| Erik Iverson is leaving his post at the top of the Montana Republican Party. There's a lot that I disagree with Erik on, but it should be clear that this is the departure of a fierce, smart, capable, and thoughtful adversary.
Erik managed to largely turn around Burns' campaign in 2006, nearly winning a race that some people were starting to take as a given Tester victory. It ended up being a squeaker.
In 2008, up against one of the biggest wave years for Democrats in decades and some extremely difficult underlying demographic changes in the state, the Montana GOP appears to have pulled the only possible rabbit out of a hat by securing what can only be called victories in both chambers.
To some extent, Erik has also functioned as a bit of a bulwark against some of the further right members of his own party. My understanding is that the Koopman crowd wasn't fond of Erik (or of his former boss Dennis Rehberg). Iverson's relative moderation (that either Iverson or Rehberg could ever be considered a moderate is, I believe, only a sign of how far right the GOP currently is) will need to resurface even more strongly in new leadership in the party.
The demographic changes that decimated Republicans at the land board are going to become only more pronounced. Republicans lost voters under the age of 30 by a nearly 2-to-1 margin this election cycle, according to both pre-election and exit polling. More of these voters will be joining the electorate in the coming years -- both as some become eligible to vote upon turning 18 and others as they start voting for the first time in their lives (despite record turnout for youth, many of these folks won't start voting until their late 20s or early-mid 30s).
One other thought -- in large part because of Iverson's own decisions, the new chair of the Republican Party is a Blackfoot woman, marking the first time a major political party in Montana has been chaired by a woman of color (to the best of my knowledge). That's a cool piece of history.
Obvious disclaimer: There's a lot of stuff I disagree with these folks on. |
