O.K., I think I discovered the Democratic plan of attack for 2006, 2008, and beyond. That great Demo strategist The Daily Kos thinks that Montana can be made into a swing state. He points out that whereas Gore got 33% of the Montana vote, Kerry got 38% (Bush went from 58% in 2000 to 59% in 2004). Because of some state issues that the Demos have been able to use, they now have a majority in the state Senate and four out of five state-wide offices. Kos thinks that Montana may become a swing state because there are some "libertarian" tendencies there, and he quotes with approval a reader who writes: "Westerners want candidates with spine. You could probably run on gay marriage in Montana if your campaign plan was to bar-fight your way across the state--people would respect that." Not all liberals are "pencil-necked spinless wimps" and its time to make Montana into a swing state! Well, this is a bit optimistic, I’m guessing. The folks I met in Montana, cowboys all I admit, might be persuaded over time to vote for a national Democrat, but not in my lifetime. If this is Democratic optimism, they’re hurtin’.

This reminds me of a story I heard in Montana: A few years ago, some do-gooders came up with an alternative to Montana ranchers for controlling the coyote population. For years the ranchers just shot the darn things, but the do-gooders proposed a more humane solution. There was a big meeting between the tree-huggers and the ranchers, and the former proposed that the coyotes be captured alive, the males castrated and then let loose. The coyote population would then be controlled. The room became quiet for a while. Finally an old man in the back stood up, tipped his hat back, and said, "Son, you don’t get what the problem is. Those coyotes ain’t breeding with our sheep--they’re eatin’ them."