“I don't like it,” Baucus said in a phone interview. “It misleads Montana voters and it implies that I don't support Jon Tester. I strongly support Jon Tester. I think he's the better man.”
Baucus said Burns has ignored a letter from his chief of staff and a phone call from Baucus asking him to refrain from using his name in the radio ads, which have now expanded to television.
“But if Jon Tester gets his way, Butte will suffer because Tester said he would vote against those earmarks that fund these kinds of projects,” the Butte ad says.
The Tester campaign countered with a Butte radio ad in which Baucus says, “You might have heard ads from Conrad Burns using my name. Well, let me be very clear: I support Jon Tester. I believe in Jon because he is a straight shooter, a real Montanan and just a good guy.”
A recent mailer from the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee says that Burns and Baucus “stand together to protect Montana values.” It says Baucus and Burns agree on ending the estate tax on farms, banning flag burning, passing a prescription drug program for seniors and supporting the Patriot Act.
“But Jon Tester is so extreme that he even disagrees with Democrat Senator Max Baucus,” the flier says.
Baucus was frustrated by these efforts.
“It's very misleading,” Baucus said. “I've raised a lot of money for him (Tester). I think he's going to be by far the better senator. He's honest, he's hard-working, he's smart.”
Baucus was asked how the Burns approach differs from his own decision to tie himself to President Bush in his 2002 Senate campaign. At that time, the Baucus ads included video footage of the bill-signing ceremony where the Republican president praised Baucus for his key role in passing tax cuts.
They aren't at all similar, Baucus said.
“President Bush never asked me to refrain,” he said. “We didn't ask his permission. On that campaign, nobody cared two hoots.”
Matt McKenna, spokesman for the Tester campaign, condemned the ads, saying, “If Senator Burns has an honest bone in his body, he will stop using Max Baucus' name in advertisements.”
In response, Erik Iverson, top adviser to the Burns campaign, defended the ads.
“Senator Baucus is making our point for us,” Iverson said. “Despite the fact that Senator Baucus and Senator Burns don't agree politically, they still set aside their political difference and work together when it's in Montana's interest.”
Iverson said the Burns ads that mention Baucus also “demonstrate to Montanans that Jon Tester is to the left of his own party.”
“It doesn't begin and end with Jon Tester's opposition to earmarks,” Iverson said. “Baucus and Burns voted for the energy bill, to get rid of the estate tax, to extend the Bush tax cuts, for the Patriot Act and for earmarks. Those are five pretty big ideas.”
Burns isn't seeking Baucus' endorsement, Iverson said. The point is that Burns, Baucus and Rep. Denny Rehberg “can set aside partisan differences and do what's right for Montana.”
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