The two candidates left in the race to represent the US Democratic Party in the upcoming presidential election, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, both made appearances in Missoula, MT this past weekend. Montana's primary election will be held on June 3, the last one to be held before the Democratic party convention. Since the race is still close, even the few delegates Montana has to send to the Convention may be at stake. If so, it would be a rare chance for Montana to make a difference in a national political contest.
Both candidates are excellent speakers, and come across much more favorably than they do on TV. Because their messages aren't chopped up into 30 second sound bites, you actually get to hear the rationale they have behind their positions and to get a sense of how they think about problems. The way the media portrays these candidates I think is both helpful and harmful. You may get more information than you did if the media didn't exist, but at the same time the way the media construct the view of events or people often times distorts who or what they really are. In political contests, I now think that it is really important to find out in person about the candidates if only to give yourself another perspective and to get closer to the truth.
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