blue Montana
Jul. 3rd, 2008 01:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jfbAccording to a new poll (but only one, at this point), Obama leads McCain in Montana by five percentage points (up ten from a previous poll in April). Atrios says, "On the other hand, while no one was paying attention, Montana got themselves a Democratic governor and two Democratic senators."
Well, I was paying attention. I've had a bit of a romance for Montana since I drove through in September 2004. In Bozeman and Missoula I had delicious vegetarian food and went to a punk folk show. (Incidentally, the drummer at that show was Ross Cowman, whose band June Madrona we later met thanks to Vermillion Lies and their Twisted Folk Festival; I was like, "That guy looks really familiar..." and now he's a friend and I'm excited to be visiting him in Olympia this week.) So the cities were good to me, and the country was beautiful. And I took some photographs.
A few months later, while I was still reading and summarizing the Sunday New York Times, I pointed out "Walter Kirn's ode to Montana, which in November legalized medical marijuana, banned gay marriage, elected a Democratic legislature and governor, and helped keep George W. Bush in office."
That winter, on my way to maybe live in Minneapolis, I crashed my car and was forced to stay an extra night in Missoula. Not the best of circumstances, but as I said in a comment, "really, there was nothing bad about having to spend more time in Missoula." The Toyota dealer's shuttle driver told me crazy stories about onetime local Carroll O'Connor and other celebrities.
Since then I've contributed to organic farmer Jon Tester's successful Senate run, generally tracked Montana's political fortunes, and stopped there when I could. It's become one of a few places I feel like I've adopted, although I've really spent very little time there. Sadly none of my band tours have yet made it over there. Maybe next year.
Here's a photo I still like, from later on that 2005 trip:
Well, I was paying attention. I've had a bit of a romance for Montana since I drove through in September 2004. In Bozeman and Missoula I had delicious vegetarian food and went to a punk folk show. (Incidentally, the drummer at that show was Ross Cowman, whose band June Madrona we later met thanks to Vermillion Lies and their Twisted Folk Festival; I was like, "That guy looks really familiar..." and now he's a friend and I'm excited to be visiting him in Olympia this week.) So the cities were good to me, and the country was beautiful. And I took some photographs.
A few months later, while I was still reading and summarizing the Sunday New York Times, I pointed out "Walter Kirn's ode to Montana, which in November legalized medical marijuana, banned gay marriage, elected a Democratic legislature and governor, and helped keep George W. Bush in office."
That winter, on my way to maybe live in Minneapolis, I crashed my car and was forced to stay an extra night in Missoula. Not the best of circumstances, but as I said in a comment, "really, there was nothing bad about having to spend more time in Missoula." The Toyota dealer's shuttle driver told me crazy stories about onetime local Carroll O'Connor and other celebrities.
Since then I've contributed to organic farmer Jon Tester's successful Senate run, generally tracked Montana's political fortunes, and stopped there when I could. It's become one of a few places I feel like I've adopted, although I've really spent very little time there. Sadly none of my band tours have yet made it over there. Maybe next year.
Here's a photo I still like, from later on that 2005 trip:
