Last week, I had the opportunity to talk to several people as they waited in line for the Trump Rally in Bozeman. The energy was palpable with music blaring and the crowd packing the parking lot. We talked about their policy issues of concern, what made them fans of President Trump, and what they thought of the other statewide elections in Montana.
Yellowstone County was well-represented, with several folks hailing from Billings and Shepherd.
Dylan and Rob of Billings arrived in Bozeman at 6 am to stake out their spot for the rally scheduled to start at 4 pm. This was their first political rally. Their biggest concerns were immigration, the economy, and education. On immigration, they expressed great concern for illicit drugs, including fentanyl, coming across the border and causing addiction and overdose in Montana. On education, Rob was discontented with the public-school system’s subpar results and response to bullying. President Trump has run on eliminating the Department of Education and leaving education to local and state governments. Dylan and Rob also hope to see some bipartisan unity, but don’t believe it will come from the left, as Rob and his six-year-old daughter were verbally harassed with a slew of expletives the day before while he was wearing a Trump t-shirt.
Brandon, a veteran from Shepherd, has been a Trump voter since 2016 and cares about downsizing government. He fears high taxes, high government spending, and overregulation have killed our economy. Many economists share the sentiment– high government spending, such as the $1.9 trillion “Inflation Reduction Act”, will either be financed by increased government borrowing that will raise interest rates, leading to a fall in private investment spending and rise in inflation, or by increased taxes, that will cut into the net wages of American workers. On the issue of other statewide races, Brandon had some choice words for Jon Tester, but we’ll leave it at calling him “a career politician.” He lambasted Tester’s Super PAC ad spending, which resulted in his young daughter having to watch several campaign ads while watching YouTube videos made for children. Brandon is planning on supporting Tim Sheehy and would like to see more veterans in office.
Casey and Melissa of Billings arrived at 7:15 am to get their spot in line. They have voted for President Trump since 2016, but have only recently been open about it, citing fear of retribution from the left-leaning companies they work for. Their main concerns were education and care for veterans. Melissa’s son is currently serving in the United States Marine Corps. They called Senator Tester a “flip-flop”.
Many folks at the rally came from all over the American West, and even from out of the country.
I ran into three Canadians, two from Alberta and one from Saskatchewan. The two from Alberta, who traveled for seven hours to get there, said there is a growing number of Trump-type voters in their hometown, with Canadians experiencing a similar case of rising prices for housing, gas, and groceries, which has only been exacerbated by the Canadian Liberal party’s implementation of carbon taxes. They said that the carbon taxes have disproportionately affected the poor and working class, as they are the ones that cannot afford solar panels and electric vehicles. The man from Saskatchewan traveled for nine hours just to see President Trump. He espoused support for the current Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre. His biggest concern in Canada is healthcare, with their publicly funded healthcare system often having obscene wait times and restrictions. He said that many Canadians must come to the United States for treatments, as people cannot always afford to wait months for medical procedures. Interestingly, Bernie Sanders is who got him interested in American politics, having been a “Bernie-bro” until familiarizing himself with Donald Trump back in 2016.
Pamela, from Tri-Cities, Washington, traveled eight hours to get to her second Trump rally. She has been a Trump supporter since 2016. Her biggest policy priorities were the border, support for the police, and inflation. She expressed concern for Kamala Harris’s support for the Minnesota Freedom Fund during the George Floyd riots, as the Fund posted bail for a man charged with the attempted murder of several police officers, a knife murderer, a rapist, and one domestic abuser who then committed a second-degree murder while out on bail, thanks to the Fund. Pamela is discontented with her pair of Democrat senators, but hopes Montana votes “sell-out” Tester out.
While the crowd was clearly nervous about the state of the country, there was still a sense of hope and excitement about the crowd. As the Brick-Breeden Fieldhouse filled and the rally started, chants of “USA”, “Build the Wall” and “Fight, Fight, Fight” broke out. The crowd erupted to State GOP Chair Don Kaltschmidt’s declaring of Montana as “Trumptana”.
