16 ms·

Why do you say this? I ask because, I am from Montana and I often find outside knowledge of Montana consists of "they have an unlimited speed on the highway/in

Why do you say this? I ask because, I am from Montana and I often find outside knowledge of Montana consists of "they have an unlimited speed on the highway/interstate" (which hasn't been true for quite sometime) mindset applied to any information about Montana. It is usually viewed as a red state, but it's a different kind of red than what you find on the coasts. Our governor is blue and our state was essentially founded by socialists. Our state is usually pretty vocal on political matters and protecting the public (our most famous and easiest example of course being protection of public lands).

chipperyman573 9y ago
Not OP but I had the same thought as them. I know I was expecting the first state to be WA or CA, or some other heavily/known blue state, not a (somewhat random) midwestern state. If I were to research it further I'm sure it wouldn't come as much of a surprise, but my initial and uneducated reaction was shock.
- rconti 9y ago
  Montana is considered a Western state, not midwest. I agree it's somewhat surprising, but Montana is dominated (population-wise) by relatively left-leaning population centers. I'd consider it to be a libertarian leaning western state similar to Colorado but without the insanely religious component of Colorado Springs.
  - alexkavon 9y ago
    I agree with this to an extent. The red has a Libertarian tint, but even the Libertarians in Montana are different. The best way I've been able to identify with it over the years is consider myself an independent.
  - dsfyu404ed 9y ago
    And without the CA transplants who (I'm generalizing here) lean left to the point where "libretarian" is not a good descriptor for any government they have a meaningful say in. Montana might be a western state but as far as most people on the coasts (also generalizing) care or know (is there a difference) if you don't have saltwater coastline or a big city you're a backwards flyover state with nothing much going on.
    - rconti 9y ago
      You're probably not wrong about "most people on the coasts" (I'm from WA and live in CA) but I think those of us on the west coast are far less inclined than east coasters to dismiss Western states like UT, MT, WY, NV, CO, etc, as "midwest". I think to the east coast it's often "somewhere over there in the middle" and not realizing how far west they really are, and how similar in many ways the culture is to the Pacific states, particularly the inland areas of said states. The same way I think all those east coast states are "little states somewhere way over there" :)
      - dsfyu404ed 9y ago
        I work in a city on the east coast. About 1/4th of the people I work with are from or have lived on the west coast. I notice no difference.
    - s73ver_ 9y ago
      Actually, most of the "transplants" that go to Montana or Idaho are those who are going because they believe the state is "too liberal" or that there's "too much crime".
      - rconti 9y ago
        Sure, but that doesn't mean they don't bring values that don't fit there. I actually sat next to a woman and her son at a Seahawks game in Seattle; they live in Pocatello, ID but had moved there from Redding, CA a handful of years ago. Some amusing (to me) bullet points from our conversation: * She wanted to make sure they went to an afternoon game because she didn't want to be in "the city" after dark * As a reaction to moving to Pocatello, "when we moved to Idaho, I thought WE were conservative, but..." * She was successful in her career and her husband was a stay at home dad and had difficulty meeting people/making friends as someone not in the workforce and who didn't 'fit in' to the social fabric of non-working folks (Eg, female homemakers). They might even be more conservative than the average Idahoan, but it's not a binary thing; likely they've got "California values" they didn't even realize they held, but folks in Idaho could spot a mile a way. The same way (say) cops in populated areas of California might be VERY pro-law-and-order and consider themselves very conservative, but not bat an eye over LGBT issues that might rile up a bible-thumper from the midwest who is otherwise a moderate.
fossuser 9y ago
When I think of Montana politics the first thing I remember is this: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/05/25/fox-news-crew-watched-in-disbelief-as-gianforte-slammed-and-punched-reporter/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/05/2... For better or worse this makes me think of Montana as a pretty red state unlikely to pass regulation like NN.
- protomyth 9y ago
  Well, it actually dovetails into NN quite well. Montanans do not like outsiders, for some definition of outsider, f'n with them. Being red isn't the governing factor on which side of NN you fall on. Current FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworce (D) https://youtu.be/Ja6MW94RaIQ?t=3m40s https://youtu.be/Ja6MW94RaIQ?t=3m40s put it nicely.
- alexkavon 9y ago
  Yes that was our most recent national claim to fame in politics. Gianforte is not a good representation of Montana politicians. He is a party boy and his campaign was nearly a replica of Trump's in a time of political uncertainty. He went up against a very weak Democratic candidate and a very week Libertarian candidate. That event also took place on the night before going to the polls after most Montanan's had sent in their ballots through the mail. When it boils down to being a red state, you'll see more party line voters. However if you were to sit down with these red staters you'd find they're mighty different.
  - hueving 9y ago
    Just to be clear, the majority of Montana's do not vote by mail. It's just about 1/3 of the population. And only 2/3 of those absentee ballots had been returned when that news hit. So still ~75% of the population voted with that knowledge and put him in office. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/05/25/politics/montana-special-election-turnout/index.html https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/05/25/poli...
- regulation_d 9y ago
  The weird thing about ISPs is that whether or not they are effectively a monopoly is location dependent. It's probably safe to assume that a higher than average percentage of people in Montana have access to one or fewer broadband services. I wonder if that factors in.
Scooty 9y ago
When I think of Montana, I think of the Russian guy that just wanted to raise rabbits with a round American woman in Montana from "The Hunt for the Red October".
- dboreham 9y ago
  Don't know why you're getting down voted because that guy was onto something. He wanted a pickup too, which is a requirement for residency.
  - okreallywtf 9y ago
    Its being downvoted because it brings nothing to the conversation.
NegativeK 9y ago
I generally assume that Democrats are more concentrated in cities, which generalizes to states with high rural population percentages being Republican.
- okreallywtf 9y ago
  I don't know why this got downvoted, this is a pretty common theme across America. Look at the Alabama senate race and pretty much every race in North Carolina for examples. This, as well as gerrymandering, has lead to the disproportions in the house and state governments. Democrats being concentrated makes it much easier to have close races in terms of total votes cast per party, but disproportionate representation.
fleitz 9y ago
This is why I like travel, it's interesting how many opinions people have of places they've never actually been / talked to people from there. It doesn't take much time in a place to get a feel for it, I felt the Montana vibe about an hour or two after visiting Missoula.

chipperyman573 9y ago

Not OP but I had the same thought as them. I know I was expecting the first state to be WA or CA, or some other heavily/known blue state, not a (somewhat random) midwestern state. If I were to research it further I'm sure it wouldn't come as much of a surprise, but my initial and uneducated reaction was shock.

rconti 9y ago
Montana is considered a Western state, not midwest. I agree it's somewhat surprising, but Montana is dominated (population-wise) by relatively left-leaning population centers. I'd consider it to be a libertarian leaning western state similar to Colorado but without the insanely religious component of Colorado Springs.
- alexkavon 9y ago
  I agree with this to an extent. The red has a Libertarian tint, but even the Libertarians in Montana are different. The best way I've been able to identify with it over the years is consider myself an independent.
- dsfyu404ed 9y ago
  And without the CA transplants who (I'm generalizing here) lean left to the point where "libretarian" is not a good descriptor for any government they have a meaningful say in. Montana might be a western state but as far as most people on the coasts (also generalizing) care or know (is there a difference) if you don't have saltwater coastline or a big city you're a backwards flyover state with nothing much going on.
  - rconti 9y ago
    You're probably not wrong about "most people on the coasts" (I'm from WA and live in CA) but I think those of us on the west coast are far less inclined than east coasters to dismiss Western states like UT, MT, WY, NV, CO, etc, as "midwest". I think to the east coast it's often "somewhere over there in the middle" and not realizing how far west they really are, and how similar in many ways the culture is to the Pacific states, particularly the inland areas of said states. The same way I think all those east coast states are "little states somewhere way over there" :)
    - dsfyu404ed 9y ago
      I work in a city on the east coast. About 1/4th of the people I work with are from or have lived on the west coast. I notice no difference.
  - s73ver_ 9y ago
    Actually, most of the "transplants" that go to Montana or Idaho are those who are going because they believe the state is "too liberal" or that there's "too much crime".
    - rconti 9y ago
      Sure, but that doesn't mean they don't bring values that don't fit there. I actually sat next to a woman and her son at a Seahawks game in Seattle; they live in Pocatello, ID but had moved there from Redding, CA a handful of years ago. Some amusing (to me) bullet points from our conversation: * She wanted to make sure they went to an afternoon game because she didn't want to be in "the city" after dark * As a reaction to moving to Pocatello, "when we moved to Idaho, I thought WE were conservative, but..." * She was successful in her career and her husband was a stay at home dad and had difficulty meeting people/making friends as someone not in the workforce and who didn't 'fit in' to the social fabric of non-working folks (Eg, female homemakers). They might even be more conservative than the average Idahoan, but it's not a binary thing; likely they've got "California values" they didn't even realize they held, but folks in Idaho could spot a mile a way. The same way (say) cops in populated areas of California might be VERY pro-law-and-order and consider themselves very conservative, but not bat an eye over LGBT issues that might rile up a bible-thumper from the midwest who is otherwise a moderate.

fossuser 9y ago

When I think of Montana politics the first thing I remember is this: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/05/25/fox-news-crew-watched-in-disbelief-as-gianforte-slammed-and-punched-reporter/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/05/2... For better or worse this makes me think of Montana as a pretty red state unlikely to pass regulation like NN.

protomyth 9y ago
Well, it actually dovetails into NN quite well. Montanans do not like outsiders, for some definition of outsider, f'n with them. Being red isn't the governing factor on which side of NN you fall on. Current FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworce (D) https://youtu.be/Ja6MW94RaIQ?t=3m40s https://youtu.be/Ja6MW94RaIQ?t=3m40s put it nicely.
alexkavon 9y ago
Yes that was our most recent national claim to fame in politics. Gianforte is not a good representation of Montana politicians. He is a party boy and his campaign was nearly a replica of Trump's in a time of political uncertainty. He went up against a very weak Democratic candidate and a very week Libertarian candidate. That event also took place on the night before going to the polls after most Montanan's had sent in their ballots through the mail. When it boils down to being a red state, you'll see more party line voters. However if you were to sit down with these red staters you'd find they're mighty different.
- hueving 9y ago
  Just to be clear, the majority of Montana's do not vote by mail. It's just about 1/3 of the population. And only 2/3 of those absentee ballots had been returned when that news hit. So still ~75% of the population voted with that knowledge and put him in office. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/05/25/politics/montana-special-election-turnout/index.html https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/05/25/poli...
regulation_d 9y ago
The weird thing about ISPs is that whether or not they are effectively a monopoly is location dependent. It's probably safe to assume that a higher than average percentage of people in Montana have access to one or fewer broadband services. I wonder if that factors in.

Scooty 9y ago

When I think of Montana, I think of the Russian guy that just wanted to raise rabbits with a round American woman in Montana from "The Hunt for the Red October".

dboreham 9y ago
Don't know why you're getting down voted because that guy was onto something. He wanted a pickup too, which is a requirement for residency.
- okreallywtf 9y ago
  Its being downvoted because it brings nothing to the conversation.

NegativeK 9y ago

I generally assume that Democrats are more concentrated in cities, which generalizes to states with high rural population percentages being Republican.

okreallywtf 9y ago
I don't know why this got downvoted, this is a pretty common theme across America. Look at the Alabama senate race and pretty much every race in North Carolina for examples. This, as well as gerrymandering, has lead to the disproportions in the house and state governments. Democrats being concentrated makes it much easier to have close races in terms of total votes cast per party, but disproportionate representation.

fleitz 9y ago

This is why I like travel, it's interesting how many opinions people have of places they've never actually been / talked to people from there. It doesn't take much time in a place to get a feel for it, I felt the Montana vibe about an hour or two after visiting Missoula.