Watch a video from the Mansfield-Metcalf dinnerAn estimated 4,000 party members pitched signs along the sidewalk as they filed into the Butte Civic Center for the annual Mansfield-Metcalf Democratic Party dinner, braving a harsh wind and navigating a line that snaked around the building in order to take in dueling appearances by presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who stumped here in an effort to win voters for their bid for the Democratic nomination.
Some of those who turned out for the occasion had drawn a hard line and settled on a candidate, while others remained undecided, but a dynamic political verve swept supporters from both camps into one rousing throng.
Brock was still “shopping around” for a candidate to support in the hours leading up to the dinner, but said he hoped to learn more about their concerns for working-class America.
“We've got a long way to go,” said Brock, 25. “There's no reason anybody in this nation working a full-time job should be poor, but here we are.”
For 88-year-old Paul Ringling, a World War II veteran and rancher from Miles City, the talk of the night was the war in Iraq.
“My No. 1 issue is this disaster in Iraq,” said Ringling, who donned a Veteran for Foreign Wars fez in support of his hometown chapter. “Before we ever got into this goddamned thing I opposed it, and I oppose it even more today.”
Rep. Margarett Campbell of Poplar, vice chairwoman of the Montana Democratic Party and one of the state's coveted superdelegates, showed off a crisp digital photograph of her standing beside Obama. While Campbell had not yet endorsed either candidate, she hinted that a decision could be forthcoming before the evening wrapped up - and said her fawning over Obama's photo was no indication of which way she was leaning.
“I danced all night long at Bill Clinton's inaugural ball, but that doesn't mean anything,” Campbell said. “I've met with Senator Obama and the other superdelegates, and I will meet with Senator Clinton after she speaks. Then we'll see.”
“I think he's got it wrapped up,” said Jack Holland, of Springfield, Ill., a staunch Obama supporter since the candidate's early days in the state legislature.
Yellowstone County Commissioner Bill Kennedy and his daughter, Erin, both support Clinton, and said they are eager to see a woman in the White House.
“In Montana, these Kennedys support Hillary,” the commissioner said.
Milt Datsopoulos, a Missoula attorney who has supported Clinton for decades, said he was inspired by the energy Obama was bringing to the political event, which seemed to infect everyone in attendance as they chanted “Obama, Obama, Obama.”
“I'm here supporting the Democratic Party primarily. But I look at Obama as a new way of politics that goes beyond my age,” said Datsopoulos, 67. “The energy that he creates, I have not seen since John Kennedy. For the first time ever, my children are acutely energized by the politicians. I think this can break down the political gridlock and all the nonsense that came out of the Nixon years. This is an opportunity for the United States to start rebuilding its prestige.”
Datsopoulos said he rarely attended political functions because they often seem passe.
“It's like going to the same circus,” he said. “This is a new act.”
It was clear that both presidential candidates had caught a whiff of the intoxicating political ethers wafting around town before Saturday night's rally, as they both responded with quips to the crowd's raucous vim and vigor.
“I spent a little time at the M&M, shaking some hands,” Obama said of the famed Butte bar. “I wanted to have a beer, but my staff wouldn't let me.
“Governor, can you teach me how to fish?” Obama asked, turning toward Gov. Brian Schweitzer. “10-to-2, 10-to-2. I am coming back and I am going to learn how to fly-fish.”
Clinton said she was “thrilled to be here tonight at the Richest Hill on Earth,” which she hailed as “the birthplace of the Democratic Party in the Rocky Mountain West.”
Clinton expressed her disappointment in missing Butte's storied St. Patrick's Day celebration.
“The only party in Butte that is better than St. Patrick's Day is the Democratic Party,” she said.
Meanwhile, some of the most politically charged supporters who turned out for the rally were youths who will not be of voting age before the presidential election, like Drew Dokken, 17, a Bozeman High School student who turns 18 just weeks after the Nov. 4 election.
“I'm keeping an open mind, not that it matters,” Dokken said.
Joe Kirk, 16, wore a foot-high, orange-and-black striped mohawk, while his date, Adair Borges, 15, dressed to the nines in a dark evening gown. Both said they attended the rally to support Obama.
“I have to say, the ‘Hope' commercial, with all the musicians, it really got to me,” Kirk said.
Carol Byrnes and Sharon Haugen, both of Helena, said they made the trip to Butte to support their county commissioner, Ed Tinsley, also a superdelegate who has endorsed Obama.
“But we're part of that undecided group,” Byrnes said, “and this is a perfect opportunity to make a decision because both candidates are making appearances.”
Earl Old Person, chief of the Blackfeet Nation in Browning, said he was undecided, but hoped the candidates would touch on Native issues such as health care and education.
“I'm concerned about our health and our education,” Old Person said. “Our health services need better funding and our young people need to be encouraged. I've come here to listen and see what comes out of this.”
State Sen. Dave Wanzenried, D-Missoula, remembers listening to Obama speak on BBC radio during a three-week camping trip in the Yukon Territory years ago.
“It was electric,” he said. “I was watching the northern lights and listening to this man speak, and the northern lights started to just crackle. And I thought, ‘I'd better listen up.' So I did. And when he announced his decision to run for president, I knew this was something special.”
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