Jon Tester for U.S. Senate

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The recount beginning today in Missoula is a reminder of just how much of a difference voting can make. The second and third place finishers are separated by a mere two votes. In the campaign world, that’s knocking an extra 50 doors, making an extra 100 phone calls, recruiting an extra three volunteers, raising an extra $50. That little of a commitment really can make all of the difference between defeat and victory in Montana.

Just last year, Jeanne Windham squeaked to victory in Lake County after an apparent tie became a defeat for Constitutionalist Rick Jore. In 2000, the margin in the Democratic primary for Superintedent of Public Instruction was less than 100 votes out of 91,819 cast. Similar stories replay every year at every level of Montana politics — local, legislative, and statewide.

The Missoulian has more on the race.

You can tell its getting toward the end of the quarter with as busy as everyone in the campaign is.

This afternoon, Jon sent a message to people on our campaign email list. He wrote about how Washington is facing two serious deficits right now, the money deficit and the leadership deficit.

Here are some of my favorite passages:

What are they thinking in Washington?

As America begins to deal with the economic effects of Hurricane Katrina and prepares to deal with oncoming Hurricane Rita, we??re hobbled by the impact of four years of binge spending and tax cuts in Washington, D.C.

And here comes the hangover.

[…]

Too few people in Washington ??? of either party — are willing to state the obvious: that in order to pay for this natural disaster, we just might have to get our fiscal house in order, live within our means, invest in our kids and our future, and stop giving away the treasury.

It??s this sort of behavior that makes all of us occasionally wish Washington would just use a little bit of good old-fashioned Montana common sense. But if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

The government in Washington may not get it at times, but it??s our government. It??s our responsibility to fix it. And it??s our responsibility to do what they won??t ??? to roll up our sleeves, work together and get the job done. Like we did in the 2005 Legislature — we balanced the budget, lived within our means, improved health care, boosted funding for education, and eliminated property taxes for 13,000 small and Main Street businesses.

That??s getting the job done.

Help us get the job done. Don’t forget, you still have the opportunity to donate and receive one of the limited Pearl Jam/Jon Tester posters.

The end of the third quarter is quickly approaching. There’s three easy things you can do at this point to help this campaign:

1. Join our email list. Hear directly from Jon about his opinion on the issues and find out the latest news about the campaign.
2. Sign the Energy Petition. Join Jon’s call for America to embrace a real energy policy, one that diversifies our energy base, strengthens rural economies, and provides cleaner alternatives.
3. Donate. Running for office is expensive these days. Lend a hand and help us get Jon elected.

That new poll out last week shows we’ve made some great gains over the summer. Help us keep that momentum going this fall.

Jon sent an email today to a number of people who came to the Pearl Jam concert last month. Check it out after the jump:

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Bill Lombardi sent out an email to the campaign list today:

We??ve come a long way in the last four months.

When Jon Tester announced his campaign in late May, our main primary opponent was well on his way to raising $400,000 at a time when we didn??t even have a bank account. Polls showed us with little name recognition, pulling just 26 percent of the vote in a hypothetical election. And we didn??t even have an email list???just a list of people that Jon had promised to call when he made the decision to run.

But thanks to you, we??ve come a long way– and the momentum is building. A new poll shows Jon has gone from 26 percent in May to 38 percent support today in a hypothetical match-up. In the last two months, your efforts to recruit friends and family have doubled the size of our campaign. And just three weeks ago, we pulled off one of the biggest political rallies in Montana??s history at the Pearl Jam show in Missoula.

But the next two weeks are the most important weeks we??ve faced so far, and we need to demonstrate to the press, pundits and D.C. insiders that the grassroots momentum building behind our campaign can speak to them in the only language they understand???the language of money.

Next Friday, September 30th, is the third-quarter deadline for FEC fundraising purposes. How well we do will send a loud message about the strength of our campaign, and about your commitment to sending a working Montanan to represent you in Washington. Please contribute what you can today.

I know money is tight for many Montanans. Conrad Burns’ high-roller big donors don’t feel the pinch of gasoline near $3 a gallon and skyrocketing natural gas prices as winter approaches. Conrad Burns has consistently voted against the interests of working Montanans???voting to give tax breaks to oil companies at a time when many Montanans are struggling to fill up the gas tank.

The truth is, we can??t afford to keep Conrad Burns in Washington any longer. Please contribute what you can and help us throw Burns out.

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