Incumbents Fight for Senate Seats in Montana, Washington

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• MARGARET WARNER:

  With just four weeks to go until the midterm elections, congressional Republicans seem to be fighting a rising tide of voter dissatisfaction with their performance.

  Three new national polls out this week show Republicans losing ground to Democrats on what has been a GOP strength: national security. For example, when the USA Today-Gallup poll asked, "Which party would best handle terrorism?" Democrats came out on top 46 percent to 41 percent.

  Republicans also appear to be suffering from the fallout from the Mark Foley congressional page scandal. For instance, when the New York Times-CBS poll asked, "Which party comes closer to sharing your moral values?" 47 percent chose the Democrats, while 38 percent chose the Republicans.

  Against that backdrop, we look at two competitive Senate races in the West. First to Montana, where Republican Senator Conrad Burns is fending off a fierce challenge from Jon Tester, president of the State Senate.

  For the latest on this race, we turn to Mike Dennison, a reporter for the Lee Newspaper Chain in Montana.

  And, Mike, welcome.

  In Conrad Burns, you have a three-term incumbent. This is widely perceived as a red state, and yet the reports are he's having a hard time against Jon Tester. Is that right? And, if so, why?

• MIKE DENNISON, Reporter, Lee Newspaper Chain:

  That is correct. I don't think anyone should be surprised that Burns is having a tough re-election race. Montana is often referred to as the red state. That's because it usually goes for the Republican presidential candidate, but in local politics Montana has always been closely split between Democrats and Republicans.

  In fact, Burns is the only Republican to be elected as a U.S. senator from Montana in the last 50 years. And he is unabashedly conservative in a state that is not necessarily right down-the-line conservative. It's fairly closely split.

  He had a close race six years ago, so it's no surprise he has a close race again.

• MARGARET WARNER:

  Now, tell us about Jon Tester. He's been described as a populist Western Democrat, somewhat different from some of the eastern Democrats we see running. Do you think that's a fair description?

• MIKE DENNISON:

  I think it is. Tester is — if you've seen him, he's a guy with a flat-top haircut. He's a farmer. He's a big guy. He's got a big pot belly, so he's not like a button-down type of Democrat you might see back East or on the West Coast.

  His campaign is based largely on his claim that, in Washington, D.C., that things are not going well for the middle class. The Congress is representing corporate interests over the little guy. This is his whole campaign. He says," I'm the guy to change that sort of dynamic. It's time for a change in direction, and I'm the guy who is going to provide it."