If you are anything like me, you spent the Labor Day weekend out in the woods camping. If so, here’s some of the articles you may have missed concerning Montana’s closely watched US Senate race between Congressman Denny Rehberg (R-MT) and Senator Jon Tester (D-MT).
First, it’s been no secret that Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) has led all of the US Senate candidates when it comes to campaign contributions from lobbyists. Now, Lee Newspapers’ Mike Dennison reports that Sen. Tester also leads the US Senate when it comes to campaign contributions from environmental groups.
Tester, however, is strongly supported by environmental interests. The League of Conservation Voters (LCV), a top environmental lobby, has used its “GiveGreen.com” website to raise $150,000 for Tester, and has spent another $1 million on independent expenditures supporting Tester, including a $410,000 TV ad buy in July to attack Rehberg.
The Center for Responsive Politics says among U.S. Senate candidates, Tester is the No. 1 recipient of environmentalist money – although the dollar amount, about $200,000, is a fraction of his total $9.3 million raised.
If the above article doesn’t spell out the stark contrast between Rehberg and Tester, the latest AP article shows just how much Montana voters appear to have already decided who they will be voting for. As Politico’s David Catanese highlighted, it took the Associated Press 47 phone calls to finally reach an undecided voter.
It’s not easy to find an undecided voter in the Senate race — the Associated Press called 47 voters before finding the first one yet to make a final decision in the state’s highest-profile. And the campaigns are ramping up their outreach to find these voters.
Meanwhile, the conservative magazine National Review highlights a recent ad from Sen. Tester, noting that Tester appears to be spending more time campaigning against President Obama.
Senator Tester earlier this week released the ad below, which pits him squarely against President Obama and the Democrats on issues from the Balanced Budget Amendment to the Keystone Pipeline to EPA regulations. Watching the ad, it’s virtually impossible to identify him as a Democrat.
The Great Falls Tribune poses a question to both candidates. What will your top priority be if elected this November?
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester says his biggest priority after re-election would be to push a bipartisan balanced budget solution that has so far languished in Congress, while challenger U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg counters that tax cuts and repealing the federal health care law should top the list.
Finally, Politico’s David Catanese examines the impact of a libertarian on the ticket in his latest “Senate Monthly” report.
Here’s a name you probably haven’t heard of that’s worth keeping an eye on in Montana: Dan Cox. The Libertarian Party candidate isn’t included in public polling, but several Democrats say internal numbers show him pulling at least 6 percent, with much of that support coming from Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg. Republicans scoff at the prospect of Cox as a potential spoiler, pointing to three consecutive public polls showing the congressman ahead of Democratic Sen. Jon Tester.
One quick alibi to this post- it looks like Senator Tester has been running from President Obama so hard, that he had to take refuge at the Republican headquarters at the Democratic National Convention. Dustin Hurst with The Montana Watchdog snagged this pic of a cardboard cutout of Sen. Tester at the RNC HQ.
