Why Montana Is Turning Blue

The rowdy, red state of legend has changed. It's enough to make a cowboy cry

People have ideas about my state, particularly people who aren't from here. About 10 years ago in New York City, I mentioned to a new acquaintance--a young, well-educated journalist--that I was flying back that afternoon to my home in Livingston, Mont. A look of concern came over the fellow's face that was similar to the expression on Montanans' faces when they had heard I was visiting New York City. "Take care of yourself. Be careful," the fellow said. Montana, he contended, was a bastion of dangerous right-wing zealotry. Not only did the state's residents carry guns, persecute environmentalists and gather behind...

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