Bitterroot Dale
 | |
| Era | The Nineties |
|---|---|
| Age | 35-50 |
| Home | Bitterroot Valley, MT |
| Demographic | rural white, patriot movement, self-employed |
| Lean | Strong Republican |
| Race | white |
| Successor | Flathead Wade |
Dale is a self-employed mechanic on a Montana smallholding who is armed, home-schools and stays off the tax rolls. He represents the patriot movement of the Ruby Ridge and Waco years, hostile to both parties and Republican only as the lesser of two federal governments.
Who they stand for
Dale stands for the militia and patriot movement of the northern Rocky Mountain states between the Ruby Ridge standoff and the rise of the internet. In 1992, an FBI siege at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, killed Randy Weaver's wife and son. In 1993, an ATF raid and a fifty-one-day standoff at Waco, Texas, ended with seventy-six people dead in a fire. These events were followed by the Brady Act and the federal assault weapons ban. Out of this came the Militia of Montana, which treats the county sheriff as the highest legitimate authority under the Constitution. The Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 put the militia movement on the front page of every newspaper and cost it most of its ability to recruit. Dale's bloc of voters is small, rural, armed and largely does not vote, concentrated in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Alaska. His successors, Flathead Wade and Montana Matt, keep his suspicion of government but change its target. Wade directs it at the Federal Reserve through the broadcaster Alex Jones; Matt directs it at red-flag gun laws through the internet. Each is less armed and more attached to a political party than Dale was. Dale alone stands outside both parties.
Playing to them
Dale is won by a president who leaves him alone. Gun rights, a smaller federal government, deference to the authority of the county sheriff, an honest official account of Ruby Ridge and Waco, and a president who talks about the Constitution as a limit on his own power all help keep Dale's support. He cannot be moved on the rest. Any new gun control measure, any expansion of the ATF or FBI, any suggestion of United Nations authority, or a tax enforcement drive all confirm his suspicion of a government conspiracy, and no domestic programme offsets it. Dale is not a reliable vote for anyone, and the realistic goal with him is to avoid pushing him into open hostility.
Dale is cheap to win over in private and costly to be seen courting in public. Scarsdale Ellen, Madison Steph and Castro Marty regard any president who apologises to the militia movement as complicit in the Oklahoma City bombing. Bay Ridge Kevin distrusts anyone who takes a position against the police. Country Club Chip finds association with Dale embarrassing. Lejeune Dustin and Ozark Wayne share Dale's attachment to guns and his resentment of government, and follow along with him.
Where they live
The five states where Bitterroot Dale makes up the largest share of the electorate in the nineties:
- Idaho
- Montana
- Wyoming
- Alaska
- Utah
Lineage
Bitterroot Dale → Flathead Wade → Montana Matt
Same guns, same reading of the Constitution, a different enemy and a different information source each decade. Dale's enemies are the ATF and the FBI after Ruby Ridge and Waco, and he hears about them on shortwave radio. Wade's are the Patriot Act and the Federal Reserve, and he hears about them from Alex Jones and Ron Paul. Matt's are federal surveillance and red-flag gun laws, and he hears about them online. Each is less armed and more online than the last. Dale stood outside both parties. Matt votes Republican as a libertarian.