Corruption That Shook Capitol Isn't Rattling Elections

Another ad has Tester driving across Montana and talking about his pickup: "You see, special interests have a tight grip on Washington, leaving us out. It doesn't have to be that way. Special interests will never hitch a ride on this truck."

In recent weeks, Burns has damaged his own cause with a series of gaffes. He has insulted local firefighters (by observing in July that they did a "piss-poor job" of fighting a wildfire east of Billings), suggested that all taxi drivers are terrorists and joked about the immigration status of the "nice little Guatemalan man" who works on his house.

Still, Burns remains viable among many Montanans, according to pollsters. As Tester said, "This thing is far from over."

The senator's shield against Abramoff and his own rhetorical blunders may well be the state's extraordinarily strong economy. As growth slows in much of the country, Montana is bulling ahead, on track for its fourth consecutive year of 4 percent growth. Consumer sentiment in the state is at an all-time high, and the annual rise in per-capita income -- measured last year at 6.3 percent -- ranks third in the country. At 3.8 percent, the unemployment rate is about a percentage point below the national average.

"We are in the midst of a natural resource boom of historic proportions," said Paul Polzin, director of economic research at the University of Montana. "At the same time, all other industries are holding their own. This is benefiting exactly those counties where Burns has been strong."

Burns argues that the federal money he has sent Montana's way over the past 18 years helped ignite the boom -- and his argument resonates. It "matters a lot" for a state with just 935,000 residents, said Craig Wilson, a political science professor at Montana State University in Billings.

"Burns has been extraordinary in his ability to bring money to poor little old Montana," said Tom Britz, a consultant to the credit card industry who lives in the booming northwest Montana town of Whitefish. "When it is time to vote, the many people who have been touched by that money know where their bread is buttered."

What may also matter in the Senate contest here is the atypical optimism of many Montanans, as compared with voters' attitudes in most states.

"This is one of the few places in the country right now where people are not hankering for change," said John Russonello, a Washington pollster who works for Democrats and liberal nonprofit groups and who has led focus groups on social issues across Montana this year.

Unlike some Republican incumbents facing reelection, Burns has embraced the war -- and Bush's conduct of it -- as essential to the country's fight against terrorism. Betting that most Montanans see Iraq as he does, Burns has launched blistering TV and radio attacks on Tester, accusing him of taking money from "extreme liberal groups that mocked American deaths."

"Tester's not tough," one ad says. "He is deceitful, and he'll say anything to get elected."

In the recent debate, Tester responded to those accusations by saying that Burns, whom he described as bought and paid for by lobbyists such as Abramoff, is just not honest.

"Washington has changed him," said Tester, pointing at Burns. "The fact is we have to have people back there who have Montana values."

Burns smiled and said he had not changed and never would: "I have the same wife, the same kids; got the same principles, same values."

As pro-Tester hecklers booed, hissed, cursed and at one point called the senator "psycho," Burns spent much of the 90-minute debate reminding the crowd that he -- not Tester -- is a specialist in funneling federal money back home. By these lights, a candidate who knows the corridors of insider Washington might have an advantage. "It is going to take a guy who has got a little seniority and a little position to get it done," he said.