| (My two cents: He still announced on a Friday? What is wrong with this man's political judgment...other than, well, everything. -- Matt)
Mike Lange today announced his candidacy for Max Baucus' Senate seat.
Here's a nice summary of Lange's situation, as written up in The Hill.
Lange has some hurdles to climb, to say the least:
--He's most known for his outburst against a governor with an approval rating in the 60s.
--He was one of the "13 mutineers," and is likely seen as someone who betrayed his party.
--He was ousted as House Majority Leader by his own party.
That is, he's not popular in his own party, and Montanans know him best at his worst.
Can you find the money quote in the Hill report?
When speculation about him heated up last week, however, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) wasted little time in reminding everyone about Lange's fall from grace, deeming him "not fit for the Senate" in a detailed release on Friday.
The release also noted that Lange defaulted on about $75,000 in loans last month.
Lange said the situation should be resolved by the end of the week or soon after. He also said the DSCC release shows how seriously he's being taken and noted that Democrats have it out for him because he used to be a Democrat.
Lange is a 27-year union member as well, and he said he can take labor, blue-collar and outdoors voters from Baucus.
"That's flat-out a sign of fear," Lange said. "They're probably more afraid of me than they are of anybody else in the state."
Right now, despite Lange's hubris, the burning question swirling about the 2008 Montana Senate race isn't whether Lange can actually win this race. What everybody's wondering is if the Montana GOP is going to actually challenge this seat and run someone who has a shot. |
