It appears that big things are happening out in Big Sky Country! Check out the intial returns from the Montana Secretary of State’s office regarding absentee ballots (as reported by the Hotline Blog).

100,004 absentee ballots counted.
Result = 57% D to 38% R.

Keep going Montana! Listen to our episode from Montana too…

“He says our president don’t have a plan. I think he’s got one….[But] we’re not going to tell you what our plan is, Jon, because you’re just going to go out and blow it.”

– Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT), quoted by the Billings Gazette, in a debate with challenger Jon Tester (D) over the Iraq War.

“[Tester] reminds me of a good friend of mine that I had in the United States Senate . . . his name is John Wellst–, er, uh, Wellstone.”

-Sen. Conrad Burns in reference to deceased United States Senator PAUL Wellstone from Minnesota.

Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) is at it again. Running his mouth…

Republican Sen. Conrad Burns, whose recent comments have stirred controversy, says the United States is up against a faceless enemy of terrorists who “drive taxi cabs in the daytime and kill at night.”

Oh man. His campaign staff must be pissed! Here’s the rest of the story.

Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) - asleep at the wheel!

When i’m ready for bed, this usually helps:

There is another way forward on November 7th! Jon Tester.

From Political Wire:

“I can self-destruct in one sentence. Sometimes in one word.”

– Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT), quoted by the Billings Gazette, acknowledging “that he has the ability to say things off the cuff that can hurt him politically.”

Fortunately, Burns’ staff can self-destruct in one sentence too!

This is a good one! Tester is going to win. His opponent, Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) hates firefighters!

From Political Wire:

In the first Rasmussen Reports poll since Jon Tester (D) won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate from Montana, Tester leads Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT), 50% to 43%.

“It is stunning for any long-term incumbent to be trailing in a re-election bid. It is even worse for a Republican to be trailing this badly in a state that President Bush carried by twenty points in Election 2004. But, even though most Americans think the Abramoff lobbying scandal was little more than business as usual, Burns close ties to the convicted lobbyists has clearly hurt Burns in Montana.”

I love Jon Tester. I think he is the next big name in the Democratic Party. He’s soft-spoken, but smart, accomplished and ready for primetime. I know the staff out in Montana and they are putting together an electoral army.

DoubleSpeak will be talking with Montana’s Jon Tester soon. Stay tuned! In the meantime Volunteer or Contribute to Jon’s campaign.

David Sirota, who seemingly hates all things ‘establishment’ and ‘Washington, D.C.’ did an interesting analysis on Jon Tester’s huge victory last night. See what you think. Feel free to leave a comment.

The winds of change - they are a-blowin’ hard out here in the heartland, no matter how much Washington, D.C. pretends they aren’t. Tonight, in a major upset, populist Democratic State Senate President Jon Tester crushed his primary opponents, becoming the Democratic nominee against vulnerable incumbent Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT). Tester, a farmer from Big Sandy, ran against the Washington Establishment, ignoring those who said he couldn’t beat State Auditor John Morrison (D) - the candidate that Democratic Party powerbrokers in Washington tried to anoint.

More…

Let the battle begin. State Senate President Jon Tester (D-MT) defeated state Auditor John Morrison in Tuesday’s primary contest. The final numbers were decisive: 60% - 30%. John Tester will now face one of the most corrupt Senators in American history, Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT).

Congratulations to Jon Tester and his family…oh and Jon, go ‘get ‘er done!’