While there’s a strong desire on the part of political-types to write about the successes coming off a legislative session, this backslapping and grandstanding doesn’t do much to impress the person that really matters, the voter.
How do Montana Democrats impress the Montana voter in 2016?
I’d even take it a step further and ask, ‘how do you impress the Montana voter in 2015?’ That might not matter to most of you, but I think it should – I like the idea of having city councils that think like I think and push policies that I myself would push.
That way ever Tuesday morning the Montana voter will be reading about the agenda that I want, not that of the other guy. Oh, they might be reading about that other guy’s agenda…but only how it went down in defeat.
The psychological impact of that on the Montana voter is immense. They see clearly where the state is headed, and at the most local of levels.
These are things that are important to the Montana voter, but you’d never know it from watching the major political parties in the state.
They tend to focus on minority issues, either those affecting the extremely well-off or the extremely destitute. If you’re in the middle, well…tough luck, pal.
That’s America today and Montana has always mirrored the country.
What the hell is there to fight for anymore? No matter how much money I’ll make, I’ll always be struggling, and no matter how hard I work, things will only get worse.
Where is my incentive? If there’s no incentive to work hard, there’s sure as shit no incentive for me to vote. What is the Montana Democrats’ answer to this?
How do Montana Democrats impress the Montana voter in 2016?
I’d even take it a step further and ask, ‘how do you impress the Montana voter in 2015?’ That might not matter to most of you, but I think it should – I like the idea of having city councils that think like I think and push policies that I myself would push.
That way ever Tuesday morning the Montana voter will be reading about the agenda that I want, not that of the other guy. Oh, they might be reading about that other guy’s agenda…but only how it went down in defeat.
The psychological impact of that on the Montana voter is immense. They see clearly where the state is headed, and at the most local of levels.
- Is the government taking your money, or allowing you to spend it wisely?
- Are officials interested in your needs and wants and fast to tend to concerns, or do they shrug them off until the next election go-round?
- Do you feel like your life is getting better, or is it sliding ever more toward the abyss?
These are things that are important to the Montana voter, but you’d never know it from watching the major political parties in the state.
They tend to focus on minority issues, either those affecting the extremely well-off or the extremely destitute. If you’re in the middle, well…tough luck, pal.
That’s America today and Montana has always mirrored the country.
- Right now our middle class is just about gone, same as the rest of the country;
- Right now anyone making $30,000 to $100,000 a year is struggling mightily;
- Right now it’s a given that the next generation will have it worse off than the last;
- Right now we’ve decided as a nation that the American Dream no longer exists.
What the hell is there to fight for anymore? No matter how much money I’ll make, I’ll always be struggling, and no matter how hard I work, things will only get worse.
Where is my incentive? If there’s no incentive to work hard, there’s sure as shit no incentive for me to vote. What is the Montana Democrats’ answer to this?
The prevailing attitude among Montana Democrats is that, ‘let’s not even get into the fact that huge swaths of our population in Montana – our friends, family, neighbors and coworkers – simply refuse to register at all. Let’s just ignore this and hope it somehow fixes itself.’
This self-defeating attitude is evident even with same day voter registration! I mean…people do not care! I saw this firsthand last November when I was going out and knocking on doors on Election Day.
I told one woman that she could go to the fairgrounds and register and vote, but she didn’t care. It would have been more of a hassle to her than a benefit. And that’s the real clincher – voting doesn’t benefit Montanans.
Oh, you can argue it does, and you can argue that not voting hurts them, but if they’re not seeing it…what difference does it make?
Just because you think something is the best thing ever, it doesn’t mean the other person cares. In fact, they could hate it. Voting is like that – so many are turned off by it because they’re turned off by politics.
The whole thing just makes them sick, and they don’t vote. Is that their failing or ours?
Many of these people would vote, if only we’d give them a reason to. And I’m sorry, but small, fringe and minority issues are not going to fire up the numbers of people you need to really bring about the kind of change you say you want. Nor are issues that only affect those paying property taxes. Most Montanans don’t pay them, by the way.
Or do you really want these things…could it be that you’re just saying that to get elected, just saying that for show?
Montana Democrats need to get voters fired up and interested and eager to go to the polls. They’ve been unable to do that for decades. What makes them think 2016 will be any different?
I eagerly await an answer to that question, but at the same time I know it’ll never come. After all, I’ve been asking it for more than six months now.
I mean, these are Montana Democrats we’re talking about here. Few groups in the history of this nation have ever been as rudderless, confused, and utterly baffled about what to do with themselves.
God help us.
This self-defeating attitude is evident even with same day voter registration! I mean…people do not care! I saw this firsthand last November when I was going out and knocking on doors on Election Day.
I told one woman that she could go to the fairgrounds and register and vote, but she didn’t care. It would have been more of a hassle to her than a benefit. And that’s the real clincher – voting doesn’t benefit Montanans.
Oh, you can argue it does, and you can argue that not voting hurts them, but if they’re not seeing it…what difference does it make?
Just because you think something is the best thing ever, it doesn’t mean the other person cares. In fact, they could hate it. Voting is like that – so many are turned off by it because they’re turned off by politics.
The whole thing just makes them sick, and they don’t vote. Is that their failing or ours?
Many of these people would vote, if only we’d give them a reason to. And I’m sorry, but small, fringe and minority issues are not going to fire up the numbers of people you need to really bring about the kind of change you say you want. Nor are issues that only affect those paying property taxes. Most Montanans don’t pay them, by the way.
Or do you really want these things…could it be that you’re just saying that to get elected, just saying that for show?
Montana Democrats need to get voters fired up and interested and eager to go to the polls. They’ve been unable to do that for decades. What makes them think 2016 will be any different?
I eagerly await an answer to that question, but at the same time I know it’ll never come. After all, I’ve been asking it for more than six months now.
I mean, these are Montana Democrats we’re talking about here. Few groups in the history of this nation have ever been as rudderless, confused, and utterly baffled about what to do with themselves.
God help us.
I saw an interesting article by Jim Messina on Politico yesterday that had some good things to think about. “The difference between the leaders who were re-elected and those who were defeated,” Messina says “had much to do with their ability to not just explain their difficult past choices but to articulate a future that expands opportunity.”
Another article that caught my eye yesterday was on Market Watch, and dealt with our terrible economic reality. The article focused on “10 enablers” that could get “global GDP growth” where it needs to be.
Some of those were: “increasing transparency and competition, creating incentives for innovation, mobilizing labor, and further integrating the world economy.”
Something tells me that if you align what those two articles are saying and make them work together, you can get that victory. Will Montana Democrats do this? I’m not counting on it.
Another article that caught my eye yesterday was on Market Watch, and dealt with our terrible economic reality. The article focused on “10 enablers” that could get “global GDP growth” where it needs to be.
Some of those were: “increasing transparency and competition, creating incentives for innovation, mobilizing labor, and further integrating the world economy.”
Something tells me that if you align what those two articles are saying and make them work together, you can get that victory. Will Montana Democrats do this? I’m not counting on it.
So what can be done? The important thing is to get people voting. Right now Montana Democrats have no idea how to do that, and the numbers make that clear. I mean, look at the turnout percentages for registered voters:
Average Turnout over 20 years = 36.7% = 375,910 people
So we know, based on our 2014 population of 1.024 million people, that 648,089 people do not vote each year, or 63.3% of the population.
Montana Democrats really have their work cut out for them.
- 2014 Turnout: 33.2%
- 2012 Turnout: 37.2%
- 2010 Turnout: 32.5%
- 2008 Turnout: 45.2%
- 2006 Turnout: 34.3%
- 2004 Turnout: 37.0%
- 2000 Turnout: 33.3%
- 1998 Turnout: 26.8%
- 1996 Turnout: 40.5%
- 1994 Turnout: 47.1%
Average Turnout over 20 years = 36.7% = 375,910 people
So we know, based on our 2014 population of 1.024 million people, that 648,089 people do not vote each year, or 63.3% of the population.
Montana Democrats really have their work cut out for them.
It’s vitally important that you realize how employment numbers are used. They’re used to make it seem like things are good. They’re used so the current people in power can justify why they should stay there. Here in Montana, Governor Bullock is always trotting out the ‘low’ unemployment numbers, a sure sign that our economy is doing well, that life is getting better.
We all know this is bullshit. Life isn’t getting better…it’s getting worse. Or haven’t we been told that my generation will be worse off than my parent’s?
How do these low unemployment numbers mesh with that? They don’t – they’re just short term stats so those up for reelection can feel better about themselves, appear as though they know what’s going on.
I’ve got a newsflash for you – the people in charge have no idea what’s going on. Go check out 4&20’s post yesterday to see some good quotes on why this is true.
I mean, when the leading bankers of the country don’t even know how bad things are? Or is it that they’d rather try to ignore it…hope it goes away?
How long can the Montana voter afford this attitude, this game of Russian roulette? Too many lost everything when the rich upper classes decided to destroy the pensions of thousands with Montana Power, the state can’t afford that again.
It’s because Montana has such a long history of being tied up with the banking industry, that’s why we allow them to take advantage of us so. More millionaires per capita during the mining heydays than anywhere else, and now it’s coming back to bite us.
We narrowly escaped handing them $67 million for free, but there’s a good chance that won’t happen next time. If rational and responsible Democrats continue to stick with a misguided and visionless caucus, then we can fully expect to be saddled with that kind of debt burden. Of course there’s no reason for it, except that the bankers need as many free handouts as they can get.
Did I mention that Montana mirrors the nation? Nationally the bankers and Wall Street-types get millions if not billions in handouts. If you added all of 2008 together and the misery it caused our country, you might figure they’ve gotten trillions.
That’s right, it’s ‘our’ country, not theirs. The bankers have decided that small, offshore islands and European banking countries feel more at home to them – they don’t care about this country at all anymore. Most corporations are the same way, and if they have a “multi-” in their name, it goes doubly so. You know this.
We all know this is bullshit. Life isn’t getting better…it’s getting worse. Or haven’t we been told that my generation will be worse off than my parent’s?
How do these low unemployment numbers mesh with that? They don’t – they’re just short term stats so those up for reelection can feel better about themselves, appear as though they know what’s going on.
I’ve got a newsflash for you – the people in charge have no idea what’s going on. Go check out 4&20’s post yesterday to see some good quotes on why this is true.
I mean, when the leading bankers of the country don’t even know how bad things are? Or is it that they’d rather try to ignore it…hope it goes away?
How long can the Montana voter afford this attitude, this game of Russian roulette? Too many lost everything when the rich upper classes decided to destroy the pensions of thousands with Montana Power, the state can’t afford that again.
It’s because Montana has such a long history of being tied up with the banking industry, that’s why we allow them to take advantage of us so. More millionaires per capita during the mining heydays than anywhere else, and now it’s coming back to bite us.
We narrowly escaped handing them $67 million for free, but there’s a good chance that won’t happen next time. If rational and responsible Democrats continue to stick with a misguided and visionless caucus, then we can fully expect to be saddled with that kind of debt burden. Of course there’s no reason for it, except that the bankers need as many free handouts as they can get.
Did I mention that Montana mirrors the nation? Nationally the bankers and Wall Street-types get millions if not billions in handouts. If you added all of 2008 together and the misery it caused our country, you might figure they’ve gotten trillions.
That’s right, it’s ‘our’ country, not theirs. The bankers have decided that small, offshore islands and European banking countries feel more at home to them – they don’t care about this country at all anymore. Most corporations are the same way, and if they have a “multi-” in their name, it goes doubly so. You know this.
