The Washington Post citing Democratic sources reported yesterday morning that six-term United States Senator Max Baucus of Montana was retiring. A little later Baucus released a statement affirming that he was, in fact, retiring.

Then the speculation began about who would replace Baucus. Today, among that speculation is a love feast in Montana newspapers for Baucus.

Baucus had been raising money for his reelection, but he had also started building a home near Bozeman, which raised some doubts about his running again. Baucus will be 72 in 2014 which means he may have channeled Forrest Gump after that long run when he said, “I’m pretty tired…I think I will go home now.”

So far, Baucus raised almost $5 million for his race. That money will come in handy for Montana Democrats in 2014.

Last election (2008), Baucus disposed of his competition by a 73% to 27% margin. In 2002, he beat his opponent by 31%. Baucus was a great campaigner. He and his staff would go for the jugular on his opponents. They did not lose.

This year there was a lot of talk about former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer taking on Baucus in a primary. A recent Public Policy Poll showed Schweitzer beating Baucus “54% to 35% with Democratic primary voters.” As for running for the U.S. House or U.S. Senate, Schweitzer told the Associated Press last year “I am not goofy enough to be in the House, and I’m not senile enough to be in the Senate.” 

But after being interviewed Tuesday, the Great Falls Tribune reported that Schweitzer said he “would not rule out a run for the U.S. Senate.” Senility may have set in on the former Governor. Schweitzer does enjoy the spotlight.

I conducted a poll on The Western Word yesterday that asked, “Who Should Replace U.S. Senator Max Baucus?”  The choices were Brian Schweitzer (D), Denny Rehberg (R), Steve Bullock (D), Steve Daines (R), Denise Juneau (D), Rick Hill (R), Linda McCulloch (D), Tim Fox (R), Kim Gillan (D), Cory Stapleton (R), Monica Lindeen (D), Champ Edmunds (R), Other (You May Leave the Name Comments).

As of this morning, Schweitzer had 31%, “Other” had 23%, Juneau had 17%, Daines had 11%, Lindeen had 9%, Rehberg had 6%, and Fox had 3%. A commentator voted for EMILY’s List President Stephanie Schriock, who is from Butte. She may have received several votes in the “Other” category.

Schweitzer would be considered the frontrunner for the U.S. Senate seat. The Montana Republican Party knows this and started sending Tweets against him. Current Congressman Steve Daines has indicated he is interested in running for the open seat.

I imagine that about half of the Montana Legislators are having thoughts of graduating from pre-school to be a U.S. Senator. I don’t see any good candidates for U.S. Senate in the Montana legislature.  The senate primary in 2014 may be a crowded like the 2012 race for the open U.S House seat that had seven Democrats and three Republicans, and the open seat for Montana Governor that had seven Republicans and two Democrats.

Like I said, today it is a love feast across Montana for Max Baucus. The Associated Press published some highlights from Baucus’ career which included, “Baucus nominates his girlfriend and state office director, Melodee Hanes, as U.S. Attorney for Montana, then Hanes withdrew amid criticism. Baucus and Hanes marry two years later.”

I remember a few highlights from Baucus’ career, too.

-In regards to military issues, I remember back in 2005 when Baucus inserted language into the highway bill that would allow the reopening of the Malmstrom AFB runway. But before the bill passed the U.S. House, Baucus, who was trying to get publicity, released the details of the plan. The U.S. House made him remove it and the runway has never been close to reopening again.

-Baucus was also the senior senator when the KC-135s refueling tankers were taken from Montana.

-He was the senior senator when 50 missiles were removed from Malmstrom.

-The F-15s are slated to be removed from the Montana Air National Guard in the near future and the Guard will no longer have a fighter mission.

-I remember the laugh I had when I read that Wanda Baucus (his second wife – he is on his third) was accused of assaulting a woman at a garden center near Washington, D.C. It was a dispute over mulch. Some called it mulch gate.

With the retirement announcement yesterday, Baucus became a lame-duck senator. Although he says he will continue to work on several issues, Baucus is insignificant now. The phones will stop ringing and people will look at him as though he is already gone. With enemies on both sides of the aisle, he may feel isolated a little sooner that most lame-ducks.

If you read press releases from elected officials, then you may have noticed that just about every press release that came from the Baucus office contained the word, “Powerful.” He artfully worked the press to where it appeared that their computers “defaulted” to the word “Powerful” in every story (or they copied and pasted it from the press release) about Baucus. The late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once said, “Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.”

Sadly, Max Baucus never understood that.

Follow Jack on Twitter @TheWesternWord

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