Montana’s true color, purple

Montana is not a red state, not really, not deep down.

Sure, Donald Trump won a large percentage of the popular vote here, twice, and Greg Gianforte won the governor’s race twice. Republicans have dominated the Legislature and the Public Service Commission for years. The Secretary of State is a Republican, and so is the State Securities and Insurance Commissioner. I’d be willing to bet that the state Chamber of Commerce is predominantly Republican, from the ground up. However, the Montana GOP is riven by warring factions (the Freedom Caucus v. the Solutions Caucus) and loyalty to Trump is only skin deep. Granted, some of his supporters have thick skins; my contention is that beneath the surface of the MAGA crowd there is a substratum of normalcy and neighborliness. 

As the president’s second-term policies kick in, including tariffs that destroy export markets, disrupt supply chains, and increase input costs and a whole lot else — brutal and unconstitutional immigration enforcement practices; spiking health insurance premiums, sickening changes in childhood vaccine schedules; deficit spending on steroids–need I go further?—Trump’s appeal is losing its luster. All that gold filigree, and the blatantly crass and self-aggrandizing behavior such as accepting unearned prizes (not to mention a plane), naming buildings and building arches and selling overpriced vanity merch, messing with Smithsonian and National Park Service accounts of American history–this stuff annoys almost everybody, including the many Republicans who are genuinely conservative. Grift and narcissism are not actually popular. The same goes for Christian nationalism, steeped in historically inaccurate interpretations of our country’s founding.

Most of the Republicans I’m acquainted with know better than to succumb to false prophets and bogus theories of manifest destiny.  

Montana is not a blue state either, if “blue” is synonymous with the Democratic Party.

There are pockets of partisan strength, to be sure, but they are not all of a piece. Butte Democrats are a force unto themselves, fiercely loyal to the city’s heritage and pragmatic self-interests. Democrats in Helena and Great Falls are similarly distinct in a less flamboyant manner. The same is true of other communities. There is a world of difference between Democrats from Missoula and their counterparts in Bozeman. Democrats’ heydays are a thing of the past for lots of reasons, one of which is the widening divide in the party between democratic socialists and more centrist factions. The split is both ideological and geographic; what makes good sense in the East and West coastal areas (and perhaps in a few urban counties here) doesn’t really fly in most of the Mountain West. 

Montana Democrats seem to have a gift for self-defeating stick-to-itiveness on some issues. Outside the inner sanctum of die-hard Democratic Party stalwarts, there are many—scores, hundreds, thousands, maybe more–of fringe Democrats utterly frustrated over and over again with the ideological rigidities of the party elite. Opposition to a carefully calibrated statewide sales tax is a case in point. I mean really, there are well-studied ways of maximizing the positive impact of taxing millions of visitors while minimizing the regressive nature of a tax on consumption. 

Montana is a purple state, through and through. The core values of the citizenry are basically the same–a thoughtful and place-based admixture of “red” and “blue” concepts of the good life, well lived. The people here have a libertarian streak thicker than in most other parts of the country, largely because of where we live, and how we choose to live in a spacious social and physical environment. A “Live and Let Live” attitude towards lots of things comes naturally in these parts. 

I used to work for the Montana Legislature, in a non-partisan capacity. Great job; great people, a beautiful workplace setting inside the Capitol building. That’s where this purple thing really hit me. I was witness to the haughty, condescending, attitude of some Democrats, and to the utter meanness toward people of lesser means that characterized both upper-crust and middle-brow Republicans. Both of these groups exhibited their own sort of patronizing superiority complexes, which of course often conceal a sense of inferiority. In reality, however, and this is key: The vast majority of citizen legislators from both parties were plain folks — nice, smart, hard-working and genuinely dedicated to serving their constituents. They were purple people, not solid red or deep blue. 

Many “rock ribbed Republicans” and “dyed-in-the-wool Democrats” are not what they purport to be. How do I know this? It’s obvious, really. Just watch legislators learn from each other and the lobbyists–the good ones–in Helena. Listen to old truckers at a Town Pump or young floaters on a boat ramp. Go fishing on the Missouri, or the Madison, or the Gallatin. Immerse yourself in local or university level sports. The celebrated perennial “Brawl of the Wild” is a showcase of feigned antipathy. The rivalry is real, but so is the more deeply held sentiment of solidarity. We Montanans are proud of ourselves, our heritage, our nearly universal appreciation for outdoor life and the landscapes that support our recreational pursuits—and our universities. 

None of what I’m preaching is data driven, mind you. I don’t have figures, polls, voting tallies or any of that sort of stuff to back up my claims about rampant purpleosity.  I don’t really trust opinion surveys. But others do, and I respect that. I especially like it when other people’s hard work and “hard data” aligns with my own instincts. [See, for example,  Declarations of independents – Montana Free Press] I can point to The Montana Plan [Transparent Election Initiative – Our Fight Against Corporate Money in Politics]; the Friends of the Montana Constitution [Friends of the Montana Constitution | Celebrating and supporting the Montana Constitution], Beyond Party/Montana First [Beyond Party – Beyond Party], Forward Montana [Home – Forward Montana Foundation] and other citizen-led endeavors that evince the bipartisan spirit of Big Sky Country. 

Like so many other Montanans I know, I’m a gut-level centrist, a radical moderate. Even though it’s been a long time since I’ve voted for a Republican—I’m not going to name names—I still consider myself an independent voter, always alert to signs of integrity, intelligence and character emanating from candidates for public office. 

The main issues are the same for all of us — the affordability of housing, health care, groceries and gasoline; the costs and sources of electricity, property tax hikes, access to public lands, the maintenance of a clean and healthful environment, preserving our Constitutional rights. We don’t like dark money. 

I’m not arguing against the legitimacy of real philosophical differences. Beneath the crusty surface of partisan wrangling are seriously divergent opinions about the role of government in our lives. How much is enough? How much is too much? Which layer or arena of government are we talking about? Some of us view “gov-mnt” as an alien force, inclined to tyranny, while others (like me) think of government as just us, all of us, in community. Whichever perspective fits best, or carries more weight than the other, almost nobody is willing to tolerate the abuses of people with a lust for power, ranging from the miniscule to the gargantuan. Bullying, intimidation, cheating the law, betrayals of trust; these and other power games violate our unwritten code of decency in Montana. 

Montana is a deep purple state. Most of us are walking and talking half-truths when it comes to political ideology, mixing a red and blue palette in different proportions. I can only truly speak for myself, but I will unabashedly pretend to represent scads of fellow Montanans, young and old, who don’t care much for party politics but care deeply about the condition of our body politic, our material quality of life, our collective mental and physical health, our generosity towards incoming immigrants and refugees (including the moneyed class moving in from other states), our shared sense of belonging in—here comes the cliché—the Last Best Place. 

Looking ahead to critical elections in the months and years ahead, I’m searching for candidates devoted to radical moderation who believe in the hegemony of civility. We need a juggernaut of rational middle-roaders who understand that while political parties are still the vehicle for electoral success, that third party options almost always fail, and that each of us has to pick a side at the ballot box, we are not compelled to be consistent with our votes. Splitting the ticket makes good sense when the individual characters running for office warrant departing from party-line voting. I’m on the lookout for any office holder or aspiring politician who will steadfastly protect and honor the state Constitution, which is the written embodiment of our shared values. It doesn’t matter which office she or he is running for; those constitutional principles apply in every case. Maybe I’m naïve and asking for trouble, but I really believe that purple is our truest color, and that continuing along basically fake pathways of extreme partisanship is only going to result in black and blue bruises that our community can ill afford. Let’s get real, and be our real selves, as we face together the challenges ahead.

They are legion. 

Maly, formerly of Helena, now lives in Bozeman.