By HDN Staff
Montana's governor, Marc Racicot, continues to deny that he is seeking an office in George W. Bush's administration.
Yet Racicot, arguably the state's most trusted and respected governor ever, has been one of the main spokesmen for the Bush campaign during this drawn out election year. The Libby native couldn't run for a third term as governor due to term limits.
Montana's 20th governor has said in past interviews that he hasn't asked Bush, should the Texas Republican win the presidential election, for a cabinet seat. Racicot has been mentioned several times recently as a potential interior secretary or even possibly the nation's attorney general.
Even the big news boys in Washington have taken notice of Racicot and his importance to Bush. In a recent Associated Press story, the reporter noted the Montana governor as being Bush's "most vocal spokesman."
The AP story explained how Racicot was "mobbed by reporters and others outside the U.S. Supreme Court Monday as (he) finished one television interview and prepared for others.
"The governor was one of dozens who gathered on the Supreme Court steps in advance of oral arguments in the contested presidential election."
Heck, even the lame-duck members of the 106th Congress are in Washington, D.C. putting on the finishing touches on the $1.8 trillion budget.
Yet in Montana, the state's top leader is thousands of miles away often seen on the steps of Capitol Hill fielding questions concerning Bush's next political step.
Montana's economy, driven mainly by agriculture which has been in a national slump for two decades, is hurting and has been struggling during many of the Racicot years. It's not totally fair to blame Racicot for all of the state's economic woes, but he was driving the great state of Montana at the time of its decline.
Gov.-elect and current Lt. Gov. Judy Martz hasn't taken the state's reins over from Racicot yet. Hopefully she hasn't learn too much from our esteemed governor. Montana is near the bottom in many statistical rankings for economic prosperity and we can't afford to drop any more.
