I don't know how to make sense of anything in polls, even if we ignore the 5-10% of the people who answer "Don't know". The one below is a great example. 53% of Montanans thought the state was headed in the wrong direction.
Overall approval ratings (splitting obviously by party lines, showing the letter after the name is a "cheat code")
Trump 42%
Gianforte 46%
Daines 41%
Sheehy 43%
Zinke 33%
Downing 43%
What did Zinke do together such disapproval? Did I miss something?
This demonstrates my point and the point Big Fin made in the podcast. People may be upset but they don't change their vote. More than half disapprove of the state's direction but people are not willing to change the driver of the bus, locally or nationally. Blaming the party system is a cop out. Change the election system so you go to a run off and the winner has to receive more than 50% of the vote. Some states do that but I wouldn't say it has changed their political profile. You want money out of politics? They run all the ads because they work. Again, we are sheep. Are brains default to what is easiest. You want more parties? There are 4 people running for the MT Senate : R, D, L, I. There were 10 candidates in 2024 for President of the US.
More parties, or zero parties, just makes it harder for voters to differentiate candidates. Much of how we got here was voter apathy. I default to higher turnout being better than lower turnout given we are a democracy. Run off, rank choice, anything new, I am all for trying anything, except maybe the state picking the candidates, which is where this is headed.
Montana voters give low marks to elected officials, say state is on the “wrong track.”
montanafreepress.org
