Forget a challenge from Governor Brian Schweitzer (D-MT). Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) may now have a very good reason to retire from the US Senate- despite his role as Chairman of the Finance Committee.
In all seriousness, check out this picture of Senator Baucus on Politico.com as he dances with his fiance’ Melodee Hanes at the White House. He’s taking heat from his base, he’s already passed the “longest serving US Senator from Montana” mark, and his poll numbers remain sunk below 40% (although the Roll Call piece says he is back in the 40’s). And now, on top of that, he is about to be married to a nice wife. (You may recall Baucus nominated her for the US Attorney position, and failed to disclose that he was in a relationship with Hanes.) So, why would he stay in the US Senate after 2014?
More, from Politico:
Spotted in the crowd: Speaker of the House John Boehner smoking, Sen. Max Baucus dancing with his fiance and White House press secretary Jay Carney having a good laugh.
Roll Call, you may recall, dissected a Baucus v Schweitzer 2014 primary with this:
Montana Democrats concede the ambitious Schweitzer has not moved to knock down any rumors and that the national spotlight available to a Washington politician might appeal to a former governor looking for his next act. That Baucus and Schweitzer have a frosty relationship and vastly different styles has only fueled speculation that party comity would not stop the governor from running for Senate if it interests him.
If you missed our show on June 10th, Democratic political consultant and Montana native Bob Brigham and I discussed a Baucus v Schweitzer race. Brigham says Baucus hurts Democrats more than he helps them. Brigham added that Baucus should resign early to allow Governor Schweitzer to nominate a replacement.
Click below to listen to the first half of that show.
Click to Listen
Aaron Flint
Thursday, July 07, 2011 8:29 AM
Ha- yeah…I noticed the Tester press releases are starting to pick up the whole “powerful” bit too…amazing how many news outlets in Montana will just cut and paste that into their stories without question.