Eights months in the new Democrat-controlled Senate and House have set one distinct record. They set an all-time low approval record at 14% with the American public. They beat their previous record of 18% in the early 90s.

We’re in the August recess/vacation time period and recently I saw where Senator Max Baucus and Senator Jon Tester (both democrats) held a press conference in Helena to try and tout some accomplishments from the first eight months of their party being in control.

From where I sit, the press conference should have taken about two minutes, but we’re dealing with politicians and they can stretch out a short talk to an hour or more (unless there’s a fundraiser to get to).

I did not hear or read that any tough questions were asked, like:
1. “Your party is in control and congressional approval ratings are at an all-time low. Why do you think this is happening?”
2. “Do you think George Bush should be impeached?” “Why?”
3. “How many fundraisers have you attended this August?”
4. “Do you agree with fellow senator Barack Obama’s comments about our troops in Afghanistan when he said they are just air-raiding villages and killing civilians?”

Nope, nothing like that. There are two reasons for this. Here in Montana, we don’t have reporters with the guts to ask a question that may make the candidate or elected official actually think or feel uneasy. Or the reporter is a supporter of the candidate or elected official. If it’s either one, they are not doing their jobs.

But they were asked some softball-type questions about energy, the war, and forest fires. They both took an Al Gore like stance on global warming.

Soon they will back in Washington DC and we can start worrying again.