Posted on 11/25/2011 7:04:09 PM PST by Clintonfatigued
Sen. Jon Tester (D) and his Republican opponent, Rep. Denny Rehberg, have been inundated with hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of TV ads, including several just in the past month. The spending is emblematic of the state’s relatively inexpensive media markets and the race’s competitiveness and potential to swing the Senate majority. It also puts the Montana race on track to be among this cycle’s most expensive in terms of spending by outside interest groups.
Sources in the state disagree on exactly how much has been spent against each candidate. According to a Republican-compiled breakdown of spending that was obtained by Roll Call, overall outside spending in Montana has already eclipsed $2 million.
(Excerpt) Read more at rollcall.com ...
Someone please tell me what’s wrong with Montana? How could they have elected so many liberals over the years? Montanans are generally pretty much “leave me alone” in their political philosophy.
On paper, Denny Rehberg should be the favorite, but state and local races can be unpredictable. Most polls show Rehberg leading Jon Tester, but by margins within the polls’ margins of error.
Lots of liberal Californians have moved up here in the last 20 years.
MT is very tough territory for conservaties, very Democrat for U.S. Senate and governor’s races. Only two Republicans since World War II have served in the Senate from MT. Even AR can match that record.
Their voting behavior does not match their proclaimed political philosophy. Or maybe they are trying to get federal programs geared only for their own benefit. Good luck there, Montanans. Or maybe it’s just being overrun by CA transplants. Even fore the CA arrive in such huge numbers though, MT was still Democrat. For years Mike Mansfield and Lee Metcalf were untouchable. I wonder if 2012 will be a bit different than 2006.
Jon Tester walks & talks like a conservative...
...but when he’s not up for election he votes like Harry Reid.
I think it has to do with unions.
The 17th Amendment was passed to ensure the election of Democrat senators from states like Montana. There are also many people who vote Democrat “because that’s how dad voted”. You also have to be a Democrat to get a government job in MT and the government is the biggest employer, followed closely by the all-so Democrat education complex. Lee Enterprises also controls the major newspapers in MT and they make every Republican candidate out to be satan. Montanans have ceded their land, their livelihoods and their children to the Democrat coastal elites.
MT isn’t that Democrat, actually. It’s just that in close races, the Democrats have tended to prevail. They’ve been ludicrously overrepresented with Democrat Senators for a century even as the GOP has frequently won the legislature and Governorship (which they’ve held for 42 of the last 70 years). We’ve also held the At-Large House seat uninterrupted for what will be 16 years. Jon Tester, of course, was a fluke win based on false charges made against former Sen. Conrad Burns, for which he was conveniently cleared of AFTER the election (similar trumped-up charges were made against Ted Stevens of Alaska to ensure he’d lose). Were Burns not pushing 80, I’d probably cheer him on to reclaim his seat.
Lee Metcalf was a VERY weak incumbent, actually. That seat was the scene of very close races. In 1942, Metcalf’s predecessor, James Murray, barely held off Jeanette Rankin’s brother, Wellington, 49-48%. In 1954, Murray virtually tied the race against GOP Congressman Wesley D’Ewart, 50-50%. In 1960, Metcalf only won 51-49% against former Congressman Orvin Fjare. In 1966, he again won by just 53-47% against Gov. Tim Babcock. In 1972, he won by just 52-48% against State Sen. Hank Hibbard. He was likely set to retire for 1978, but died before he could.
Even Mansfield, who barely defeated the GOP incumbent, Zales Ecton, 51-49%, in 1952, rode high for awhile, but after an uncomfortable race in 1970 where he got painted as a liberal gun-grabber as Majority Leader, he opted to retire in 1976 (although he could’ve continued to run for at least 12 if not 18 more years... he didn’t die until 2001 at the age of 98).
Yes. MT has a strong union presence. Sucks for them.
Rehberg isn’t liberal. One the other hand, Democrats have to run as phony Conservatives to get elected.
While they failed to get sodomy legalized, they legalized medical pot in Montana. They've migrated to Montana and have been trying to impose their filthy "lifestyle" on the rest of Montana.
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