"Instead of spending time with the people she professes to represent, Senator Dole's spending her time in places like Montana trying to save one of the most crooked Senators. Even worse, she's defending racial profiling," said North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Jerry Meek. "North Carolinians deserve a Senator who will do her day job and support an increase in the minimum wage, not a crony of Jack Abramoff."

This week, as North Carolinians head back to school, fret over high gas prices, and worry about the cost of health care, the state's senior Senator is off in Montana spending part of the congressional recess defending one of the country's most crooked Senators instead of listening to the concerns of her constituents.

"North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole, on the campaign trail Wednesday in Montana, defended Republican Sen. Conrad Burns' recent comments about immigrants and said that voting him out of office would be a 'disaster.' Dole, who is head of Senate Republicans' campaign arm, was in Missoula raising money and attending public events with Burns, who is in a tight race for re-election against Democrat Jon Tester. Tester's campaign this week released video of Burns referring to his house painter as 'a nice little Guatemalan man' and suggested that worker as well as employees of a roofing company he hired might be in the country illegally. Burns' campaign said the worker is a legal citizen and the senator never doubted that. They also said the worker, Hugo Reyes, is small in stature. In a telephone interview, Dole called the flap over Burns' comments 'a silly thing.'" [Associated Press, 8/23/2006]

So, who is this Senator that Dole is spending so much time trying to rescue? Time magazine recently called him one of the 5 Worst Senators:

"Burns' real problem, however, is not with making law but with staying on the right side of it. Federal investigators are looking into his ties to Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist who has admitted bribing lawmakers. In 2003 Burns got the Interior Department to make a $3 million grant to a rich, Michigan-based tribal client of Abramoff's; Burns also received $150,000 in contributions from Abramoff, his co-workers and his clients over the past five years. (Burns has since given those funds to charity.) In an April article in Vanity Fair, Abramoff said, 'Every appropriation we wanted [from Burns' committee], we got ... I mean, it's a little difficult for him to run from that record.'" [Time, 4/14/2006]

Dole's tenure as Chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee has been regarded as a failure: "Dole's Star Power Dims; Liddy Falters as Republican Senate Campaign Chair" read the New York Times headline on July 22, 2006. Since then, she's been working to save her reputation. But, it's at the expense of the people of North Carolina.

Unfortunately, Dole's absence from North Carolina isn't anything new. She returned after a 40-year absence to run for the U.S. Senate.

"Dole made one trip to North Carolina during a six-month period...Dole admitted that [being NRSC Chair] has kept her away from home more than she would like. But she said that the state benefits because she can gain attention for North Carolina issues during weekly leadership meetings."[Winston-Salem Journal, 12/12/2005]

Dole's spending so much time on the road for Republican Senate candidates that the NRSC website proclaims "Senator Dole...On the Road" and you can even read her blog from the road.