3 April 2016
The percentages of “Us” and “Them” in Montana
Let’s begin with definitions. “Us” means a resident of Montana who was born in Montana. “Them” means a resident of Montana who was born somewhere else. “Us” are the anointed, the ones with the birthright to call themselves Real Montanans. “Them” are The Others, the immigrant class who must forever pay the price of not choosing mothers wise enough to give birth in Montana.
How do I know this? I have it on the authority of Montana Gov. Steve Bullock. The About section of his re-election campaign’s website spells it out clearly:
One of Us
As a boy, Steve Bullock delivered newspapers to the governor’s home in Helena. He never imagined he would end up living there.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Born in Missoula and raised in Helena, Steve has always called Montana home. Growing up, he gave boat tours on the Missouri River near the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness Area. In 1999, he married Helena-native Lisa Downs. Together they raise their children Caroline, Alexandria and Cameron in Helena, shuttling between school activities, soccer and basketball games, and trips across Montana.
Despite his Montana genes and birthright, Bullock took his undergraduate degree from Claremont McKenna College in California, and his law degree from Columbia University in New York City, the metropolis just across the Hudson River from New Jersey, where Montana’s Democrats want voters to think that Bozeman businessman Greg Gianforte, the Republican who wants Bullock’s job, is from. Gianforte did attend college in the garden state, but like Denise Juneau, he was born in California.
So how many are there of the Us? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 54.1 percent of Montana residents were born in Montana, which means there are 540,000 Real Montanans under the Big Sky. Disclosure: I’m a Them. Here’s the breakdown:
Across the nation, 58.8 percent of Americans were born in the state in which they live. At 78.8 percent, Louisiana has the highest Us to Them ratio. At 24.3 percent, Nevada has the lowest. These and other numbers are from the Census Bureau’s Lifetime Mobility in the United States: 2010 (PDF). Here’s a modified map from that publication:
Campaigning on an Us versus Them theme in a state with so Thems strikes me as a bit risky. And it seems especially given the candidate is only from Missoula, and not from Butte, where he was born in a copper mine that he dug himself.