judith Basin and coal energy for the area north of Miles City.
Harlowton, a town once so prominent that its hotel was the site of the Governor's Inaugural Ball in 1910, has been hurt severely by today's economies, he said. Two years ago, many of the houses were for sale, and half the businesses were boarded up. Where there were once two agricultural equipment dealers, now the town has none. But today, land values are rising, and all the rentals are full.
“What's changed there is wind development,” McDonald said.
The state still has economic challenges, he said, even in areas that are booming with growth. The key issue facing developers and real estate agents in areas such as Missoula is keeping housing affordable for working people.
It's a complicated challenge, he told the audience of about two dozen, but, “That's an issue that's really on your plate.”
Montanans' purchasing power is shrinking, as the rate of growth in wages lags behind the rate of inflation. That's an increasing concern as growth pushes land prices higher.
“Every time I come over here, it's shocking, the growth,” he said.
It's encouraging for the economic activity it brings, but it also changes quality of life, he said. In the 1970s, there was easy public access up and down the Bitterroot River, where McDonald and his brother hunted ducks. Now, he worries about access to the Yellowstone River as the land along it between Livingston and Billings gets cut up for development.
“There's strong market forces that undermine the best-laid plans,” he said.
Until agriculture's strength is renewed, the pressure to subdivide will continue to be immense, he said.
McDonald got some flak from his audience members about the divide between eastern and western Montana. The growing side of the state needs different help besides agriculture and energy development, some said.
“Tell the governor we don't want a gold mine up the Blackfoot, where we've worked so hard,” one audience member said.
“Though I am very much in favor of developing our resources when we can do it in an environmentally appropriate manner, I don't think that development fit,” McDonald said.
Asked about a sales tax, McDonald said it's a dead issue.
“Gov. Schweitzer's position is the people have spoken on that issue, twice in recent history,” he said, “and that's the lay of the land.”
5:11:59 PM
|
|
