Embattled moderate Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., might have just invited a backlash from his own party leadership by defending his Montana constituents’ distaste for President Obama while making his own dig at the president.
“That means Montanans have good taste,” Tester said to Politico about recent poll numbers showing him with higher support in-state than Obama. “I’m a nicer guy,” he added.
Tester has already irritated Democrats around the country by voting with Senate Republicans against President Obama’s jobs bill. His vote, with that of Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., gives Senate Republicans the ability to tout bipartisan opposition to Obama’s agenda. “Conservadem senators like [Tester and Nelson] always try to get ahead by trashing their own party,” MSNBC host Rachel Maddow said recently, even before Tester teased Obama in the press.
Tester is in the fight of his political life this cycle. He has approximately $3.1 million in the campaign warchest. His opponent, Rep. Dennis Rehberg, R-Mont., has just over $1.5 million on hand. That might seem like a significant margin, but it’s not, especially given the support Rehberg will have from the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
As a vulnerable Democrat, Tester will need all the help he can get from grassroots donors around the country, party PACs, and third-party groups. He can be expected to distance himself from his party’s liberal leaders, but he overtly antagonizes the Democratic base at his own peril.
