Another surrogate is in Montana stumping for Senator Burns today — this time it’s NRSC chair Elizabeth Dole. Dole had this comment on Senator Burns’ latest slip-up:
“He may not know what he might say, but what matters is that he always votes for Montana,” she said.
With the latest national polls showing the President’s approval in the gutter and 60% of Americans disapproving of the job that Congress is doing, the Great Falls Tribune reports things are looking pretty bleak for Conrad Burns.
“We became convinced he’s trailing. The environment (for Republicans) is bad, and is likely to get worse nationally,” Rothenberg said as to why he’d moved Montana’s race out of “tossup” status, which is where most pundits had placed it.
Rothenberg now places Montana in the “Lean Takeover” column.
Another pundit pins the problem on Burns’ latest gaffes, and has shuffled the status of the race. Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia has seen a new rating in his crystal ball — calling Montana a “probable” pickup for Democrats in November.
From the Trib:
“Conrad Burns just can’t survive many more gaffes,” Sabato said Tuesday. “He’s already behind, he’s already in trouble, and this just adds to the controversy surrounding him.”
The Burns campaign declined NEWSWEEK’S request for an interview. When we told them that you had agreed to chat, Burns’ campaign spokesperson said, “He has time to talk, because he’s just sitting up on his farm.”I’m getting around the state. I’m like a lot of other people in the state that Conrad has lost touch with. I have to make a living.
Yet another reason Senator Burns is out of touch with folks here in Montana. Burns couldn’t take time out of his schedule to meet with Newsweek, one of the most widely read newsmagazines in the country. Jon Tester takes a break from farming and gives a great interview.
Check out the interview for Jon’s insight on farming, campaign finance, energy policy and the latest developments in the Montana U.S. Senate race.
While internet traffic is down on many conservative sites this summer, we’re experiencing a significant bump over the past few months.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., had a 10 percent increase in Web traffic over three months, compared with Ned Lamont, who won the Democratic primary and had a 539 percent jump. Visits to the site of Sen. George Allen, R-Va., are down 74 percent, and Web traffic for challenger James Webb is up 165 percent. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., showed a 300 percent increase in Web traffic, while challenger Jon Tester had a 420 percent increase.
I’m sure that the trend will continue as the election approaches and we move forward with new content on the website.
We’re launching two exciting new ways for online activists to get involved in the campaign this week. Netroots for Tester is an opportunity for folks from the web to join the campaign. We’ll keep in touch with news updates and the latest info from inside the campaign.
And, if you have your own blog, or post regular diaries on a blog community site, join Bloggers for Tester for news items that may be of interest to your readers.
Your help to this point has built a strong grassroots campaign, with supporters all across Montana and America. Contributions from the netroots have helped build the campaign, especially through projects like the Netroots August push on ActBlue. But there’s more we can do together to change the face of Washington and lift Jon Tester to victory in November.
With three months until the election, we will need all hands on deck, ready to respond to right-wing attacks and promote our positive vision for Real Change in Washington. You can help us go the extra mile by joining Netroots for Tester or Bloggers for Tester today.
