Welcome to Big Sky Country

Inter Lake editorial

Barack Obama deserves a hearty welcome in his first visit to Montana as president, and he's likely to get it.

A large crowd of supporters will surely be at today's "town hall" meeting at the Gallatin County airport in Belgrade. But there will also be a heavy helping of people who are deeply concerned, and skeptical, about the health-care reform plan that Obama is pitching.

The president deserves credit for jumping into the fray of town-hall meetings that have been contentious across the country over the last couple of weeks, with federal lawmakers hearing fierce opposition to the health-care legislation that's been developed so far. There should be some appreciation that Obama chose a town hall in Montana, a state that is traditionally well off the beaten path for most presidents.

There is no question that Obama is a big draw, especially when he is talking about such a consequential issue. The Bozeman Chronicle reports that people were camping outside the town's City Hall Wednesday night, in line to get their prize: one or two of the several hundred tickets that were expected to be available.

Belgrade and Bozeman city officials said people were calling from other states for tickets, and there was even a caller from the French Consulate in Los Angeles seeking admission.

A group of 15 Flathead Valley residents organized to travel to Bozeman to make their presence and their concerns known at a "Tea Party" rally on the Frontage Road to the airport that could attract "thousands," according to one Bozeman organizer.

Their concerns are many, regarding the expansion of the federal debt, the federal government and the growing influence of government over individuals and the private sector.

Some in the Democratic party have wrongly - and unwisely - dismissed their town-hall critics as "Astroturf" protesters, a fake grassroots movement somehow ginned up by big money interests.

While there surely has been organizing, we don't believe it to be a sign that the protests can be dismissed. There's nothing fake or insincere about the group from the Flathead, and there are many others like them across the country.

Obama will certainly get an earful, and his family's following vacation in Yellowstone National Park may be much needed.