Forget the over-confident talk from the sinister side of the political spectrum.
This governor's race is going to be very competitive and close. The governor's actions show that he is feeling the heat from a Roy Brown campaign that continues to build momentum in spite of the fact that it is the governor who has the big bucks.
Most recently, the governor was down in Hardin trying to bluster his way through the morass of the Hardin detention center. It is as clear as the summer sun that at the very least, the governor has been treating that situation with neglect. It just doesn't deserve the kind of attention that important things get. Like, say, a fundraiser at the Kentucky Derby or jetting to California to do the Daily Show. After all, it's just Eastern Montana.
Yet, he's complaining that he is being blamed for something he didn't do. Well, actually, in a sense that's right. He hasn't done anything. He hasn't, until now, even deigned to talk to the community of Hardin about their concerns, even when they made a much publicized trip to Helena to get his attention.
A glaring omission in the Gazette article is that the governor doesn't appear to have been asked "why not?"
The good people of Hardin have been trying to get a response from him or a meeting with him, and it has never happened. Why not?
What it took to get his attention was apparently having an angry Hardinite leave a banner up at the Capitol after a recent demonstration that said "We've been Schweitzerized. Was it as good for you governor as it was for us?"
Ed Kemmick rightly describes the governor's reaction as "thin-skinned." (He also correctly deducts style points from the sign-writer for not knowing where to use commas.) If the guv is truly surprised that the folks down in Bighorn County would be unhappy with him, then one wonders if he is really the highly skilled pol that he is made out to be. Let alone whether he has the right temperament for the job.
Of course, the important skill is in the ability to convey, via the media, a sense of righteous indignation. And there, too, things seemed to fall just a bit flat on the governor's visit to Hardin. Because there are just so many obvious questions that a single visit isn't going to fix.
The governor's statements basically amount to saying "I really wish this would all go away, and since I want it to all go away, that should show I care."
This isn't over by a long shot. Perhaps the real reason that the governor was down in Hardin (besides being personally miffed about the banner) is that the Republican Party down there is in a resurgence. They've got a newly revamped and energetic organization, and the community as a whole is really disinclined right now to be cutting slack to Democrats -- especially in the governor's race and AG race. The resentment at being cut out of the state prison business in favor of the for-profit prison in Shelby whose corporate executives have cut all of those checks to the governor's campaign -- well, it's not showing signs of going away.
This past weekend, Bighorn County Republicans had an unheard-of gathering of well over 100 people for their annual Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner. All of the statewide candidates were there, and energy levels were high, by all reports. Most people would be surprised to know that 100 active Republicans in Bighorn County even exist, so this is a sign of a fire having been lit down there.
And it is a fire that a quick visit and some glib talk and indignant posturing isn't going to put out any time soon. Maybe the governor will get serious about helping Hardin solve the problem that he and his Democratic friend, Attorney General McGrath helped create. Maybe it will happen even though he hasn't shown any signs of being interested in solving it prior to this election year.
A fix of some sort would be good for Hardin, and we'll be happy for them if it comes about. A healthy economy for Hardin is more important than scoring political points. But we'll still be asking why it took the pressures of an election year for the governor to focus on it, even though this train has been bearing down on Bighorn County for his entire term of office, headlight glaring and whistle blowing.
The fact that this meeting in Hardin happened at all is a testimony to the inroads that Roy Brown is making in the governor's race.
