Jon Tester for U.S. Senate

The Havre Daily News follows Conrad Burns’ tracks through the national media in an opinion piece and concludes our Junior Senator “has embarassed this state” due to his dealings with Jack Abramoff. The editors encourage Montanans to look into the facts surrounding the investigation before believing Burns’ advertising hype.

The piece concludes by calling out Conrad’s “aw shucks” strategy:

Rather than respond to legitimate questions, Burns would rather have us all think that he’s just a simple country boy and that we’re just a bunch of simple country folk.

He isn’t, and we aren’t.

Conrad Burns is implicated up in a complex web of Beltway deals that’s far from country and even farther from simple. He has taken more money from Jack Abramoff, his clients, and his associates than anyone else in Congress.

Time for a change? Take a look at Jon Tester’s ethics proposal–a simple plan to bring ethics back to the U.S. Senate.

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Earlier this week Montana Newspapers reported on our Web Ad in response to Conrad Burns’ media buy. Buzz about the ad is spreading truth about Conrad Burns’ relationship to Jack Abramoff. Montanans are sick and tired of the culture of corruption in Washington D.C. And, with $200,000 in airtime, they’re probably growing sick of Senator Burns’ political spin during the nightly news.

The Billings Gazette piece covering our Web Ad includes a response from National Republican Senitorial Committee. Their spokesman, Brian Nick, dodges the content of the ad, chosing to attack Democrats instead.

Montanans have demanded Conrad Burns explain his dealings with Jack Abramoff. We’ve pushed our Junior Senator to explain his stance on Social Security privatization and his votes on Amtrak and pesticide testing.

And in return, we’re served political spin.

If you haven’t already, take a look at the ad on our website.

Like what you see? Help us spread the truth by signing up to volunteer, or making a contribution today.

[Jon Tester sent the following email to campaign members this morning. To sign up to receive free campaign alerts, click here.]

If you’ve been around a TV anywhere in Montana lately, you’ve seen Conrad Burns’ latest twist of his relationship with Washington lobbyists.

Senator Burns says he’s setting the record straight on his relationship with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. But his ad is straight-up political spin.

We put together a response to Senator Burns that offers what all Montanans deserve ??? the truth.

View the video response, “Setting the Record Straight”:

http://www.testerforsenate.com/video/BurnsVideo.htm

Read a transcript and factsheet of the video (opens in PDF):

http://www.testerforsenate.com/video/SettingtheRecordStraight.pdf

Conrad Burns has lost touch with Montana. These days, he seems more likely to fight for powerful Washington interests than Montana working families concerned about jobs, health care, education, and high energy costs.

The culture of corruption and cronyism in Washington has to end. We need a Senator who’s willing to take on the powerful interests to fight and get the work done for Montanans and Americans, not K Street lobbyists who pay to play in the halls of Congress.

Conrad Burns has dropped more than $200,000 on media all over Montana to spin his relationship with Jack Abramoff. But you can help counter his attempts to distort the truth by forwarding this message to a friend. And help us continue to set the record straight by making a contribution today.

Thank you for all that you do.

Jon Tester

[Jon Tester sent the following email to campaign members this morning. To sign up to receive free campaign alerts, click here.]

I wanted to take a moment to share with you my views on the Senate??s upcoming vote to confirm or reject Samuel Alito??s nomination to replace Sandra Day O??Connor on the U.S. Supreme Court.

After careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that the U.S. Senate needs to reject the nomination of Samuel Alito.

There are simply too many reasons to doubt this nomination and not enough reasons to have faith in it.

For example: when applying for a job, Judge Alito made it clear that he disagreed legally with such fundamental Constitutional principles as the right of one person, one vote.

Yet without the fundamental belief in America that we are all created equal under the law, we can have no justice.

I??m also deeply disappointed by Judge Alito??s broken promises to the U.S. Senate. When confirmed to sit on a circuit court, Judge Alito said that he would recuse himself from cases involving certain parties where he had a vested interest. Yet he failed to do that.

Simply put, Samuel Alito is the wrong person for the court, and the wrong person for our country.

Judge Alito was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday on a straight party-line vote, which shows just how partisan President Bush??s choice for the Supreme Court really is.

And if Judge Alito becomes the same judge on the Supreme Court that he was on the Court of Appeals, we all could see more government intrusion in our daily lives, broader presidential power without checks and balances, and a reduced right to privacy. And as we Montanans know, we pride ourselves on our constitutional right to privacy.

That??s why we need an independent Supreme Court to:

• — Protect the system of checks and balances that protects the Constitution and our democracy.
• — Protect Americans from a presidential abuse of power.
• — And uphold the rule of law.

That??s why I believe the U.S. Senate needs to reject the nomination of Samuel Alito.

Thank you for your continued support,

Jon Tester

P.S. Please forward this email to your friends and family and ask them to join you in supporting our campaign. They can join for free by visiting: http://www.testerforsenate.com/join/