Strong political opinions from farmers

Havre Daily News/Lindsay Brown

Lowell Miller and Shorty Stuart play pinochle Tuesday at the Gildford Mercantile.

Rural areas have, in most elections over the past 40 years, sided with Republican candidates while major urban areas, such as New York, Chicago and Missoula, have sided with Democratic candidates.

Talking to farmers and ranchers of Hill and Blaine counties, it seems that the tendency continues, though not as much for the Republican platform as for the general disdain for and mistrust of government that many Republicans have expressed constantly and acted on rarely.

"I think we're sc...