"We need to work our level best in this legislative session to help grow Montana's economy, so that grandchildren can stay in Montana, grandchildren can visit their grandmother and grandfather by driving across town, not flying across the country"
About this Quote
Schweitzer’s line is policy pitched as family geography: the economy isn’t an abstract set of indicators, it’s the distance between generations. By repeating “grandchildren,” he frames growth as a retention strategy, not a brag sheet. The image is deliberately plainspoken - “driving across town” versus “flying across the country” - a gut-level contrast that turns demographic out-migration into a daily, relatable inconvenience. It’s not just about jobs; it’s about whether Montana becomes a place you’re from or a place you can actually keep living in.
The specific intent is legislative persuasion. He’s trying to yoke whatever agenda is coming - infrastructure, tax policy, workforce training, perhaps energy development - to a moral imperative: keep young people from leaving. That move also inoculates him against the usual suspicion of “economic growth” rhetoric. Growth can sound like it’s for developers and donors; he rebrands it as for grandparents.
The subtext is an anxiety familiar to rural states: brain drain, aging towns, and the slow hollowing-out that happens when opportunity clusters elsewhere. “Across town” quietly flatters the small-city ideal - community tight enough that family remains part of everyday life, not a holiday itinerary. It’s also a subtle rebuke to national economic centripetal force: if the market is pushing kids to Denver or Seattle, then state government has a duty to push back.
Contextually, this is Montana politics at its most pragmatic-populist: pride in place, suspicion of coastal gravity, and an appeal that makes economic development sound like keeping a promise to your own zip code.
The specific intent is legislative persuasion. He’s trying to yoke whatever agenda is coming - infrastructure, tax policy, workforce training, perhaps energy development - to a moral imperative: keep young people from leaving. That move also inoculates him against the usual suspicion of “economic growth” rhetoric. Growth can sound like it’s for developers and donors; he rebrands it as for grandparents.
The subtext is an anxiety familiar to rural states: brain drain, aging towns, and the slow hollowing-out that happens when opportunity clusters elsewhere. “Across town” quietly flatters the small-city ideal - community tight enough that family remains part of everyday life, not a holiday itinerary. It’s also a subtle rebuke to national economic centripetal force: if the market is pushing kids to Denver or Seattle, then state government has a duty to push back.
Contextually, this is Montana politics at its most pragmatic-populist: pride in place, suspicion of coastal gravity, and an appeal that makes economic development sound like keeping a promise to your own zip code.
Quote Details
| Topic | Grandparents |
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