Our own Jeanette Rankin was first elected to Congress (as a Republican from Montana) in 1916, putting a crack in the traditional mold of male legislators and money politics. She stood for real people and peace, despite personal danger in a time of war.
I hope that Amanda Curtis is in danger only because she is a woman and women are perhaps never completely safe in a male-dominated culture. She, too, stands for real people — teachers, children, workers of all kinds, everyone with hopes and dreams that do not rest solely on money — and, as a Montanan, is not against guns, but is for individual accountability and responsibility. Sounds a lot like peace — even freedom.
Nancy Schneider is another candidate who does not depend on Fox News-type sound bites and hype (“big government,” “the Constitution”), but thoughtfully considers what supports individuals and families and less prosperous social groups and wants to “work across the aisle” to make our state and our country stronger starting at the roots. Now is a great time to read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights again and think about what they could really mean.
It’s not that they’re women that makes these people important to our future; it’s that they have a different approach — people working together for the common good. How can we not want that? It’s about as Christian as you can get. Have we made any progress toward real peace and freedom in the past 98 years?
Mary Fahnestock-Thomas
Hamilton