Montana Republican Senator Conrad Burns is fast putting himself in the most unenviable position that can beset a politician: he's becoming a figure of ridicule. Back in July, Burns lambasted a group of firefighters who had come from Virginia to fight fires in Montana.
Then, a couple of days ago, the Senator told us that we are up against a faceless band of terrorists who "drive taxi cabs during the daytime and kill at night." (Apparently, he's never seen some of the taxi drivers I've encountered, but that's another story.)
Now Burns has asked Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer (a Democrat) to declare a state of emergency due to forest fires, and to activate the Montana National Guard. Not a bad idea, right? Except that Schweitzer had declared such an emergency on July 11th and issued a second declaration a month later. And the National Guard? Its helicopters were first deployed to fire-fighting duty on August 3rd.
Polls have shown Burns' race against Democrat Jon Tester to be close, but it's hard--very hard--to see how someone who becomes a laughingstock can be re-elected.
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