Editor's Note: This is thefourth in a series of CSP Daily News stories that will highlight election campaign issues and races of interest to the convenience-store industry. To read yesterday's installment, click here.
HELENA, Mont. -- Third-term Republican Sen. Conrad Burns remains in a dead heat with Democratic competitor State Sen. Jon Tester, despite his disastrous haranguing of a group of firefighters battling a wildfire near Billings and charges of corruption.[image-nocss]
Quite frankly, Sen. Burns made some mistakes and he's vulnerable; we know that, Ronna Alexander, executive vice president of the Montana Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association, Helena, Mont., told CSP Daily News. It would be unfortunate to see Burns lose just based from the standpoint of his seniority and what he has brought to the state.
Burns currently heads the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee and has consistently supported Montana petroleum marketers in a range of small-business and petroleum-related issues, Alexander said.
That being said, I don't think State Sen. Tester is the worst person we can elect from the other side of the aisle, said Alexander, noting that he has worked amicably with the association before on legislation targeting fuel pricing and credit-card fees. However, he would bring with him an unavoidable handicap.
Being a freshman senator, he isn't going to be able to push any legislation anyway let's face it, said Alexander. That's the problem when you come from a small delegation such as ours and you're a freshman: You can't do anything back there for eight years.
Despite the cutthroat competition and self-inflicted challenges, Burns may rise above the fray come November.
It's almost never a single gaffe that sinks you, said Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa. I'm a firm believer that you're a product of a record and constituent service and what you've done for the state, and voters are fairly forgiving if you're forthright. One of the things about America is its redemptive quality: We believe if anyone's genuinely sorry we forgive them.
[For a complete look at this election season and how it relates to the industry, watch for the October issue of CSP magazine.]
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