“Gov. Huckabee's win may be the best thing that could happen for our caucus,” Iverson told about 40 members of the Five Valleys Pachyderm Club, meeting for lunch the day after the Iowa caucus.
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee bested the Republican field in the Iowa caucuses Thursday night, and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama won the Democratic contest.
“The last thing we wanted was for somebody to run the table. What we want is absolute chaos on Feb. 5, and it looks like that's what we're going to get,” Iverson said.
In Missoula, the Republican event is set in the DoubleTree Hotel. (Montana's Democrats hold their primary in June.)
“The caucus is open to anyone who wants to attend,” local party leader Will Deschamps said. “It's something new for us, and I think it will be a lot of fun.”
The schedule starts with a 6 p.m. social hour, with pitches from candidate representatives starting at 7 p.m. That should last 30 to 45 minutes, Deschamps said. Participants will then vote by secret ballot, tally the results, and settle in to watch the activity in other parts of the state.
“We're getting more attention than we've had in the past,” Iverson said of the decision to move the traditional June primary up to a February caucus. With so many other states front-loading the primary schedule, there's little chance Montana's three delegate votes would have any impact by summer.
Hopes are slim that any top candidates will campaign here. But Iverson said several campaigns have posted paid staff members in the state, which boosts the local energy level. That will pay off for Republican efforts to recover their state government majorities, he said.
One Pachyderm Club member questioned what the Montana GOP was going to do about a dozen Republican legislators who worked with Gov. Brian Schweitzer to break last year's budget impasse. Iverson called for tolerance.
“We're Republicans - we believe in the marketplace of ideas,” he said. “We can't continue to win elections if we don't expand our party. So we've got to let it go. There are people who have different philosophies, and that's what makes us strong. There's no reason to kick them out. That's a recipe to being a permanent minority party.”
He also called for greater outreach to the state's American Indian reservations, where Republicans have long had little presence.
“There are a lot of things we could be doing in the evenings other than this (campaigning),” Iverson said. “Give me another great 11 months.”
Iowa results have Huckabee, Obama camps in Montana cheering
By the Missoulian State Bureau
HELENA - Montanans volunteering on the presidential campaigns of Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama were delighted Friday with their respective candidates' victories in the Iowa caucuses.
Steve Daines, a Bozeman businessman heading up Huckabee's effort for the Feb. 5 Montana Republican caucus, was in Iowa with his wife, Cindy, to help the former Arkansas governor.
Huckabee's campaign dispatched 10 state coordinators Thursday in Iowa to speak as surrogates on his behalf at the caucuses. Daines said he and his wife were sent to Iowa City where 400 people had been expected, but 700 showed up.
“It was pretty amazing,” Daines said.
They hurried back to Des Moines to hear Huckabee's victory speech, and Huckabee “hit it out of the park,” Daines said.
“I think it just continues to establish the fact that Mike Huckabee is a legitimate candidate, and he's electable and he'll give us our best chance to win in November,” Daines said.
Meanwhile, Helena schoolteacher Beth Murphy, who heads the Obama volunteers there, said the Obama campaign sponsored caucus-watching parties in several cities, including Helena, Bozeman and Missoula.
“We're pretty excited over here,” she said. “I'm thrilled, but I wasn't surprised. I think there's tremendous momentum for Obama. I felt there was momentum before and this proves it.”
She was pleased with Obama's victory speech.
“We were really thrilled with his speech afterward,” Murphy said. “It mirrored some of the things that he said at the national convention four years ago. It unified rather than divided.”
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