Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) is up with a new ad touting his bipartisan credentials, a sign that he's worried about being tied too closely to his party in the Republican-leaning but independent-minded state.
"A lot of people talk about taking their values to Washington but few really do," Rehberg says in the ad, which shows him driving his Jeep with the vanity plate "RNCHR MT" in D.C. before cutting back to footage of him talking in Montana. "I'm not driven by what's best for Republicans or Democrats, I'm guided by what's best for Montana. That's why I voted to protect the children's health insurance program from George Bush's cuts, against President Obama's healthcare law and against every single bailout, Republican and Democrat. In the Senate, I'll do the same."
Rehberg showed this focus early on when he was one of four Republicans to vote against the House Republican Budget sponsored by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). The bipartisan rhetoric is similar to what his opponent, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), has promoted.
The two are locked in a tight race — The Hill rates it as a "tossup."
