Stand By Your Man
Bush Plugs Conrad Burns at Washington Fundraiser
By Kate Downen, 3-28-06
At a time when both President Bush and Montana Senator Conrad Burns are facing low poll numbers, Bush reminded a Washington fundraiser audience that Conrad’s the man.He also displayed confidence in the intelligence levels of Montanans. The Daily Inter Lake quoted Bush as saying that “[Billings farmers] didn’t need a dictionary or a Roget’s Thesaurus to figure out what [Burns] was saying. He’s the kind of person the people of Montana need here.”
And if that isn’t compliment enough for the Montana Senator, how about this one: “I kind of like being on the same platform as Senator Burns, because he makes me sound like Shakespeare.”
Burns, who has been tied to scandalized lobbyist Jack Abramoff, dismisses claims and has said he barely knows the guy.
"Selling out my country, my state, that is beyond my amprehension (sic), ain't no way I'm going to do it."
Maybe the real issue here is education.
[End of article]
Burns and Bush...what a pair!
Comment By Lars, 3-29-06Katie, are you a journalist, or are you an opinion writer? It's apparently not both. If you're going to pillory Burns, then do it with gusto. If you're going to report on him and his doings, then be fair about it. Going halfway just makes you a mediocre wanna-be journalist still stuck at the Kaimin.
Now, if you're a decent journalist, see if you can find what Burns' numbers were at this time in 2000 and 1994.
Dear Kate,
First off, welcome! Ignore that other commentator. He must have got up on the wrong side of bed this morning.
Your link to barely know the guy did not link to an article that contains that information. I have been trying to get to the bottom of this story because Senator Burns has been saying different thing to different editors. See my article in The Outrider.
So far, I do not have a statement from Senator Burns from the Gazette. Did he say something on the video?
Lars:
A record number of 10 candidates are running against Conrad Burns for his seat in the Senate. That includes Bob Keenan, who isn’t exactly a small name in Montana politics. For an incumbent, that’s pretty incredible. For an incumbent who has a history of popularity, that’s pretty incredible. Polls show that both John Morrison and Jon Tester would win Burns’s seat right now. I would think that even Conrad’s camp would say that he’s not exactly on top of the world.
Kate
Hi Paul, the Gazette story I should have linked regarding that comment, in which it's reported that Burns has only met Abramoff once, was right here:
http://www.billingsgazette.com/newdex.php?display=rednews/2006/01/10/build/state/30-burns-abramoff.inc
Also, apologies for not having links for the beginning of the post-- the quotes I used were from yesterday's Inter Lake article. I couldn't find it online.
I'll check your story.
Kate