NEWS

Locals gather to watch political football

Phil Drake
pdrake@greatfallstribune.com

HELENA — Jake Coats was driving through town Monday from Glacier on his way home to Livingston when he and his sister decided to stop and watch the presidential debate.

They then found themselves in Bert and Ernie’s Dining Saloon & Grill in a sea of Democrats and munching on dinner as Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton went toe to toe.

With the debate past the halfway mark, he still hadn’t determined who would get his vote.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Personally, I don’t like either of them.”

“I was for Bernie (Sanders) and I still am,” Coats, 26, said.

It wasn’t professional football bringing cheers and groans to many Montanans on Monday, it was politics.

And several Democrats and Republicans huddled together as the presidential candidates faced off for the first time in a debate in New York moderated by NBC newsman Lester Holt.

While Coats sat upstairs of the Last Chance Gulch eatery watching the debate as it blared from TVs, about 80 Democrats crowded together downstairs and watched the action on a big-screen TV.

Matt Elsaesser said it was good to see so many of Trump’s comments go on the record and he looked forward to viewing the fact-checking pages afterward.

Linda Crofts, a businesswoman who is active in the Democratic Party, said Clinton was more focused on how to move forward as president and Trump seemed to be reciting his resume and business experience.

Don’t tell that to Chris Shipp, a political consultant, and the handful of Republicans who joined him at The Montana Group offices across town.

He said Clinton repeated “canned, standard answers” while Trump’s comments resonated with middle America.

“I think they (viewers) are seeing a difference in style,” he said.

He described Clinton as “robotic” and said Trump was speaking to the people.

Another person in the room, who asked not to be named because she is working on a campaign, said Trump speaks the language of the average person.

“Maybe pundits think he is over the top and obnoxious, but people are angry,” she said. “I might not like it, but he speaks to the masses.”

Tom Gocksch said he’s a Democrat but wasn’t part of the cheer section downstairs at Bert and Ernie’s.

He said Trump was proving the fact he doesn’t understand the concepts that Clinton was expressing.

“It’s clear to anyone he is lying and not knowledgeable,” Gocksch said.

Crofts said the debate is what democracy is all about, adding that both candidates made good points and the voters tuned in to help them make a decision going forward.

The watch party in Helena was one of three organized in the state by Hillary for Montana with the others in Bozeman and Missoula.

The party for Trump down the street was held at the Montana Group.

As of Sept. 1, Montana voters have contributed more money to Clinton than to Trump.

Through the end of July, Clinton had raised $264,000 in Montana compared to about $171,000 for Trump, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

FEC data shows Democratic presidential candidates have out-fundraised GOP candidates twice since 1980.

Trump, 70, won Montana’s GOP primary, collecting all of the state’s 27 delegates. Clinton, 68, lost the Democratic primary to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., securing 10 of the party’s 21 delegates.

Trump visited the Treasure State on May 26, with a stop in Billings that drew 7,500.

Sanders came to Missoula and Billings on May 11 and former President Bill Clinton campaigned for wife, Hillary in Billings on May 20.

Montana has backed a Democratic presidential candidate twice since 1952, including in 1992, when the state voted for Bill Clinton over incumbent Republican President George H.W. Bush.

Shipp predicted Trump would win Montana by double digits Nov. 8.

Tribune capitol reporter Christopher Doering contributed to this story.