"I'm a very proud Democrat," Baucus likes to say, "but I'm a Montanan and an American first." Over his career, Baucus has used his red state roots as an excuse to vote for egregious pieces of Republican-written legislation. Yet though Montanans are strongly libertarian on issues like gun control and personal freedom, the state is no longer the GOP stronghold it once was. It recently elected two "prairie populist" Democrats, Governor Brian Schweitzer in 2004 and Senator Jon Tester in 2006. In both stylistic and substantive ways, Schweitzer and Tester differ from Baucus. Schweitzer is a colorful-talking, snappy Western dresser who bemoans trade deals ("I was a critic of NAFTA, I was a critic of CAFTA and I'll be a critic of Shafta"), refuses to take PAC money and has made energy independence a near crusade. Tester is a burly organic farmer with a flat-top haircut who lost three fingers in a meat grinder and campaigned against the Iraq War and the Patriot Act.

Schweitzer and Tester both praise Baucus, at least publicly, in part because of his success in steering federal funds to Big Sky country. "I work very closely with Max, and I think it's important that Max is at where he's at," says Schweitzer. "If he swings the bat away from the core of the Democratic Party at times, get used to it." But Schweitzer admits that on economic issues, he and Tester see the world differently from Baucus. "I would define him as less of a populist than Tester and myself," Schweitzer says. Montana is the forty-ninth-poorest state per capita in the country, with a history of robber barons that people still remember. Montanans, according to Tester, think corporate America "bears watching." And they don't much care for lobbyists, either, he says. "The election was an indication they didn't like the undue influence lobbyists had."

Baucus is more at home with Montana's elites. His relationship with billionaire Washington is of particular significance. "Max is the only Democrat that Dennis Washington has consistently supported, financially and politically, with a great deal of enthusiasm," says Milton Dotsopolous, a trial lawyer from Missoula who advises Washington politically. "He appreciates the fact that Max doesn't always purely toe the party line." In 2002 the Washington Group donated $60,000 to a 527 campaign organization operated by Baucus. And in 2005, Washington held a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee at his ranch.

It is a mutually beneficial friendship. In 2003 the Environmental Protection Agency drew up a plan to clean up a Superfund site at Milltown dam in Missoula and place the waste just downstream. But Baucus, citing environmental concerns, urged that the sediments be moved upstream, by rail, to an existing repository more than 100 miles away. Such a step, Baucus conceded, would be "significantly more expensive," the Missoulian reported. It just so happened that Dennis Washington owned both the company that would remove the waste, Envirocon Inc., and the railroad, Montana Rail Link, that would transport it. Baucus eventually got his wish. The contract, which has never been disclosed, is said to be worth roughly $100 million. "I met with Max and talked with him about it," says Dotsopolous. "But he was more driven by the public policy interests."

Despite such handouts to the wealthy, Baucus has managed to stay in touch with the rest of the state. With a Montana approval rating of 68 percent, he's one of the most popular senators in the country.

That may be changing, however. Montana Democrats, who feel invigorated after recent victories, are talking of running a primary opponent against him in 2008. Others think a progressive challenge to Baucus, or political trends in the West, could turn him a darker shade of blue. "The environment is changing in this part of the country, and it will be less suicidal for Democrats to be more progressive in the future," predicts Jim Farrell, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party.

Political pressure in Montana is starting to have an effect on how Baucus operates back in Washington. He plans to hold "lots of hearings" on how to invest seriously in renewable energy and wean the United States off foreign oil. He's urged the Treasury Department to crack down on tax shelters and loopholes and wants to cap the amount of pay corporate executives can defer tax free. He opposed the Administration's pick for Deputy Commissioner of the Social Security Administration because of the nominee's past support for privatization. His top priority, he says, is extending children's healthcare. His rhetoric in calling for universal coverage is particularly striking, given his past timidity on the issue. "For healthcare, the season of incremental change is coming to an end," he recently said.

Yet even as he makes overtures to Main Street, Baucus remains supportive of Bush policies, a schizophrenic figure who denounces the Administration one minute and compromises with Republicans the next. While House Ways and Means chair Rangel has held hearings on the "economic and societal costs of poverty," it's difficult to imagine Baucus taking similar steps.

The minimum-wage fight between the House and Senate could become the first of many disputes over economics and ideology. Who prevails will be an important indicator of how far the Democratic majority plans to push the mandate voters gave them November 7. And the role Baucus plays in that battle will make clear whether his mild nods to the left are the start of a meaningful shift or whether his real friends are still on K Street and in the White House.

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