Apparently our own junior senator, Jon Tester, is trying to qualify for a spot on the popular ABC show, Dancing With the Stars. While watching the good senator’s ample gut glide gracefully across the floor week after week as he turns and twists to the cha-cha, paso doble, and waltz would be entertainment of a sort, the real show-stopper would be his well-practiced Montana Two-Step.

Jon-boy learned this dance at the hands of the uncontested master of the art-form, Max Baucus. For years (36 of them) Max has practiced, refined, and won contest after contest with his incomprehensible mastery of this seemingly simple concept. And now, in his first bid for re-election, Max’s starry-eyed protege Jon is already demonstrating his skill in this chasse: Take one position at home, and change 180 degrees once the election is over and you’re safely ensconced in DC. Repeat during the next campaign cycle. It’s a dance that has worked very well when accompanied by the liberal tune played by the Montana Lame Street Media.

Remember in 2006 – his debate with Conrad Burns – when Jon complained vociferously against earmarks? [Move the timer to about the 9 minute mark.]

Now see how he is deftly moving from that original position:

In a 2006 debate, Tester railed against earmarks that snuck through without scrutiny, and then went one step further. “Quite frankly, I don’t support earmarks, period,” the future senator said. Asked Wednesday by THE WEEKLY STANDARD about this quote, Tester first responded, “I haven’t eaten lunch yet,” [ed. note: Doesn’t look to me like he’s missed many.] before clarifying he is against earmarks “without transparency.” That’s a different tune from his 2006 debate statement that he was against all earmarks “period.”

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Tester has sponsored or co-sponsored at least 239 earmarks since entering the Senate, including 92 earmarks totaling over $108 million for the 2010 fiscal year. Just months after Tester came to Washington, he issued a press release boasting of the $20 million earmarked for Montana in the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill. That bill included a $500,000 earmark to renovate Cobb field, the stadium home to the Billings Mustangs–a minor league baseball team of the Cincinnati Reds.

And today in the Helena Independent Record (and probably all the other major dailies in the state as well), the good senator quickly takes his dance a step to the right by DEFENDING EARMARKS. Note how crisply he moves from “against all earmarks, period” to focus on “transparency” and the need to route taxpayer money to fund important projects in Montana (like renovating Cobb Field?). What the hell did he think earmarks were when he was so opposed to them? He deftly implies that somehow the earmarks have fundamentally changed since 2006 and because it is now “transparent” earmarks are good. We actually have a different name for that dance here in Big Sky Country. We call it “the Bullpucky Tango”. Earmarks are exactly the same in 2010 as they were in 2006. The fact that now they are listed on congressional websites doesn’t change the inherent nature of earmarks. If they were bad in 2006 then ol’ “Twinkle Toes Tester” can’t just step to the right to explain his new position.

Plan on seeing a lot more of this right-left, twist-turn, left-right, back-forward, s-l-i-d-e dancing for the next 22 and a half months as Jon razzels and dazzles around the state. In order to win the mirror ball in this episode of the spin-off version of DWTS – Dancing With The Senator, Jon will have to two-step his way through a whole long list of having one position during a campaign and a completely different one when he gets back to Washington. He’ll also have plenty of opportunity to demonstrate the popular “Politician’s Polka”. Keep watching as he double-times through his statements here at home and his votes in the Senate: Against deficit spending during a campaign and voting for the the most egregious federal spending of all time once he was elected; Saying one thing in front of Montana audiences and then supporting Harry Reid and Barack Obama”s socialist programs and policies when he gets to DC.

DWTS is destined to become a very popular feature in Montana for the next several months. Expect to see more than a few fancy moves as Tester tries to explain his senate votes for the past two terms – especially his vote for ObamaCare, and his failure to listen to his constituents. It’s entirely possible that his “Lame Duck Waddle” will be the turning point and, like his mentor Max, Jon will start dancing to a different song. Hopefully one that ends with a Promenade Left out of the senate in November 2012.