Advance, Retreat or Punt

The Montana race between Sen. Conrad Burns (R) and Democrat Jon Tester is still said to be tight, but Burns is working hard to change that. His latest effort, Montana newspapers reported, found him bashing an elite team of Augusta, Va., firefighters who had been helping fight a large eastern Montana blaze. These were not the desk-bound brass, mind you, but the folks who dig trenches in 100-degree heat. These firefighters are paid $8 to $12 an hour.

Burns, already dealing with allegations of coziness with former GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff , who pleaded guilty to corruption charges, confronted a member of the team in the Billings airport en route home and said he was "not doing a . . . damned thing" and that team members just "sit around" on the job. That earned Burns a blistering rebuke from the head of the state firemen's association, who said the senator had "fallen out of touch with the folks he's supposed to be representing."

Burns has apologized. But a couple of more shots like that and this race could become a fun one.

Then there's Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum 's great new TV ad about how "even al-Jazeera endorsed Democrat Bob Casey Jr ." and asking, "Whose side is he on anyway?"

GOP bloggers and Santorum aides were "giddy" last week, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, passing around the "al-jazeerah.info" endorsement of Casey. Santorum also talked about it.

Small problem. It wasn't the Middle East-based news network -- which has no "h" on al-Jazeera -- but rather a site based in Dalton, Ga. A Santorum spokeswoman said that didn't matter.

This one could also begin losing its "bellwether" status.

Going Public

As expected, President Bush has picked Susan E. Dudley , director of the regulatory studies program at George Mason University's anti-regulatory Mercatus Center, to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which approves all environmental, health and safety and other government regulations at the president's Office of Management and Budget.

Randolph James Clerihue , former communications director of the Health Insurance Association of America and more recently assistant executive director for communications and public affairs at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., was tapped to be assistant secretary of labor for public affairs.