Before reading this diary, please read my last one on Max Baucus -- who is the GOP's number one target to enable Dick Cheney to cast a tie-breaking vote in the senate.
Simple question, have you ever read a quote that sums up so perfectly everything that is wrong with the Democratic Party?
As a former Baucus campaign coordinator said, "You can't have a thought until you've taken a poll."
To put that in context, check out what came before in the article:
Baucus has some trouble with his base, however. Progressives who have always supported him are grumbling about his votes on Medicare, tax cuts, bankruptcy...to name a few. His lack of leadership on curbing corruption and the Iraq War doesn't help.
There's been talk of a primary challenger to Baucus. Insiders dismiss this as a fool's errand. Progressives do worry that a primary challenger might move Baucus even further to the right but they'd like to give him a wake up call just the same.
Conventional wisdom has it that Rehberg won't run against Baucus. But if he does take the plunge, that would leave an open U.S. House seat and the possibilities there are mind-boggling.
The last two Montana Miracles were won with authentic populism -- the exact opposite of Max Baucus in the last decade. In his last two re-elections, Baucus has had every advantage and won, but no Democrat has won a top-tier race with Baucus on the ballot since 1990. Will Baucus join Governor Brian Schweitzer and Senator Jon Tester in supporting economic populism, or will he confuse Democrats' message by opening up his left?
Some say Rehberg has been licking his wounds for a decade, waiting for a rematch against Sen. Max Baucus (D). (Baucus beat Rehberg by 49.6% to 44.7% in the 1996 Senate race. Baucus has held federal office since 1974. This was his closest contest.)
The pundits also note that Eric Iverson, Rehberg's chief of staff, was tapped late in the game this year to run Burns' campaign. Is he being groomed to run another statewide Senate race in '08, perhaps a Baucus-Rehberg rematch?
They say that Rehberg is repackaging himself as a Republican Populist. The populist message sure seemed to work well for Schweitzer and Senator-elect Jon Tester (D).
What will Max Baucus do?