Republican Senator Conrad Burns still struggles below the 50% level of support in the latest Rasmussen Reports election poll. But, he has managed to arrest the steady slide provoked by his connections to indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Burns now leads State Senate President Jon Tester 47% to 44%. A month ago, Burns trailed Tester 46% to 43%. Two weeks ago, Burns had pulled even.

Burns now trails State Auditor John Morrison 47% to 45%. That, too, is an improvement for the incumbent. In each of our previous two polls, Burns had trailed Morrison by five points.

Morrison has been in the news lately for a 1998 extramarital affair with a woman whose future husband his office would investigate for securities fraud (he reports bringing in an outside lawyer to handle the investigation). So far, the matter doesn’t seem to reshaped voters' view of him. However, some Democratic strategists have expressed concern that these allegations could muddy the waters and weaken Morrison's ability to effectively raise corruption charges against Burns in the general election.

Democrats, however, are breathing a sigh of relief that Burns stayed in the race and two other Republicans chose not to enter. Our previous polling showed that both Marc Racicot and Denny Rehlberg would handily defeat both Democrats in the race.

While the big names stayed out, former Senate President Bob Keenan (R) did throw his hat in the ring and is challenging Burns for the GOP nomination. Two weeks ago, his numbers were essentially the same as Burns in both match-ups.

Now, however, Keenan doesn't do as well as the troubled Burns candidacy. He lags Tester 42% to 38% and Morrison 44% to 38%.

Half of all Montana voters think tax cuts help the economy and tax increases hurt it. Forty-eight percent (48%), a plurality, say doing tax paperwork is worse than going to the dentist; 39% say the dental visit is worse.

Seventy-two percent (72%) agree it's important to secure the country's borders and enforce current immigration law before enacting further immigration reform.

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