Posted by LinuxIsBest at 7/3/08 7:31 p.m.

Obama is the product of a welfare upbringing. As President he'll work hard to take money from anyone who has a job to give to the "less fortunate." When a candidate tells you that everyone deserves to live a full and productive life the hidden message is that those who work need to pay for that life for those who don't.

Obama is this generation's Lyndon B. Johnson (War on Poverty) only much worse. He'll turn America back into a mass welfare society and bankrupt us all in the process.

Obama as President would be a working American's worst nightmare (unless you're really rich or poor).

Posted by wsu78 at 7/3/08 7:38 p.m.

He's done pretty well for himself considering that "welfare upbringing".

Columbia graduate, married to a Harvard grad, U.S. Senator

He's sponsored a welfare reform bill (Welfare to Work), and co-sponsored a tax cut in the Illinois senate.

Im taking this from a critique of his first post-primary season advertisement.

Posted by dragonfly777 at 7/3/08 8:00 p.m.

Obama is a changeling. So is McCain. The difference...McCain never put up the air of purity and Godliness Obama claims to have. Don't you people get it...and I mean this with no malice. Obama is duping us. He talks change and he is..changing his mind and making promises to whoever he thinks he can get a vote from. He has no change left...he is only ego and wants to win at any cost left. He is selling out to any vote. He and McCain are the same..cut from the same cloth. Obama is McSame and McSame is Obama! Obama is old politics with a new coat of paint! There is nothing new. The biggest difference I see..is Obama is a bigger lair than McCain...he lied from the beginning AND took all your money.
He has enough campaign funds to provide a stimulous package and could have if he had kept his word about the campaign financing, but no 295 million plus wasn't enough. That's a quarter of a billion dollars !!!! And didn't even consider giving one cent to a poor, hungry downtrodden homeless person...you know those people he wants to help...That's the saddest thing of all...........

Posted by unregistered user at 7/3/08 9:21 p.m.

dragonfly,

you could have saved yourself some time and gone right to the point:

"I, dragonfly777, am a McSame/McBush supporter."

Do you think anyone who supports Obama gives a flying phluck what you say about Obama?

Posted by unregistered user at 7/3/08 10:56 p.m.

Don't know if the Obama family enjoyed it, but it was a great show! Two thunderstorms blew through Butte just before the official fireworks show, and Butte neighborhoods put on their usual demonstration of patriotism with fireworks block parties!

Posted by ericmiami at 7/4/08 5:48 a.m.

If pragmatism prevails in Montana, Bush III won't stand a chance. I'm hoping the good people of Montana take an honest look at Obama.
Eric Hussein Miami

Posted by seahawks12 at 7/4/08 7:16 a.m.

I've now lived in Seattle for over 30 years. I've lived here but I still consider my birthplace and childhood home of Butte, Montana my true home. So when friends asked why Mr. Obama would want to visit Butte Montana for the 4th...while an obvious choice for anyone knowing Buttes significant history, not so much for the average American.

Most feel that Montana's electorate would never be numerous enough to greatly affect national politics, but what the state lacked in quantity, it has more than made up for in the effectiveness of it's elected representatives. Always politically conscious and demonstrative, Butte, itself, has entertained and imposing number of presidents and candidates. Many of them appearing in Buttes wonderful 4th of July festivities. Among those, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Howard Taft, Warren Harding, Eisenhower and JFK and Mrs. Kennedy.

So why was Butte Montana a required stop on the road to the White House? We'll in a word, mining. The mines of Butte always have been the true essence of Butte. Most who have lived in Butte were unusually dependent on the mines in one way or another. Butte copper played key roles in the industrialization of America. My own family lived in Butte since 1860 and all Irish immigrants from Cork Ireland. Most although not all of them were hard rock miners. As the people of Butte created a unique lifestyle of the great mining camp, so did the mines create the lifestyle of the people.

Most aren't aware that the "Richest Hill On Earth" is also known as "The Gibraltar of Unionism". Butte has been a union town since June 13, 1878 when the Butte Workingman's Union was organized. Since that time, there have been strikes, violence, solidarity, and dynamiting's! One of the many union disputes occurred on June 23 rd 1914 when bout 100 men opened rifle fire from Union Hall upon thousands of miners gathered around the building. The miner's returned the fire causing the Union president and others to ultimately flee the building. The attacking miners then took cases of dynamite from the nearby mines and blew up the hall! Whatever the changes in union alignments may have been, one fact is clear: Butte has always been a union town!

Coming full circle Butte is now the site of the largest superfund cleanup in the country. The people of Butte are working diligently to ensure that the the mining that occurred in the last 140 years, does not have adverse effects on Montana's pristine ecology. Their efforts are impressive. They have completed a ground water treatment facility which removes the toxic minerals from existing mine water and it is then returned to nearby Silver Bow Creek safe for fish and wildlife.

So when Mr. Obama visits Butte on Friday to appear in the parade, no doubt, this history played a significant role. Butte is a prime example of what is important to America...Families, Immigrants, Industry, history, and of course politics and the environment.

The theme of this years celebration is "Family Businesses".

The campaign made a smart choice for the Obama family. One that I believe will put Montana firmly in the Obama war chest of growing former republican strongholds.

Happy Birthday America!

Posted by Danube Logus at 7/4/08 7:25 p.m.

Whomever is advising Obama to campaign in a red state like Montana must be on McCain's payroll. Obama has zero chance of winning the electorally-small state of Montana. Obama should spend his time and money campaigning in electorally-large purple states like Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

Obama must win all three states in order to reach the magic number of 270 electoral votes. Florida and Ohio were won by Bush in 2000 & 2004 while Gore and Kerry barely won Pennsylvania.

The 44th president will have won at least two of these states in the upcoming November election. Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania will determine who the 44th president will be. Not Montana.

Posted by jfred at 7/5/08 8:57 a.m.

Obama has a very real chance of turning Montana blue. I an a native of the state and get back there frequently. My discussions about the prez election when I'm back there tell me its close. He also has offices in about 4-5 of the state's largest citities. Also, remember the state has about the 5th lowest wage level in the country and whose message do you think is going to resonate with those people?

To dispargage Obama's efforts in these types of states is to repeat the errors of the Clinton campaign if you are a McCain fan.

Posted by Kilroy was here at 7/5/08 12:22 p.m.

My best 4th of July's were spent in Butte. We needed McCain as president 8 years ago ... now it is Obama time.

Posted by Danube Logus at 7/5/08 3:28 p.m.

Again - Dumbocrats tend to be idiots when it comes to trying to win presidential elections. The proof is in the facts - the Dummies have lost 7 of the last 10 presidential elections.

Thinking Obama has a chance of winning Montana is just plain ignorant. Spending money and time trying to win the electorally-small state of Montana is just plain stupid.

And continuing stupid campaign strategies will make it 8 of the last 11 presidential elections lost by the Dumbocrats.

Posted by fishy3333 at 7/7/08 12:57 p.m.

Just goes to show ya, if you're a democrat, you're dumb...if you're a republican...you're dumb...depending on which side you're on, of course...

Posted by voiceguy at 7/7/08 1:27 p.m.

THIS JUST IN: McCain to accept nomination at Minneapolis Denny's.

A McCain spokesperson announced today that in response to the move of Barack Obama's accepting the Democratic nomination to a major football stadium, John McCain will move his acceptance of the Republican nomination as well. McCain campaign adviser Carly Fiorina said "We feel that we should also move the John McCain acceptance speech to a venue that reflects the inspiration and energy of our campaign, so we've chosen the downtown Denny's". The September 4th event will be held in the back section of the downtown Denny's and will start promptly at 4pm, so as to take advantage of the blue plat special and not conflict with Senator McCain's naptime.

Posted by unregistered user at 7/8/08 1:54 p.m.

No wonder Butte, Montana, loves Barack Obama.

It's called Butte AMERICA for a reason: Butte represents the working class, small town, open-minded, liberal spirit that has made America great.

When the mines closed and Superfund came to town in the early 1980s, Butte embraced the change and rolled with it. Butte is, admittedly, more like Cleveland Pittsburgh Detroit and other working class cities than it is like most other Montana towns--especially eastern Montana where welfare ranchers complain about the federal government while looking for the next handout...

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