Local Dems laud prime seats in Denver

By DANIEL PERSON Chronicle Staff Writer

Amid an election year with unprecedented attention on Montana’s three electoral votes, Democrats from the state have yet another unprecedented feat to celebrate: a floor seat at the national convention in Denver.

AP Ruby Gilliam, a delegate from Minerva, Ohio, wears a hat decorated with a sign promoting both Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Monday. “We’ve been in the cheap seats for at least the last three conventions,” said Ed Tinsley, a Lewis and Clark County Commissioner and superdelegate from Montana. “We’re on the floor. It’s pretty incredible.”

The convention kicked off Monday at the Pepsi Center in Denver, where Democrats are expected to nominate Barack Obama as their candidate for the White House.

Montana Democrats at the convention said the prime seating n 15 rows back on the floor beside major swing states including Florida and Pennsylvania and the presidential ticket’s home states of Illinois and Delaware n is another sign that Obama considers winning Montana a real possibility.

“To me, it shows that this campaign is taking Montana seriously and not just giving us lip service,” Tinsley said.

Montana Democratic Party spokesman Kevin O’Brien echoed that sentiment.

“That’s a testament of how well we’ve done in recent years and how important we are this year,” he said.

Recently, John McCain’s campaign questioned whether Obama was scaling back his efforts in traditionally Republican states like Montana, evidenced by a halt in television advertising in Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota and Virginia. In the most recent poll conducted in Montana, Obama and McCain are statistically tied. A poll in early July showed Obama slightly up on McCain.

Caleb Weaver, a spokesman for Obama’s Montana campaign, confirmed that the television ads in several states had been pulled, but that it is only for the week of the convention.

“It’s exactly what you’d think n with all the coverage, there was going to be adequate chance to see Barack Obama this week,” Weaver said.

Also, Obama is planning a campaign stop in Billings on Wednesday en route to Denver. He’ll be hosting a town hall meeting with an invited group of veterans and military families. The visit marks Obama’s fifth trip to the state since his campaign began.

National media has continued to cover the anomaly of Montana as a swing state. The nationally syndicated radio talk show “Here and Now” will be following the Montana delegation throughout the week, investigating how the state’s delegates see Obama’s message playing out in the state n including on the touchy subject of guns.

JP Pomnichowski, one of three delegates from Bozeman who are part of the 29-person delegation, said the fact that the convention is being held in Denver shows the Democratic Party is improving its appeal in the western United States.

“I’m glad we can host the convention and have a front line role in the policy discussions,” she said. “I feel as though the party is more attuned to the issues of the West, and that’s important to me. The West matters.”

Pomnichowski is in Denver as an alternate Hillary Clinton delegate. Also in Denver from Bozeman are state Sen. Larry Jent, an alternate Obama delegate and Kristin Taylor, an Obama delegate.

Daniel Person can be reached at dperson@dailychronicle.com or 582-2665.

Reader Comments