Something for Me to Think About

A pretty insightful post over at Kos about the Tester-Burns race:

Note how when I talk about the Montana Senate race, I focus more on Jon than I do on Conrad Burns. Normally, I love pointing out the negatives of Republican candidates. And Burns is amongst the worst. He is Jack Abramoff’s top friend in the Senate and shipped hundreds of thousands of dollars into Burns’ pockets. Burns has demonstrably changed his vote after getting Abramoff bribes contributions. Today, he was a key vote against Net Neutrality. I could demonize him to no end. God knows he’s provided enough material to last well through the November election.

So I could focus on all the sludge and mud that is Conrad Burns’ DC tenure. But I’d really rather talk about how great Jon Tester is. Unfortunately, that doesn’t translate as well in the blog world. Negative blogging, like negative campaigning, seems to motivate people a lot more than saying we need someone like Tester in the Senate. That someone like Tester in the Senate would mark a sea change in the kind of people that get to serve in the World’s Most Exclusive Club.

It’s easy and cathartic to keep piling on Burns, because he is a terrible Senator. What’s gotten me so interested in this race, though, isn’t Burns’ failings, but the prospect of electing someone that shares my values, a real Montana Democrat who believes that it is time to turn the business of government back to the interests of the people.

It’s true that we need to keep the heat on Burns, but let’s not forget what a great opportunity we have to send someone like Jon Tester to Washington.

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