From The New West Blog

Montana Politics: Beef Roast vs. Panini

By Matthew Frank, 7-29-08

That newcomers are reshaping culture and politics in Montana isn’t news, but it’s still a good read.

The Wall Street Journal has a piece today, set in Bozeman, about the tens of thousands of knowledge workers who are “reshaping the way this state looks, acts—and votes. Along the way, these new Montanans have sparked a testy culture clash and, for the first time in a generation, opened the door for a Democrat presidential nominee to win the state in November.”

Douglas Belkin continues:

While Montana’s three electoral votes are hardly going to swing the election, the patterns here are taking root across the interior U.S. West, including in Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada.

On Bozeman’s split identity, he writes:

At times, downtown Bozeman feels like it’s inhabited by two different tribes. Main Street is lined with Audis and Subarus topped with mountain bikes and kayaks. Half an hour out of town, the polish on cowboy boots gives way to scuffs, and gun racks outnumber roof racks.

Click here for the story.

[End of article]

Jim Walseth, who is featured at the beginning of the article, is a former Chairman of the Gallatin County Democrats. I do just suppose he might vote for Obama, understatedly speaking, unless he's holding out for Nader.

Bozeman's not quite as liberal as Walseth quite yet, and not quite accepting of confrontational politics, either. And while Bozeman might be the county seat, Gallatin County is bright red and is a stronghold for conservative Republicans in the state.

And as many a Montanan has observed, the good thing about living in Bozeman is...no matter where you are... you're only an hour away from Montana.

It's pretty rich to see someone say that the home of Roger Koopman, John Sinrud, Scott Sales, and Joe Balyeat is "not quite accepting of confrontational politics."

my husband and I are some of those Westerners who moved to Bozeman in 1991,and we have witnessed huge changes.I agree with Nick about the confrontational politics. All one has to do is look at the Letters to the Editor section,and by the way,our Obama sticker was ripped off our car while it was parked on Main St a few days ago,and our yard signs for Tester were removed in 2006. The local dem office's large banner/sign was stripped off a few years back,too. We spend a few months every year in Arizona's Santa Cruz county,which is much more civil and less divisive. THough we have come to love many things about Montana over the past 18 years,this partisanship and hatred of the environmentalists(we even see it out on the trail) is not one of them.