Lobbying Scandal's Impact Is Tested Under a Big Sky - (Abramoff)

[BuyingThyme]

February 19, 2006
latimes.com : National News

Montana has become a testing ground for how effectively Democrats can use the ethics issue to weaken GOP incumbents who otherwise would be heavily favored to win reelection. The answer to that question will be key to whether — and to what extent — the party can gain Senate and House seats in November.

Some Republicans dismiss the Democratic strategy, insisting that few people outside Washington's Beltway have paid attention to the furor surrounding Abramoff, who in January pleaded guilty to bribery and bilking his clients. He is cooperating with an ongoing federal probe into influence-peddling in Washington.

But in Montana — two time zones and more than 1,500 miles away from the nation's capital — Abramoff has become practically a household name, much to <Conrad> Burns' chagrin.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-senate19feb19,0,2764365.story?coll=la-home-headlines