The Montana Republican party is saying "every man for himself" in the wake of a new poll showing the strength of Brian Schweitzer's popularity and 'the Democratic brand'.
According to State Republican Chairman Erik Iverson:
"Part of the message is you can't let the Democrats nationalize the race or even make it a statewide referendum. We're telling each candidate their race needs to be localized and not them versus Brian Schweitzer or them versus the national Democratic Party.
"The reality of the situation is the Republican brand nationwide isn't very strong right now. I don't want them losing because they let their opponents make the race about George Bush or the Iraq war or any other national or state race."
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Driving the frustration of the Republicans is the popularity of Brian Schweitzer:
"Schweitzer has been effective at creating a majority centrist coalition, particularly with women and independents, and this is being driven by improving the state's economy," the Winston Group said in a June 19 memo to the Montana Republican Party.
It seems the Montana Republican Party commissioned the poll, but the Montana Democratic Party 'obtained' a copy of the memo and released it to the media. Go Dems!
We may have a perfect storm in Montana, Schweitzer and Baucus are both flush with cash and Baucus has deployed a strong ground organization against what could be described as token opposition. Combine that with a strong Obama campaign and there could be some real synergy that could finally break us out of the deadlocked state legislature of the recent past.
Let's Turn the Big Sky Blue!