Gazette on Baucus Tryst
The Tribune editorial board has remained silent on the matter, but the Billings Gazette speaks its mind about the Baucus-Hanes conflict-of-interest story:
Whatever hope of privacy Baucus and Hanes may have had vanished when he recommended her for an important appointed office. Baucus and others who have said Hanes is well-qualified to be U.S. attorney are correct. However, the conflict of interest or at least the appearance of conflict is inescapable. All of Hanes’ legal and organizational credentials have been obscured by the label “senator’s girlfriend.”
[...]We’ve said it before, but we’ve got to say it again to public officials: If you don’t want to see it in a Gazette front-page headline, don’t do it. Don’t disappoint your constituents by mixing personal and public business.
Update: The Missoulian also has an editorial, and a very revealing one at that:
[Baucus] said his recommendation of Hanes, his girlfriend and former staff member, was done “all in an above-board way.”
Well, actually, no. It wasn’t.
Eight months ago, when Hanes’ name surfaced as one of the nominees for the U.S. attorney’s job, the Missoulian asked Sen. Max Baucus’ spokesman whether Baucus was involved in a romantic relationship with Hanes – as her ex-husband was alleging – and if so, why Baucus would pursue a course that posed such a clear conflict of interest.
Not only would Baucus not speak directly to the Missoulian, but his then-spokesman, Barrett Kaiser, refused to address the issue and strove to keep any story at all about Hanes’ nomination from print. Indeed, the night before the story was to run, Kaiser called the paper and told us that Hanes’ nomination had been withdrawn.
Typical of the Gazette, to conflate two issues. They are absolutely right about Baucus, but regarding their propensity to report on the activities of politicians, not so much. We know very little of what those guys do behind the scenes in Washington, and none of it because of the Gazette.
And typically with this story, it was not broached by the Gazette. They are merely reporting the work of others, and they don’t even do that often enough.
Wow. Reminds me of last week’s show with Ralph Johnson of the Burton K Wheeler Center. We discussed the question of whether there is a looming media crisis in Montana. (They hosted a media forum in the Fall.) I made the argument (lightly), that there already is a crisis…no AP/ TV / Lee reporters covering news of our delegation actually in DC…almost everything that we read or see on the news is cut and pasted from the pens of political press secretaries (i.e.: see the news stories about “Tester Grills Bernanke”…really? He grilled him? Oh wait- thats according to a press secretary)
So, you mean- they actually had named sources on the record and clear pushback from a politicians staffer, including the newsy info that her nomination was withdrawn and they did nothing? Someone correct me if I’m wrong- but I seem to recall a news story that had much less in hard evidence…where the sources were “unnamed”…and they went with it- not just once…but repeatedly- every tag line of the campaign. Again- Wow.
Max needs to be a spokesman. Picture him wearing his skivvies and saying –”wait’ll we’ve got our Hanes on you”
This is just such a masterful handling by Max’s staff of what could have been a much larger scandal. Amazing that they managed to suppress the Missoulian story for 8 months. That alone is newsworthy.
“his then-spokesman, Barrett Kaiser”
Mr. Kaiser was his Campaign Spokesman in 2002 when, some Great Falls Native American got NA’s from all over MT to gather and meet with his opponent, Mike Taylor.
Mr. Kaiser called them “Phoney Indians.” They were real Indians and were none to pleased.
Ah yes, the Michael Taylor Institute of Hair Design,,,,
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/taylorad1.html
Thank you Lee Atwater.