“I'm a blue-collar guy,” said Lange, wearing a blue golf shirt, blue jeans and the same work boots he wears in the Exxon refinery. “I'm the real McCoy.”
The Billings pipefitter stood by himself in front of the federal building named after Baucus and vowed to bring new energy to the job if elected. Unlike most candidate announcements, Lange was not accompanied by any family members, campaign workers or supporters in his three-city announcement. He is the first Republican to jump into the Senate race.
“I have no illusions that this race isn't going to be difficult,” Lange said. “Senator Baucus is a formidable opponent. He's been around a long time. He knows the state. He has a great staff.”
Yet Lange said he's optimistic that he can win the race if he gets out, talks to Montanans and earns their trust.
Lange said he believes he can overcome some political baggage he picked up this spring.
In mid-May, Lange was ousted as House majority leader by his fellow House Republicans unhappy with his leadership. Lange said he has spoken to most fellow House Republicans since and asked them to consider supporting his candidacy for the Senate, although he stopped short of asking for formal endorsements.
At a House Republican caucus in late April, Lange unleashed a profanity-laced tirade at Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer. Lange told Schweitzer to “stick it” twice in his rant. The television footage aired around Montana and nationally and on an Internet site, YouTube.com, drew widespread condemnation.
Lange said the incident proves he's human, and voters are going to hold him to a higher standard, which is fine with him.
“Montanans will forgive you for an incident, but they won't forget it,” he said, vowing to keep his temper in check.
Lange made it clear he won't be outworked in the campaign.
“When I set my sights on a goal to get (something) done, I am tireless in that pursuit,” Lange said.
Anyone who's been in office for a long time like the 65-year-old Baucus has may see his energy start to wane, said Lange, who turned 47 this month.
Despite his long tenure, Baucus has failed to help Montana such as coming up with a plan to clean the toxic water in the Berkeley Pit in Butte, preserving more water from the Missouri River for Montana irrigators and freeing Montana Indian Reservations of some of the red tape applied by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Lange said.
Apparently referring to the 2002 Senate race, Lange told reporters that he will be in the race for the long haul.
“I will not quit, by the way, no matter what, no matter how tough it gets, no matter how tough a beating I take, I will not quit,” he said.
In 2002, Baucus' Republican opponent, state Sen. Mike Taylor, dropped out of the race for a couple of weeks in October after the Montana Democratic Party ran television ads that Taylor said falsely suggested he was a homosexual.
In response to Lange's announcement, Baucus spokesman Barrett Kaiser said the Democratic senator will take any challenge seriously, although he's focusing on doing his job as a senator.
“Mike Lange will be an interesting opponent - especially given how extreme he is and how out of touch he is with mainstream Montana,” Kaiser said. “Why would Montanans even think about replacing Max Baucus, one of the most powerful men in the country, with someone who is so out of sync with our Montana values?”
Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, enjoys “the support of folks on Main Streets across the state because he uses his seniority to be effective and do what's right for Montana,” Kaiser said.
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