Supporters optimistic that Montana is Clinton Country

By DANIEL PERSON Chronicle Staff Writer

BILLINGS - In this eastern Montana city, Hillary Clinton supporters are skeptical of the polls and geography that some say suggest Montana is Barack Obama country.

More than 1,000 supporters turned out to the Montana Pavilion at MetraPark to cheer on the Democratic presidential candidate, eight days before Montanans go to the polls for the last primary of the year, ending an epic bout between Clinton and Obama for the party’s nomination.

It marked her second visit to Montana.

A recent Lee State Bureau poll showed Obama was leading Clinton among likely voters, and of the four states that border the state, three have gone for Obama, with one, South Dakota, yet to vote.

But Kyle Gray, a Billings lawyer who fired up the crowd before Clinton arrived for her speech, said none of that could be relied upon to predict who the winner would be next

Tuesday. The poll, she said, seemed disproportionately weighted in Missoula, a city she conceded was likely to go for Obama. Also, all of the states bordering Montana that have voted n Idaho, North Dakota and Wyoming - held caucuses, a less-democratic process that can skew the electorate’s will, she said.

“Our primary’s going to be much, much different,” she said. “We really think we can win Montana and South Dakota.”

As an example of the problem with caucuses, she noted Nebraska. That state held both a caucus and a primary, she said. While in the caucus Obama won by 35 points, in the primary he won by only two points, Gray said.

Also, the Clinton campaign has been campaigning hard in Montana. Clinton’s visit comes just three days after her husband spoke to crowds in Bozeman, Lewistown and Miles City. Several advisors have also traveled the state.

Bill Kennedy, a Yellowstone County commissioner who introduced Clinton, said Clinton’s track record showed she had what it takes to win Montana.

“You have to look at Hillary Clinton. She’s a fighter,” he said. “For the last month or so, people were telling her to drop out. The voters have spoken. It’s a tight race.”

Indeed, Clinton’s standing in not just Montana but in the presidential primary as a whole was a rallying point over the evening. A “count every vote” chant broke out as people awaited the candidate’s arrival, a reference to Florida and Michigan n two states with primaries in dispute because they were held before party rules allowed.

Laurie Sun Child, who is voting for Clinton because “women have been oppressed for too long,” agreed with Gray and Kennedy.

“I think Montana looks good, because she represents the smaller state like this,” she said.

A Chippewa Cree born on Rocky Boy’s Reservation in northcentral Montana, she said Montana’s seven Indian reservations could swing the vote. Before coming to Bozeman, Clinton visited Pablo, on the Flathead Indian Reservation. A week before, Obama had visited the Crow Indian Reservation. The visits marked the first to Indian Reservations by presidential candidates since Robert Kennedy visited Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota, in 1968.

“With the reservations, she (has a chance),” Sun Child said.

J.D. Morris acknowledged that Montana is leaning toward Obama now, but said history has an important lesson to teach.

“If you look at history, history changes very rapidly,” he said. “I think she still has a good chance.”

Reader Comments