HILLARY CLINTON FOR PRESIDENT
Headquarters:
Missoula - 139 E. Main Street, Missoula, MT  59802  ...open house May 4
Billings -   2nd Ave "in the old Copper Colander building" ...open house May 5

State Director

Matt McKenna

(started early April 2008)  Traveling press spokesman for Bill Clinton starting mid-Dec. 2007.  Communications director for Sen. Jon Tester.  Spokesman on Tester's 2006 campaign.  Press secretary on Senate campaigns in Alaska, Louisiania and Georgia.  Worked for Tester in the state legislature.  Spokesman for Brian Schweitzer on his 2000 U.S. Senate campaign.  Graduate of Montana State University.  From Bozeman.
 
 

Communications Director

Kate Downen

(announced April 24, 2008)  Press secretary on Jon Tester’s successful U.S. Senate campaign in 2006. She spent several years in Montana’s Flathead Valley working on regional economic development issues and worked as NewWest.Net’s Flathead Valley editor.  Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Notre Dame.
 
 

Indian Affairs Coordinator

Lena Belcourt

(announced April 24, 2008) A Chippewa Cree Tribal member.  Health policy analyst and consultant who advises elected Tribal Leadership in their in local, state and national policymaking.  In 2004 Belcourt served on then Governor-Elect Schweitzer’s transition team as a policy advisor, and in 2005 she was detailed by the Chippewa Cree Tribe to the Office of the Governor of Montana, serving as the Governor Schweitzer’s Policy Advisor on Health and Disability. Lives on the Rocky Boy Reservation in north central Montana.
 
 

Senior Advisor

Walter Schweitzer

(announced April 24, 2008)  Third-generation Montana farmer and rancher from near Geyser. Schweitzer has worked as an agriculture consultant around the world and has volunteered on several campaigns, including his brother Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s campaigns. Born in Great Falls.
 

endorsed by
Kalispell Mayor Pam Kennedy (announced May 15, 2008)

Northern Cheyenne President Geri Small (announced May 8, 2008)

(announced April 23, 2008)
State Sen. Ken Hansen, Harlem
State Rep. Norma Bixby, Lame Deer
State Rep. Julie French, Scobey
State Rep. Veronica Smalls Eastman, Lodge Grass
Julia Doney, Democratic Activist, Fort Belknap
Former Rep. Angela Russell, Lodge Grass
Former Rep. Bob Gervais, Browning

State Sen, Vicki Cocchiarella (Missoula) (announced April 22, 2008)
State Rep. Franke Wilmer (Bozeman) (announced April 21, 2008)

Yellowstone County Commissioner Bill Kennedy (April 14, 2008)
 

Press Release from Hillary Clinton for President
April 15, 2008

Today a group of Montana leaders released a letter decrying comments made last Friday by Sen. Barack Obama widely seen as offensive towards rural America.

BACKGROUND: At a fundraiser in San Francisco last week, Senator Obama shared his views of Americans from small towns: "it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Text of the letter from Montana leaders follows:

We wish to express our sincere disappointment with comments made by Sen. Barack Obama at a private San Francisco fundraiser last week - comments which demean the heritage and values of working Montanans.

Sen. Obama’s views are offensive to rural Montanans who work everyday to provide for our families, lift up our communities and strengthen our state and country.

We embrace our faith not out of frustration but as a foundation of the values that guide us - the values we have inherited and the values we pass on.

Montanans are hunters. Many Montanans feel the Second Amendment is a part of our heritage as sportsmen and recreationists. It is not something we ‘cling to’ out of bitterness.

We have faced difficult times, but Montanans are resilient, optimistic and unwavering in our commitment to our families and country.

After seven years of a president who refused to talk to us, the last thing we need is a presidential candidate who talks down to us.

Sen. Obama’s remarks also serve to drive us further apart instead of uniting us around the great challenges we face together. We need good-paying jobs. We need an end to this war. We need health care for every American. But to meet these challenges, we need a president who respects and honors our values.

We are intelligent, optimistic people who believe in a better America. We need a president who stands up and fights for us, and shares our can-do spirit. That is what Montanans will be looking for when we go to the polls on June 3rd.

Sincerely,

Former Representative Pat Williams
State Senate Majority Leader Carol Williams
State Senator Carol Juneau
Representative Bill Wilson
Representative Diane Sands
Representative Shannon Augare
Senate Pro Tempore Dan Harrington
Former State Senator Dorothy Eck
 
 

Copyright © 2008  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action