Voters in this 'deep red state' don't love Trump's GOP. Dems must wake up and act

It’ll come as no surprise to most Montanans that our once “purple” state is now proclaimed to be “deep red” by politicians and pundits. But the latest results from the Mountain States Poll on Montanans conducted by Montana State University Billings, doesn’t exactly uphold the “deep red” propaganda.

The poll results, which were released this week, actually are far more in line with not only the state’s past political affiliations, but the attitudes and priorities of Montana’s past.

In short, we still favor the right of individual privacy – with 83 percent supporting the Montana Constitutional amendment to ensure a woman’s right to make their own decisions when it comes to reproductive choices.

We still believe in separation of church and state — as reflected in the disapproval of mandatory prayer in schools by 59 percent compared to 21 percent who approve.

We’re still strong supporters of Second Amendment gun rights. But perhaps in response to the wave of mass shootings nationwide, a whopping 63 percent of those polled support stricter regulations, weapons limitations, and provisions for owning firearms.

The most significant indicator of our less than ruby red status is in the approval/disapproval rating of top elected officials from Donald Trump to Congress to Gov. Greg Gianforte. In this regard, none of them came even close to breaking even.

Despite showing 58 percent of Montanans voted for Trump, his approval and disapproval ratings are tied at a mere 41 percent – and yes, those are seriously skewed by party affiliation with about 3-out of-4 Republicans approving, but 9-out of-10 Democrats and a whopping 48 percent of independents disapproving. Not exactly a great showing for MAGA given its 24-7 domination of the news cycle with endless and often baseless braggadocio.

Still and all, if Trump only gets 41 percent, he’s slightly ahead of our all-GOP Congressional delegation, which is strange since Montanans are supposedly more supportive of their local politicians.

Guess not, eh?

Gianforte, having been in office now since 2017 as both our Congressman and now into his second term as governor, “topped” the ratings with a paltry 37 percent approval.

Perhaps his approach that Montana is an “easy product to sell” hasn’t exactly proved popular with those who would just as soon keep Montana the way it was and is — and not sell everything to the highest bidder while degrading the vast natural assets and beauty most Montanans cherish.

Even those minimal approval numbers are far beyond what Montanans give Congress (13 percent approve, 56 percent disapprove) and our Congressional delegation.

At the bottom of the pack sits Congressman Troy Downing with a pitiful 16 percent approval, 15 percent disapproval and the vast number of respondents saying they don’t know. So much for the promised transparency and constituent communication.

Moving up from there, but not much, sits Rep. Ryan Zinke – in his second term — at 26 percent approval, only 4 percent above his disapproval at 22 percent.

Our senior senator, Steve Daines, doesn’t have much to pound his chest about either. His 31 percent approval is exactly three points above his 28 percent disapproval.

Then comes Sen. Tim Sheehy who, despite only his first year in office, winds up with 34 percent disapproval, exactly matching his 34 percent approval.

Polls are just polls, but tough to argue we’re “deep red” when Montanans say they overwhelmingly think politics is more polarized, but just aren’t that crazy about the job Republicans are doing.

But here’s the rub: Unless the Democrats and/or independents get their act together and field some electable candidates, we’re likely to keep these low-approval Republicans in office — blundering along, parroting MAGA propaganda, and selling Montana to the highest bidders like just another commodity.

Montana cities waiting on Trump to fork over $50k+ for 2018 rallies before Friday return

Donald Trump (Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski for AFP)Montana cities waiting on Trump to fork over $50k+ for 2018 rallies before Friday return

• George Ochenski is Montana's longest-running columnist and a longtime environmental activist, concerned with keeping Montana's natural beauty clean and safe. He writes from Helena and appears in the Daily Montanan weekly.