Vice President Mike Pence was in Kalispell Monday morning campaigning for Republican Senate hopeful Matt Rosendale and Congressman Greg Gianforte.
About 550 people attended Pence’s third visit to Montana, held in a hangar at Glacier Park International Airport in Kalispell.
Wai Mizutani says he came to support the country and the Republican party, which he’s supported since emigrating from China.
"I just see Democrats have such a values so similar to China, where I'm coming from, so I really can't support that for me."
Mizutani says he became a U.S. citizen because he valued America’s strong military, personal freedoms and work ethic. He says he likes Republicans and especially President Trump’s immigration policies because he says people should work to benefit the country, not take advantage of it.
"We need a good jerk to get the country back. We're not looking for a sugar daddy to make everybody happy, that's my point. It's gonna hurt somebody, in the process of fixing things."
He says Trump’s angry rhetoric, like calling the press the enemy of the people, is just the president’s way of blowing off steam as he pushes to put America first.
Many of the people at the rally had already voted, but Dylan Gamble from Eureka hadn’t.
When asked if she plans to vote, Gamble said no.
"Why is my vote going to make a difference? I don't know. I don't feel it will," she said.
Gamble says she’d vote Republican if she were to vote because that’s her father’s party. She says securing the border and supporting veterans are her main issues.
Justin Johnston of Whitefish also hasn’t cast a ballot, but that’s because he wants to vote in a booth. He attended the Pence rally out of curiosity.
"I am more Democratic-leaning but I still like seeing and hearing the other side of the party line."
Johnston says he agreed with Pence that America needs to reunite after the election, but he disagreed with an idea I heard from other attendees: That securing Republican majorities is the path toward unification.
"Both parties need to come away like they lost, and I think when that happens the country as a whole wins,"
His big takeaway from the rally is to convince all his friends and coworkers to vote, regardless of party.
