For NEWSWEEK’S continuing Face Off series profiling the hottest races of 2006, David Gerlach recently spoke with Tester by phone. Sen. Burns turned down multiple requests to be interviewed. Excerpts:
NEWSWEEK: Vice President Dick Cheney was recently in Whitefish, Mont. He compared current talk of withdrawing troops from Iraq with the removal of U.S. troops from Beirut in the 1980s and Somalia in 1998, which he said emboldened terrorists.
Jon Tester: My response is they need to get a plan to redeploy and I don’t think there is a will to do anything other than what we have been doing. It is important to realize we’ve had success there; we’ve had democratic elections. Saddam Hussein has been caught. [Now] it is important we start a plan that revolves around training the Iraqis as soon as possible … so they can take military control of their own country. That has been my take on it from the get-go.
You are also critical of the Bush administration’s energy policy. Explain that.
That last energy bill worked out very well for the energy companies and hasn’t worked out very well for the consumers. We need to focus a lot on renewable [energy sources] to achieve our energy independence. There is tremendous opportunity in wind, solar, ethanol, vegetable oils, hydrogen, methane.
Shortly after you won the primary, the National Republican Senatorial Committee [NRSC] came out with an advertisement taking aim at your flattop, complete with the slogan: “Conservative haircut. Liberal values.” What’s it like to be attacked for your hair?
That was surprising. That shows you what they’ve got to go on. I’ve got a pretty firm, solid record of working for Montana families and small businesses and family farms and ranches. The fact they went after the haircut shows they don’t want to talk about the issues impacting Montanans, which are: energy, health care, public-land access and fiscal responsibility.
The Burns campaign declined NEWSWEEK’S request for an interview. When we told them that you had agreed to chat, Burns’ campaign spokesperson said, “He has time to talk, because he’s just sitting up on his farm.”
I’m getting around the state. I’m like a lot of other people in the state that Conrad has lost touch with. I have to make a living.
Speaking of your farm, why did you choose to become an organic operation?
We made the switch for a couple of reasons. In the mid-’80s, we knew we had to do something to add value to our product or we wouldn’t be around. The organic marketplace worked well for us. We could spend a little more time in management and make a little more money in added value at the end. It’s worked out very well for us.
What are your thoughts on federal subsidies to support farmers?
Well, it’s a necessary evil at this point in time. I don’t think there is a farmer out there that wouldn’t want to get their check from the marketplace. Unfortunately right now it doesn’t work with $3-plus gasoline and fertilizer and chemical prices where they are. I think it is important that the government facilitate small business and small processors so we can create more and more opportunities for farmers to market their products.
More than 75 percent of Sen. Burns’ contributions and about half of what you have raised has come from outside Montana [according to data released by the Federal Election Commission]. Have you been surprised by the national attention to this race?
As far as out-of-state money goes, we’ve got 930,000 people in Montana. Sen. Burns has already said he’s going to raise $10 million. We’ve got to compete with that. That’s a lot of money to raise out of 930,000 people.
You don’t come across as a big-city kind of guy. How has it been traveling to the coasts to fundraise and get your message out?
Well it’s been fine. I’m not a big-city guy. I’m a very rural guy. I live with my wife 12 miles outside of a town with 800 people. When you approach folks about fundraising and issues, you talk about where you’re at. Let’s take an example: the national budget. If we continue to deficit spend at the rate we’re going, even if it’s at a smaller rate … it won’t work. It won’t work on my farm. It doesn’t work with my family. It won’t work in small business. And it won’t work in government.
One recent poll shows a statistical dead heat in your Senate race. Why do you think the race is so tight right now?
Our challenge is to let people know who we are. Sen. Burns has some ads out that are real negative. People don’t like negative ads, but obviously people are paying attention to them. With myself as a head of a Democratic [state] Senate and [with] a 50-50 House, we eliminated taxes on 13,000 small businesses, [and] passed some great renewable energy bills that will help Montana become energy independent. [We] passed a bill that helps lower prescription drug costs for elderly and disabled folks. And we invested in education with a balanced budget, without raising taxes. Those are the facts. I’ll take those same qualities to Washington, D.C.
Sen. Burns trumpets the fact that he brings lots of federal dollars back to Montana. Would the state be in danger of losing some of those funds if you are elected?
No. I bore this out in the Montana legislature. The other point I bring out with Sen. Burns is at what cost has he done some of this. What have these deals cost the country? He’s [supported funding to build] a bridge to nowhere worth $223 million [to connect Gravina Island with Ketchikan in Alaska]. He voted for that. He’s given money to one the richest Indian tribes in the country , because Jack Abramoff asked him to do it. I just think it’s time for some honesty and integrity.
