I just heard on the radio this morning where a Republican Sate Senator, Sam Kitzenberg, came out endorsing Conrads opponent last night....Conrad should have retired and allowed Rehberg or someone with a little bit of integrity left run...
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Ag secretary says senator's attack on firefighters "unfair"
05:26 PM MDT on Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Associated Press
BOISE -- U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said today a verbal attack by Senator Conrad Burns of Montana against federal firefighters was unfair.
Burns, a Republican, had slammed the firefighters last month for doing what he called a "poor job" in quelling a Montana wildfire.
Johanns made the comments while at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise.
A Burns aide in Billings, Montana, says the senator has already apologized, and was merely expressing frustration of ranchers in his state over how the 143-square-mile blaze was extinguished.
In the July 23rd incident, Burns had also criticized the national fire agency, saying it shouldn't be in Boise.
Federal fire officials today said they're satisfied with the center's performance in Idaho's capital city.
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Political analyst downgrades Burns' re-election chances
By GWEN FLORIO
Tribune Capitol Bureau
HELENA — Political analyst Stuart Rothenberg changed his assessment of Montana's U.S. Senate race from a toss-up to one that leans toward a Democratic takeover Tuesday.
Rothenberg's downgrading of incumbent Republican Sen. Conrad Burns' chances in his race against Democrat Jon Tester followed a similar move by Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. Sabato's judgment was more critical: His most recent evaluation views Burns' seat as a "probable" pickup for the Democrats in November.
"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."
Sabato was referring to another recent foot-in-mouth incident involving Burns. The senator got in trouble last month for confronting a Virginia hotshot crew in the Billings airport and accusing them of not working hard enough. He later apologized. On Tuesday, Democrats released remarks by Burns that they taped during a June meeting in which he joshes about whether a maintenance worker is an illegal immigrant. Burns spokesman Jason Klindt said the worker in question is here legally.
Rothenberg, who writes the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report, posted his new assessment of Montana's Senate race on his blog Tuesday. The print report won't be released until Friday.
"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 said he was reluctant to give the edge to Democrats because of his experience in 2000, when he predicted Burns would lose to Brian Schweitzer.
But, as Rothenberg wrote in his blog Tuesday, despite Burns' narrow victories that year and in 1988, "polling this cycle strongly suggests that he is now fighting for his political life."
A Rasmussen poll taken earlier this month showed Burns and Tester tied at 47 percent each, an improvement for Burns over the July poll, which showed him trailing Tester by 7 percent.
"We've said from the beginning that this is going to be a close race. This isn't Conrad's first rodeo. He's always faced tough races, and always come through in the end," Klindt said.
Tester spokesman Matt McKenna said the campaign places little stock in punditry from afar, even when it's favorable.
"If we went and chased every poll and every pundit's opinion, it makes for pretty short days," he said.
Although the Democrats have worked relentlessly to discredit Burns for his ties to convicted Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Rothenberg said the sour political climate for Republicans is probably more damaging to Burns at this point.
"It's getting closer to Election Day. There's less time for an incumbent to turn things around," he said.
A number of polls conducted by the media this month show that those questioned said they would prefer Democrats to Republicans in the November election. Democrats are trying to wrest control of Congress and need 15 House seats, and six in the Senate, to do so. Burns' seat is viewed as one of the most vulnerable to Democratic takeover in the Senate.