"'Are you tired of business as usual in our state and federal government?' began a letter to the editor in the Daily Inter Lake last week. Joani Young was driven to despair by Montana's U.S. Senate race, which pits Conrad Burns, a three-term Republican incumbent from Billings, against Jon Tester, the Democratic president of the state Senate. Ms. Young's despondency probably speaks not only for a lot of Montanans, but for voters across the board on the condition of American politics.

The Burns-Tester race is indeed a sorry sight: A campaign run from Washington that has probably offended every decent Montanan with its advertising blitz, its finger-pointing, its name-calling--and, more significantly, with its cynicism, anger and disrespect. This, after all, is Big Sky Country, where there used to be room enough for ideas all across the political spectrum, and where a man used to be respected as much for what he didn't say as what he did. But Big Sky Country has been made smaller--and meaner--by this campaign.

If these two can't keep focused on what they want to accomplish for our nation, instead of what's wrong with each other--if they can't put partisan politics aside--then what hope is there for real change, and real progress? Ms. Young's letter expressed a typical sentiment--the floating sense of discontent with national politics--but proposed a novel solution: "None of the above."

Sen. Burns and Mr. Tester, take note. Democratic National Committee, take note. Republican National Committee, take note. Many voters have had enough--at least in Montana."

Get the Story:
Frank D. Miele: Big Sky Country Gets Smaller (The Wall Street Journal Opinion Journal 10/12)

Relevant Links:
Jon Tester for US Senate - http://www.testerforsenate.com
Conrad Burns for Senate - http://www.conradburns.com
Sen. Conrad Burns - http://burns.senate.gov
Montana Republican Party - http://www.mtgop.org
Montana Democratic Party - http://www.montanademocrats.org

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