Commentary: A powwow for change in Montana
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Filed Under:
Politics
"The sign on the front of the Barack Obama campaign office in the small Hi-Line town called Wolf Point on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in northeastern Montana doesn't announce the candidate's name.
It says, "Not paid for by PAC money."
"What are signs for? It's what people ask about," says office manager Georgiana Lee. In a town the size of Wolf Point, everybody knows the Obama office location, she added.
With just a few days to go before the election, the local volunteer force has grown downright frenetic. Not content with simply working the phone banks and tuning into candidate debates, volunteers gathered earlier this week to eat fry bread and stew while watching Michelle Obama's appearance on Jay Leno.
One steadfast Obama supporter has organized a "Powwow for Change!" for this weekend. The Fort Peck Tribe has even donated a buffalo for the feast.
This lightly populated country of Indian reservations and, largely, conservative white farmers and ranchers may seem like unlikely Obama territory, but it is part of a front line that wends west toward distant peaks and south through the Rocky Mountains. The political dynamics in places like Wolf Point have helped turn Montana back toward its populist roots and have granted victories to Democrats locally and statewide and may help toss the Big Sky State's three electoral votes into Obama's pile."
Get the Story:
Powwow For Change
(New American Media 11/4)
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