Swing State Project

In Montana, there is a new blog hyping embattled Senator Conrad Burns. As Montana blogger Matt Singer uncovered, one of the bloggers, Dave Holman, lives in Virginia where he works for the American Spectator. The other blogger lives in California and Washington, DC.

The Montana GOP lists the out-of-stater's blog on the front page of their website, calling it "the best you’ll see about Montana politics."

And it appears the blog was started with the goal of mimicking the Daschle v Thune blog, from the first post:

And expect there to be a lot of dirt-throwing, from the Democrats and the (shall we say bias) media outlets in the state of Montana. This blog will be the light between dirt.

Dave Holman, noted the following on his east coast blog:

Click on over to the new blog started by an anonymous buddy, Dirt Between Light Bulbs. It'll be your first stop for daily updates on the Montana 2006 Senate race, Sen. Conrad Burns's defense of his seat, which is one of the most vulnerable GOP seats next year.

Who is this "anonymous buddy"? The Dean of the Montana blogosphere, Granny Insanity, offers her theory:

I think the guys are pros. Consider the timing of their appearance then read their stuff. I’m a crazy old woman and I can see the standard nonsensical arguments.

I think somebody is paying them to guard a couple of seats here.

The timing is interesting, considering it followed Senator Thune's briefing to GOP Senators on how to use blogs.

My hope is that Montana journalists will be smart enough to resist rolling over for these guys.