Lovely pictures of the Obama family and their fun July 4th/Birthday celebration.
AND a lovely article from a local Montana paper.
When Obama arrived and stepped out of an enormous bus, he was greeted with a rowdy "O-BAM-A" chant from the crowd, which quickly provided a hearty rendition of "Happy Birthday" for Malia.
Bob and Marlys Krause of Victor spurned Hamilton’s Independence Day parade and woke at 5 a.m. so they could reach Butte by 8 a.m. and catch of glimpse of Obama.
"We really like him," Marlys Krause said.
"He’s our only hope," added Bob Krause, a 70-year-old who retired from the log home industry. "We just wanted to see him - and to let him know he has our support."
Butte-Silver Bow County Attorney Bob McCarthy was in the crowd, with a front-row vantage of the day’s twin celebrities: the annual parade and Obama’s visit.
Said McCarthy: "This is terrific. I’m an Obama supporter. I saw him in April when he was here last and shook his hand. He’s a great man, he’s very perceptive and really concerned about things that are of interest to our country."
Although Obama’s competition, Hillary Clinton, received Butte’s Democratic primary vote in June, McCarthy is confident the Mining City will turn out in support of Obama in November.
"He’ll do fine here," McCarthy explained. "He’s a Democrat and this is a Democratic town."
This is amazing, folks. Montana has never really been exposed to Democratic ideas. Having our primary there was a boon for increasing the profile of our party and giving them a chance to really take a look at Barack. And now they even get to share a very special day with our nominee!!
I think Montana will be blue this year. They have an independent streak, a mostly white population (which for complicated reasons means they have less racial resentment) and an extremely popular Democratic governor. Obama already has paid staff in the states, he's already running ads and...he's already 5 points ahead!!!!!!!!!!
So happy July Fourth, Happy Birthday Malia and let's turn Montana blue!