Melody Barnes speaks to a crowd at Columbia Falls High School last week. Chris Peterson photo

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

"If you want a vote, you have to go ask for it," said Melody Barnes, a senior domestic policy advisor for Democrat Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

So Democrats will do a lot of asking between now and election day, as they held a rally of sorts last Thursday at Columbia Falls High School.

About 60 people attended the event to listen to Barnes, the Executive Vice President for Policy at the Center for American Progress, speak about Obama's campaign.

Polls have shown that Obama is widening the gap between himself and Sen. John McCain for the presidential seat, but Barnes told the crowd to ignore the polls.

In presidential elections, Montana has been a decidedly Republican state over the past two decades. The Obama campaign is hoping to change that, Barnes said.

Obama and running mate Joe Biden have combined for six visits to Montana in the campaign, though the state has just three electoral votes. Republican McCain has never visited Montana in his bid for the presidency.

"Sen. Obama and Biden haven't ruled Montana out," Barnes said.

Barnes took aim at Republican policy in the Bush administration, which she said was "fundamentally flawed," because of the war in Iraq, coupled with big tax cuts.

"There was no investment in America," she said.

She claimed Obama's plan is to reinvest in the infrastructure of the nation, create a tax cut for the middle class, develop alternative energy sources

that would provide good- paying jobs for Americans, and invest in more fuel-efficient cars.

Obama also plans major health care reforms and a system that creates more competition in health care and the prescription drug industry while insuring all Americans.

She said Obama also planned to invest more in children and education, with rewards for teachers who can demonstrate their effectiveness.

She said you can't give people No Child Left Behind without the resources to complete the job. No Child Left Behind is a Bush program that mandates increased standards in education. But educators have long complained it was underfunded.

On the natural resources front, she said Obama favored science over politics when formulating natural resource policy. She also said National Parks and National Forests deserve protection.

Barnes spoke to the crowd for about an hour and urged Democrats to get out the vote and make sure that they not only attracted voters, but that they made sure they actually voted, whether it was a ride to the polls on election day, or showing them how to vote early.