Montana Headlines is a conservative blog commenting on Montana politics and the Montana press.

In the interest of allowing conservatives nationwide to have a window into the politics of our state, Montana Headlines will post articles from time to time along with links to commentary on the website.

The 2008 election will be crucial for the Montana GOP.

In 2004, we lost the governorship and lost control of both houses of the state legislature. We are fighting against heavily gerrymandered legislative districts.

In 2006, we lost our U.S. Senate seat when Jon Tester narrowly defeated Conrad Burns, with the avid help of the Montana press.

In 2006, we tied the state Senate in the elections, but a defector to the Democratic party allowed them to narrowly control that body.

In good 2006 new, we gained a narrow working majority in the state House, 50-49-1, with the one Constitution party member generally voting with the GOP. Montana was the only state in the country in 2006 where control of a house of legislature switched from Democratic to Republican.

2008 will see uphill battles against heavily favored Democratic incumbents — Sen. Max Baucus and Gov. Brian Schweitzer.

Our Congressman at large — Rep. Dennis Rehberg is expected to be targeted heavily by the Montana GOP in 2008, as will our Secretary of State Brad Johnson, since Democrats want to make a sweep of the major state-wide offices.

The Montana GOP priority at this point is to expand our control of the House and to regain control of the Senate — both will be difficult tasks because of the outside liberal money that is increasingly pouring into this state in an attempt to turn us “purple,” then “blue.”

Montana is truly becoming a battleground state.