The Lee Newspaper State Bureau recently released a public opinion poll regarding Democrats running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Conrad Burns.  The poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research, entirely omitted Democratic candidate Paul Richards.  Richards, a former member of the Montana State House of Representatives, has actively campaigned across the state for the Senate seat since early July, 2005.
 
Richards and other supporters held an informational picket of the Lee Newspapers State Bureau in Helena Wednesday afternoon.  “We’ve got to challenge this news blackout,” he said.  “Lee Newspapers readers have been lulled into the mistaken belief that there are only two genuine Democratic contenders for the Senate seat.”
 
“Reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated,” said Richards, paraphrasing Mark Twain.   “My hat is in the ring despite what you might read in some newspapers,” Richards said.  “It is the voters’ job, not the reporter’s job to decide which candidates are favored and which are not.”
 
“The reporter’s job is to get the most information out to his or her readers, listeners, or viewers,” continued Richards, a former reporter.  “If readers, listeners, or viewers receive diversity of information, they can then make better informed choices.”
 
“It is true I am a grassroots candidate that is not spending as much as my opponents,” said Richards.  “But, why should grassroots candidates be omitted from news coverage, merely because they aren’t spending the big bucks of the other candidates?”
 
“Ours is a campaign of substantive issues, such as being for peace, renewable energy, public wildlands, sustainable agriculture, and honoring treaty obligations with Native Americans,”  Richards said.  “We may not have the most money, but we’ve got the best ideas,” he said.  For specific details of Richards’ stands, refer to:  www.Richards2006.us .