John Morrison's big problem in MT Sen Race (affair, conflict of interest)

[swag]

http://houseoflabor.tpmcafe.com/node/28739

"It seems to have been one of those stories that percolated in political circles for so long that it had to be written eventually," Ed Kemmick explained, "but is the kind of story that is hard to summarize in a sentence or two." John Morrison's scandal involved an extramarital affair, conflicts of interest, securities fraud and more. Mike Dennison and Charles S. Johnson teamed up for the 2000 word story that Lee Newspapers ran in the Billings Gazette, the Missoulian, the Helena Independent Record and Butte's Montana Standard. Day 2 featured a Matt Gouras piece for the AP and Gwen Florio wrote it up for the Great Falls Tribune.

Demographically, the geography of the story meant that many had already heard rumors. Kalispell is small enough for a common knowledge but big enough so that the vast majority of Montanans know people from Kalispell. On the other hand, this is a Helana scandal where the nature of Montana's citizen legislature means that state legislators and lobbyists are living in their homes -- with phones and faxes, the internet and emails -- for most of the year. Now that it is in the papers, Suzanne Harding is a subject people can discuss with people who know her, or know people who know her.

The papers saved the follow-ups for Sunday, in the Trib Florio looks at how the evening news images of Morrison's wife were awkward to uncomfortable for some voters to see. Also Sunday, Lee ran a Johnson story headlined: Horse Sense: News of affair, investigation hurts Morrison, observers say

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At this point, it certainly looks like Montana's 2006 senate race will follow the contrast and shape up between Burns and Tester. As the out-of-state money finally heads to Tester, he'll have the opportunity to introduce himself with momentum. Did the primary end over the weekend?