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Burns Out/Rehberg In? Considering the fact that Sen. Conrad Burns from Montana was below 50% in the pre-Abramoff "I'm guilty" ballot question, word is now spreading like wildfire inside Washington, DC that Burns will soon announce his retirement. A source on Capitol Hill tells me that the National Republican Senatorial Committee is polling feverishly to see if the Senate seat is salvagable should Burns seek re-election. The prognosis, I am told, is not good. Enter Congressman Denny Rehberg, Montana's wildly popular At-Large member of Congress. Rehberg briefly flirted with the idea of running against Max Baucus in 2002, but decided...

GREAT FALLS - Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., called on fellow Montana Republicans on Friday night to volunteer their services, not just their money. "We need to take the time to re-establish grass-roots politics," Rehberg, a Billings rancher and developer, told delegates to the Montana GOP officers convention. If Republicans face campaign risks, it's because "we have become so arrogant we believe it's all about money," he said. Rehberg, seeking his fourth term, put in a strong sales pitch for Sen. Conrad Burns' re-election, calling him "the best senator our state has ever seen." He implored the party faithful to get...

HELENA — Both Republican U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns and Rep. Denny Rehberg lead trial matchups against potential Democratic opponents for the 2006 election and, as incumbents, are far better known among the voters, a new Lee Newspapers poll shows.The telephone survey, taken May 23-25 of 625 likely Montana voters by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc., has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. If the 2006 Senate election were held today, Burns would defeat state Auditor John Morrison, a Democrat, by a 49 to 34 percent margin, with 17 percent undecided. Burns leads among men by...