From The New West Blog

Guns: Does Obama Have a Shot in Montana?

By Matthew Frank, 6-30-08

	Barack Obama at the Montana Democratic Party's Mansfield-Metcalf Dinner in Butte in April. Photo by Anne Medley

In a Denver Post article all about the importance of political candidates being gun-friendly in Montana—“where ‘opening day’ refers to the beginning of hunting season rather than baseball”—Karen E. Crummy reports that although Obama has received an F rating from the NRA, and although he has spoken about “common-sense” gun control, it doesn’t mean that John McCain will automatically win the state.

[Gov.] Schweitzer and Democratic Sen. Jon Tester won their seats with a message of economic populism and by portraying themselves as Davids battling Washington and corporate Goliaths. Obama has similar messages in his campaign, and he can tap into his grassroots organization left over from the caucuses.

But Crummy says that Obama is a different type of candidate from libertarian-sounding Tester and Schweitzer, and that he may still be haunted by the “bitter” comment he made leading up to the Pennsylvania primary.

However, even [MT GOP Chairman Erik] Iverson doesn’t think the state is a lock for the GOP. McCain is strong, he said, on issues like energy and national security. But he said voters notice he doesn’t have an office or any real presence in the state.

“He needs to realize he could lose the state if he ignores it,” he said.

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