I hadn’t attended many events lately. It’s felt a bit overwhelming. I’ve talked with enough working people this summer to know that you get it. It’s a lot, most the time.
But after hearing my friend Jon Sesso enthusiastically bellow that Montana is “the last best place in these United States” and we’re “grateful for the beauty of our land and determined to protect it for future generations,” at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, I knew it was time to get off the bench.
Put me in coach, I thought, bought a ticket, and headed to the Flathead Democrats Blue Jam in what turned out to be a music filled, political event with really good tacos. I was surprised by how many cars and trucks were already there as I pulled into the ranch, north of town.
Rep. Dave Fern was parking rigs in the field, as orderly and steady as you might imagine his politics. He parked Democrat ones next to Republicans like my dad. His strategy fair, putting retirees closer to the front of the event entrance, keeping space for latecomers and newcomers.
The Jamie Wyman Band sang as I walked into barn area that easily held a couple hundred people. I scanned for familiar faces. Less appeared than I thought. The music was good, powerful. I mingled with old friends.
I talked with Monica Tranel, while holding a Cold Smoke in my hand, drinking slow to make the smooth flavor last longer. Housing costs, rent was clearly on her mind. It’s a top concern here in the Flathead, up in Eureka, over in Browning, in the Swan, Missoula, Hamilton or the Gallatin.
Tranel has a good plan and is a tenacious campaigner, meeting with just about anyone with a solution or concern. The former Olympian is one hard worker. The determination to serve was etched on her face, formed through a lifetime of experience, as she talked with locals throughout the late-summer evening.
Sara Busse, who builds libraries, was wearing a new sweatshirt with “pumpkin spice & reproductive rights” written in the yellow, orange and brown colors of fall. Freedom.
Ryan Busse, an avid hunter, hiker and angler was now on stage talking with hundreds of locals, mic in one hand, the other open in midair. The audience hungry for a governor who listens and understands the everyday kitchen table issues facing working people and fixed-income retirees.
Busse has near Brian Schweitzer-level enthusiasm going for his campaign. In recent months, he’s held almost 150 events statewide to be your next governor in Montana.
I remind myself that Schweitzer won both of his governor races. One by a comfortable margin, a second term with two-thirds support of Montana voters. No wonder, I thought, Schweitzer delivered. People trust him. He conserved a lot of public lands around our towns, did right by public education, and cut expenses for working people.
I went to one Busse event earlier this summer at The Northern in Whitefish. Busse packed the house, something his gubernatorial campaign appears to repeat as they travel the Treasure State meeting with locals who live and work in the small towns, big cities, and Tribal lands throughout Montana.
Many new faces came to hear Busse that evening, something I also noted at the Blue Jam. An elderly couple, who hadn’t lived here long, told me that they were grateful to attend, liked what they heard.
Lots of people are turning out, saying they’re exhausted of the chaos and division of days past. Even some Republicans had enough and now help, fully aware that Montana’s supermajority politics is accountable to no one.
It’s time to move forward. You know it, dad knows it, even grandma agrees.
Whatever Montana’s supermajority Republicans did over the past few years made locals pig-biting mad and skyrocketed home prices, rent, insurance, and property taxes to outrageously unaffordable levels for wage earners and fixed-income retirees.
Montana still taxes social security and now taxes tips. Targeted massive state property tax increases onto old-time homeowners and jacked people’s power bills. Then increased working people’s income taxes while spiking insurance premiums.
You name it, middle Montana got hosed over the past few years. Who voted for this? Not much accountability to a supermajority.
I’ve heard John Repke speak before, so as he took the stage, I knew a bit about his career spanning from the oilfields of Wyoming to chief financial officer for major corporations. Repke seeks to become the State Auditor, who is the chief consumer protection person charged with keeping insurance accessible and affordable to people and business.
Want change in Montana, I tell myself, time to buckle-up buttercup and get helping. Only way to cut the greed out of your insurance bills, is to elect John Repke and bring consumer protection back to Montana. For reproductive rights and lower taxes, vote Busse. Housing, clearly Tranel.
This is our time, our place, together. Volunteer for a campaign now. No one will ask, just contact your candidate online and help. Volunteer a little and we’ll get years of better government.
Suddenly an upright bass was on stage and the vocal harmonies of the Bad Larrys filled the cool evening air. Horses passed through the open fields as if to remind us why we live and work in rural Montana.