-Brian Schweitzer is one of the most popular Governors in the country with 55% of voters approving of him to 33% who disapprove. In addition to having a unified Democratic base behind him he's very strong with independents at 55/30 and has a 30% approval with Republicans, much more crossover support than any other major politician in the state has.
-Max Baucus is one of the least popular Senators in the country with only 37% of voters approving of him to 51% who disapprove. Even Democrats aren't terribly enthused about him (65/25) and support from independents (34/53) and Republicans (16/73) is limited.
-Schweitzer would lead Baucus 51-35 in a hypothetical 2014 primary contest...and given their respective approval numbers, Democrats might need Schweitzer to replace Baucus as their candidate in order to hold onto this seat that year.
-Montana reflects what we see in most of the country when it comes to expanded rights for same sex couples. Voters in the state oppose gay marriage by a 51/37 margin. But when you add civil unions to the mix, 62% support some form of legal recognition for gay couples to only 35% who think there shouldn't be any at all.
-Montana voters don't support the goals of either the Occupy Wall Street movement (33/44) or the Tea Party (40/44). The Occupy Wall Street numbers are pretty predictable in a conservative state like Montana, but the poor numbers for the Tea Party there really speak to how much the popularity of that movement has faded.
-Montana's favorite NFL team is...the Green Bay Packers, which really speaks to how broad their fan support is right now. I think if we did a national poll on it this month there's a good chance they'd have more fans even than the supposed 'America's team' Dallas Cowboys. The Packers are at 19% to 16% for the Denver Broncos, 8% for the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks, 7% for the Cowboys, 6% for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and 5% for the Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers.
-Although Seattle's NFL team is the favorite of only 8% of Montana voters its baseball team, the Mariners, comes out first on the MLB front at 19% to 10% for the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, and New York Yankees, 8% for the Minnesota Twins, 5% for the Atlanta Braves, 4% for the Cincinnati Reds, and 2% for the Milwaukee Brewers. That speaks to the power of MLB's TV territories- the Mariners have the rights to Montana and that practically forces people in the state to choose them as their team because it's the only one they get to watch on a regular basis.
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