Montana Democrats Say McCain Wrong on Bears

For those who thought they had heard every possible argument against presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama, the Montana Democratic Party introduced a new narrative Monday.

“McCain: Wrong on bears, missing in Montana,” the subject of an email from the state party reads.

During Saturday’s Saddleback Presidential Forum on Faith, McCain pulled out a familiar line against earmarks for anyone who has seen him on the stump. “My friends, we spent $3 million of your money to study the DNA of bears in Montana. Now I don’t know if that was a paternity issue or a criminal issue, but the point is it was $3 million of your money,” McCain said.

Well, apparently Montana Democrats have taken offense to McCain’s bear paternity query.

“Using glib generalizations to try and win votes isn’t straight talk, it’s misleading and it’s political pandering of the worst sort,” Montana Democratic Party spokesman Kevin O’Brien shot back. “The good work being done in Montana should save taxpayers money and Senator McCain’s total lack of understanding of important issues that folks here care about proves just how out of touch he is.”

O’Brien points at that the study McCain sites revealed that a much larger population of Grizzlies reside in the Northern Rocky Mountains than previously thought, enough that the bears may soon be taken off the endangered species, something that would be a big deal in Montana.