With his flattop
haircut, scuffed cowboy boots, and three fingers missing
from an accident with a meat grinder, Democrat Jon Tester
did not have to remind voters that he was an outsider
to Washington and what he called its "culture of
corruption." The 50-year-old organic farmer and
Montana senate president rode that populist horse all the
way to a U.S. Senate seat, capitalizing on voter
disgruntlement over corruption and the war in Iraq to
oust Republican senator Conrad Burns in a very close race.
Burns, 71, had not helped his own cause, with
close ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and
verbal gaffes that included cursing at a hotshot
firefighting crew in a state that sees thousands of acres
burn every summer. With 99% of precincts reporting,
Tester had 198,032 votes, or 49.1%, to Burns's 194,904
votes, or 48.3%.
The campaign was bitter and expensive from the
start. Tester portrayed himself as a Western moderate
who owns guns, opposes same-sex marriage, and has a
libertarian's suspicion of the antiterrorism Patriot Act. He
hammered Burns over his ties to Abramoff.
"One hundred thousand miles and 15 hours later,
here we did it," Tester said Wednesday. "It is
absolutely, critically important that we change the
direction of the country. Now is the time to come together
and put politics aside." (Mary Clare Jalonick, AP)