Inter Lake editorial

Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., says he has no qualms about seeking re-election in a race that could easily be dominated by one messy issue - his office's entanglement with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who has pleaded guilty to several charges of influence peddling.

Some have called on Burns to step aside, but the senator told the Inter Lake editorial board last week that working on behalf of Montana serves a purpose that is worth the "abuse" he will have to endure.

Burns has complained about media coverage linking him to Abramoff, but even without any more news stories at all, the Democrats will surely continue to focus their campaign advertising in that direction. There is no doubt that Burns, whether he is guilty of anything criminal or not, committed the cardinal sin of an incumbent - he gave the opponent an opening.

We think Burns should address issues related to Abramoff, but we also advise both sides of the election battle to keep their arguments clean and issue-oriented. Montanans will not elect anyone who dirties himself with personal attacks, and there are plenty of substantive issues that voters want to see addressed.

To his credit, Burns seems resigned to the fact that the Abramoff matter is not likely to go away, even though he and supporters surely want it to. So he's offered up the plain and simple defense that he didn't do anything wrong, he didn't make deals with Jack Abramoff, and he insists he has never even met Abramoff.

The problem for Burns is that his staff certainly did have contacts with Abramoff's lobbying firm and its clients, accepting some $150,000 in campaign contributions from them. And it is indisputable that Burns' chief of staff went to work for Abramoff and that an Abramoff associate was at one point hired by Burns.

So there is plenty for Democrats to talk about.

But they can't expect to get elected just because they picked up a rock in Washington, D.C., and found a lobbyist under it. Everyone knows the state of affairs in Washington, and we are all responsible for it. This is our government, after all.

Montanans will support reasonable reforms, but we also want to keep talking about other issues as well.

That is bound to happen, as the Democrats - Montana Senate President Jon Tester and state Auditor John Morrison - begin to tell voters what they stand for. Where are they on foreign intelligence matters, national defense, Social Security, education reform, deficit spending and budget reform?

Burns will have opportunities to contrast his positions and voters will be able to judge the candidates on those issues, just as they will judge his office's association with Abramoff.

The voters will consider it all, and we are confident that they will make an informed decision as long as the political parties do their jobs right and provide a meaningful discussion instead of smear ads.