Jon Tester for U.S. Senate

Ties to convicted felon and superlobbyist Jack Abramoff ended Ralph Reed’s campaign for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia tonight. Reed lost his first try at elected office to State Senator Casey Cagle in the Republican primary Tuesday night.

It looks like Cagle’s work to hold Reed accountable for his ties to Abramoff, including taking millions from Abramoff and his clients. Cagle also made an issue of Reed’s work with Abramoff on labor standards in the Mariana Islands.

Conrad Burns record is much of the same — with over a hundred thousand in donations from Abramoff and his clients and changing his vote to favor Abramoff clients on expanded federal control for immigration and labor standards in the Northern Mariana Islands.

Big Sandy farmer to make campaign one of Montana values and issues

Montana Senate President and Big Sandy farmer Jon Tester launched his general election campaign this morning with two advertisements highlighting Tester??s Montana values, one for TV and one for radio, both designed to make the race for U.S. Senate focus on issues important to Montanans.

“People all over the state are talking to Jon about the high cost of energy and prescription medicine and finally getting a handle on our national debt, not about which party is going to control the Senate” said Tester Campaign Manager Stephanie Schriock. “We’ve seen the kind of campaign that Sen. Burns wants to run and we’d rather talk about the issues.”

The biographical television ad is a summary not only of Tester’s heritage and background, but the reasons he decided to run for the Montana legislature and eventually, the U.S. Senate; “Honest government. Energy independence. And to stop the waste that passes on debt to our children. Lessons first learned on that farm not far from Big Sandy,” the narrator says as photos of the Tester farm fade in and out.

Also today, the campaign began airing a 60 second radio ad entitled “Who I Am.” The ad tells the story of Tester’s upbringing on the farm his grandparents homesteaded that he would eventually call his own. “It’s here that my wife, Sharla and I taught our own children that family is everything, that your word is your bond, and that building a better future means working hard every day,” Tester says in the ad.

Tester goes on to describe why he??s running for the U.S. Senate; “I’m running for United States Senate because Washington has lost its way, and we need to set it right. Bring honesty to government. Help America become energy independent. And stop saddling our children with debt.”

To watch and listen to the ads, visit the campaign website. Scripts are also available for the radio and television ads.

[Tester Campaign Manager Stephanie Schriock sent the following email to supporters today. Join the campaign to stay informed about the campaign.]

You did it — you showed that a campaign powered by working Montanans can hold their own and go toe-to-toe with the special interests.

I’m proud to say that together, we met Senator Burns’ fundraising pace last quarter — raising $864,000 to his $870,000.

And we did that by neighbors talking to neighbors about what really matters to the working families of Montana — not through big high-dollar fundraisers with Conrad Burns’ lobbyist friends.

We’re doing things differently than Senator Burns because Jon Tester knows that campaign dollars don’t decide elections — people do.

We collected over 5,000 contributions in the second quarter. Over half of those came from Montanans — folks like you who will volunteer in the months ahead and vote in November.

And with each passing day, more and more Montanans are joining our campaign. They’re joining because they want Jon Tester to represent Montana’s values in the U.S. Senate.

We’ve had enough of Conrad Burns’ values, in which the special interests and the beltway lobbyists get richer while the people of Montana get left out in the cold.

Last quarter, for example, Conrad Burns funneled nearly $64,000 of his campaign funds to just one Washington, D.C. law firm. And he’s raised a $7 million campaign war chest in a desperate attempt to hold on to his Senate seat and has already spent nearly $5 million of that to be 7 points behind Jon Tester.

We showed everyone the power of a true grassroots campaign just over a month ago, and we’ll do it again in November.

There will be much to do over the next few months. Please take a moment to tell your friends about our campaign to send Jon Tester to the U.S. Senate. Ask them to join us by sending them this link:

http://www.testerforsenate.com/join

Thank you for everything you do. We couldn’t have gotten to where we are without you — and by working together, we will win in November.

Stephanie Schriock

P.S. Your recurring contribution over the next few months will make a tremendous difference in our plans for victory this November. Please consider contributing today.

Yesterday, the Tribune took a trip down memory lane with Conrad Burns on his stance on the Rocky Mountain Front.

The irony of Sen. Conrad Burns’ decision to propose legislation making permanent a ban on new oil and gas leases on federal land in the Rocky Mountain Front is underscored by his own comments during his last bid for re-election in 2000.

During the Helena 2000 U.S. Senate debate between now Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Senator Burns an audience member in the front row shook her head repeatedly at the Burns’ remarks. The Senator didn’t realize that person was Gloria Flora, who made a popular decision to ban new oil and gas leases on the front in 1997.

His reaction to being told of her attendance:

“‘Well, I’ll tell you one thing,’ he said. ‘She is STONE WRONG on everything she’s done.

“‘They finally drummed her out of the Forest Service. She was too radical for the radicals, you know?’”

Emphasis theirs . . .

The real irony here lies in the banner ad at the top of the page where the Republicans advertise their “Handshake with Montana”.

I guess Sen. Burns’ flip-flop on the front isn’t part of the handshake. Or Burns’ promise to limit himself to two terms that he went back on in 2000. Or how he’s repeatedly changed his position on social security privatization.

A couple weeks back, Jon Tester broke through to the final round of Gov. Mark Warner’s MapChangers contest. Only 10 candidates out of the original field of 40 made the cut. Now we need your help to put Jon over the top — voting only takes a couple of minutes and every vote counts.

http://www.forwardtogetherpac.com/mapchangers

At the site, you can read a biography and hear a brief message from each candidate. The contest ends Monday night so be sure to vote and hear Jon’s message today.