Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
The Republican candidates and party officials at the Hill County Lincoln-Reagan Day dinner-fundraiser Sunday in Havre had one common message: this could be the year the party regains control of Montana. “2008 can be a great year for us, but the Democrats aren’t going to give it to us,” said Erik Iverson, chair of the Montana Republican Party. “ The table is set for Republican victories in 2008.” There were 10 Republican candidates for the 2008 election at the dinner, including incumbent U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, the Republican challengers to incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, Kirk Bushman and Michael Lange; Republican gubernatorial candidate Roy Brown who is challenging incumbent Democrat Gov. Brian Schweitzer; attorney general candidates Lee Bruner and Tim Foxx, and local state House of Representative candidates Kyle Austin and Wendy Warburton. Brown, a state senator from Billings who also served four tems as a representative, said going against an incumbent with a high popularity rating he noted that Schweitzer started with a 68 percent approval rating, although it has dropped to 55 percent with an increase in negative ratings will be difficult, but winning five tough legislative races gives him confidence he can win the race for governor. Schweitzer’s election in 2004, may not have been the change people exptected, Brown said. “People are saying, Change, change,’” he said. “It’s a big word. It’s a buzzword. Sometimes change isn’t good,” adding that looking at the two Democratic presidential candidates, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, he believes changing from Republican leadership could be dangerous. As for Schweitzer, Brown said, the change led to the biggest spending increase in the history of Montana and the biggest growth in government with 1,200 new state employees hired. Schweitzer’s office has disputed Brown’s figures, saying the annual average increase historically has been 5.1 percent, with the average increase under Schweitzer 7.3 perCent, rather than the 40 percent claims. Brown said Schweitzer spends too much time seeking press, rather than focusing on the needs of the state. “What we need is real leadership, not focusing on cameras and San Francisco fundraisers but focusing on action,” Brown said. “ We need a leader who looks out the window and sees all the potential Montana has, not a governor who stands and looks in the mirror.” Both Bushman, a mechanical engineer from Billings, and Lange, the former House majority leader last session, said it is time for a change in Washington, D.C., as well. Lange, known for his profanity-ridden tirade against Schweitzer at the end of the session that cost him his majority leader position, said too much has been lost with the current leadership in Washington. How long, he asked, will people continue to allow their private property rights to be infringed by the federal government, how long will people let U.S. border protection be too low, how long will people support trade agreements that don’t put America first? “When are we going to do anything about it?” Lange asked, adding that he will fight for those rights. “If I’m in the Senate they’re going to damn well know I’m there,” he said. He added that one of his first items was to, in June, state he would push to get all taxes repealed on retirement benefits, including Social Security and 401k income, stating he was the first candidate to come out with that call. Bushman said his main concern is federal budgetting, especially with growth in entitlements that could hurt programs like social security while, at the same time, force states like Montana to be in competition with those programs. Unless overspending and problems with programs like Medicare and Social Security are fixed, he said, the problems will simply continue to grow. “Our federal government could use a dose of reality, some real-world experience,” he said. He said Baucus, in his 30 years as a senator, has failed to use his office to solve those problems. “He has failed our children and failed Montana,” Bushman said. Bushman said in an interview after the fundraiser that the problem does not lie entirely with the Democrats it still occurred in the first few Republican-controlled sessions of Congress under the Bush administration, as well. “I think the Republicans have to be able to accept some criticism for lack of fiscal responsibility,” he said. Another common theme at the fundraiser was the Republicans gaining control of the Montana Board of Land Commissioners, which oversees public lands in Montana and how it generates money for the public school system. The board comprises the governor, the secretary of state, the attorney general, the state auditor and the state superintendent of public instruction. Republican Attorney General Brad Johnson is the only Republican on the board. Iverson said with the Republican candidates running for those top five state offices, this could be the year the conservatives take control of the board. “The land board matters,” he said. “This will be the year we seize control of that land board for the first time in 25 years.”
