Guns, God & Gays

by: Jay Stevens

Thu Jul 19, 2007 at 16:04:24 PM MST

[Matt] Singer says conservatives don't have a monopoly on the Second Amendment, liberals do have religion, and most Montanans just want the government to stay out of their personal lives--and bedrooms.

"Over the last 20 or 30 years there have been people who have tried to use these hot-button issues to try to divide the country in places where there really isn't that strong of a divide," Singer says. "But instead of listening to what we're saying about this, we're hoping people will take a look at the shirt, think about it themselves, talk to their friends, and hopefully get a little less angry about this whole thing."

A Couple Cool Events

by: Matt Singer

Tue Jul 17, 2007 at 14:26:21 PM MST

• Tomorrow, Forward Montana is having another volunteer meeting. Want to help end the war in Iraq? Maybe register some voters? Help educate people about Missoula's new vote-by-mail system for the fall elections and get folks talking about the elections? Join us for our volunteer meeting. 6pm @ the Kiwanis Park Shelter.


• Next Monday, 6pm, The Badlander -- we're hosting the ACLU of Montana at Progressive Happy Hour. It's an opportunity to learn more about the American Civil Liberties Union's mission, their recent Montana expansion, and how you can get involved in protecting the Bill o' Rights.

Young Westerners Go Blue

by: Matt Singer

Sun Jul 08, 2007 at 12:33:41 PM MST

Call it blowback from the Sagebrush Rebellion. The same region that took a turn for the hard right a generation ago is now trending blue. The secret in the story is said to be a lot of things - different, authentically Western Democrats, and maybe an influx of people from California - but it may be simpler than all that.

The descendants of the rebels themselves - today's Western youth - are leading the charge for a more Democratic West. If the trends continue, the Republican Party may find itself in a world of hurt.

If you want to support Forward Montana, consider becoming a member. Alternatively, click on the lovely ad in the upper left to buy some sweet t-shirts.

Missoula Action Alert: Tell the City Council to Let Us Vote on Iraq

by: Matt Singer

Thu Jun 21, 2007 at 15:05:38 PM MST

Are you a Missoulian?

Do you want to be able to vote on the Iraq occupation?

Take 5 minutes to learn more and take action.

Thanks.

If You Only Go To One Public Policy Forum Between 6 and 9 Tonight...

by: Matt Singer

Wed Jun 06, 2007 at 09:27:32 AM MST

We've got David Sirota, the strategist, author, and soon-to-be ex-Montanan; David Donnelly, clean elections and corruption guru from Public Campaign Action Fund; and Rep. Diane Sands, who has fought harder for clean elections than anyone else in Montana.

We've got drink specials and we've got free pizza from Biga Pizza -- the best damn pizza in town.

Doors open at 6. The exposure begins at 7.

It's all happening at The Badlander - 208 Ryman.

Also, Shakespeare & Co. will be on hand tonight -- selling the just released paperback version of Sirota's Hostile Takeover, an eye-opening read into the state of big money in politics. Forward Montana gets a bit of the proceeds, so don't just come to the event, but 10 books while you're there. They make great Father's Day gifts.

Two Must Reads

by: Matt Singer

Thu May 31, 2007 at 11:24:12 AM MST

1. John Adams previews next week's Naked Truth: Political Corruption -- Forward Montana's Indecent Exposure of Big $$ in Politics.


2. Jon Tester discusses energy issues in Billings, including the cost of diesel on his own farm. Ignorant commenters claim drilling ANWR will solve the whole problem of imports. Try again, folks. ANWR, if it yielded anything close to our guesses, would take years to develop and could only give us about a year's worth of petroleum without imports -- nothing close to self-sufficiency.

Hey, I'm in the Paper

by: Matt Singer

Tue May 08, 2007 at 10:11:41 AM MST

The meat is this, though -- Missoula (and actually a couple other Montana towns) are moving to use a combination of universal vote-by-mail and Election Day Registration this fall. This system -- which lowers the chances of fraud while likely leading to very high turnout -- is the next logical step in the history of American democracy.

3 Things

by: Matt Singer

Mon May 07, 2007 at 09:07:15 AM MST

1. Progressive Happy Hour in Missoula tonight will feature special guests like Senators Dave Wanzenried and Greg Lind and Representatives Diane Sands and Dave McAlpin. 5:00pm-7:00pm @ Red's. We'll see you there.


2. Things are moving to fill the appointment left open by Rep. Kevin Furey's heading to officer training school. Furey has suggested his own father -- Tim Furey -- fill the role. I think that's likely to happen. Tim is hands down a great candidate, friendly, approachable, and well-known in the district from his long time living there and from helping his son's campaigns.


3. Legislative leadership is meeting in Billings in a couple hours. Hopefully, House GOP leadership shows up and something gets hammered out. We'll see.

TONIGHT: Progressive Happy Hour with Mayor John Engen

by: Matt Singer

Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 12:40:55 PM MST

5:00pm-7:00pm at the Badlander (Formerly the Ritz and Hammerjacks).

Election Day Registration - Not Just for Those Lazy, Uninformed Voters

by: Matt Singer

Thu Mar 08, 2007 at 13:56:26 PM MST

For those of us in Missoula who went to the courthouse on Election Day, we had little doubt that Johnson's words were misleading at best. The voters there weren't uninformed and they weren't procrastinators. They were people who got involved in the best way they knew once they found out about the rules.

The Missoula Independent actually managed to talk to a couple Election Day registrants. It turns out they're not uninformed -- these two are actually friends of mine (one is a board member of Forward Montana, the other is an intern).

"I think that's utter B.S.," says Kimberly Pappas, a University of Montana student who registered on Election Day and organized last-minute get-out-the-vote efforts on campus. "I think what same-day voter registration does is encourage more people to vote."

Pappas, an Associated Students of the University of Montana (ASUM) senator and board member for Forward Montana, a progressive grass-roots political organization geared toward young Montanans, also isn't buying Johnson's rhetoric about overburdened poll workers.

"I suggest staffing more people on Election Day before I would suggest telling people not to vote," she says.

Erica Henderson, who also registered on Election Day, is offended by the suggestion that same-day registration is somehow bad for democracy. Between her schoolwork, her job as an ASUM senator and her volunteer work, which included dozens of hours spent calling voters weeks leading up to the election, Henderson says registering to vote slipped her mind.

"A lot of students I called thought they couldn't vote because they weren't registered ahead of time," Henderson recalls. "It was nice to be able to tell them they could still vote."

County attorneys had to stop possible election law violations in one polling place. In another, such possible violations required a clerk to step up and address the situation without law enforcement.

This is too much to ask of our election personnel.

HUGE EVENT IN HELENA THURSDAY

by: Matt Singer

Tue Jan 16, 2007 at 11:32:41 AM MST

Youth Paint the West Blue

by: Matt Singer

Mon Nov 27, 2006 at 12:02:59 PM MST

1. Rural voters
2. Indian country
3. Butte/Anaconda
4. Young voters

While pundits debate whether the results are a long-term trend or a one-time fluke, the truth is that the West is turning blue because a new generation of voters are getting involved.

These voters—our generation—are repainting the West. And they’re painting it deep blue.

Montana: Young voters turned out in force, comprising 17 percent of the electorate—compared to just 13 percent nationwide—and broke for Senator-elect Jon Tester by 12 percent. In 2004, they made up more than one-fifth of the electorate and supported Brian Schweitzer by 11 percent.

Colorado: Colorado youth went for Kerry over Bush 51 to 47 percent in 2004. Young voters were also the best age group for Senator Ken Salazar, who first won election to the U.S. Senate in 2004. Exit polls are not available for 2006, but we can only guess that Governor-elect Bill Ritter and expanded Democratic majorities in the statehouse benefited from a growing youth vote.

Wyoming: Wyoming is blood red, but if young voters had their way, Democrat Gary Trauner would be representing the state in the U.S. Congress. Young voters went for Trauner by an astounding 16 percent.

Arizona: While losing the election by 15 percent, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jim Pederson won young voters by 15 percent—outperforming his overall results by 30 points among young voters.

New Mexico: Governor Bill Richardson saw his strongest re-elect margins come from young voters.

Idaho: No exit polls in 2006, but all indications are that the state’s surprisingly strong Democratic showing in a governor’s race and U.S. House race—Idaho is even more Republican than Wyoming—came again from a groundswell of youth support.

Second. Best. T-Shirts. Ever.

by: Matt Singer

Thu Nov 16, 2006 at 08:56:42 AM MST

Forward Montana is selling 'em -- American made, high quality shirts. They're awesome and also available in Spanish (Vota, C*bron!)