Well – finally. The Lewis & Clark County Republican Central Committee (LCCRCC) has – after nearly six months – gotten its stuff more or less together and come up with the remaining three candidates to submit to the county commissioners for their ultimate selection to replace Derek Brown.
The first three were selected in January by the secret “conservative caucus†of the LCCRCC (who hold their meetings at one of the local funeral parlors) and the committee at large was thwarted in their attempts to interview or question these candidates:
Pat Faber – owner Aqua Bona Consulting; unsuccessful Republican candidate for Montana legislature in 2010
Gilda Clancy – previous one-term legislator and long-time Right-to-Life activist.
Dan Wickens – self-employed; former campaign volunteer for the wannabe pirate governor, Neil Livingstone.
Following the disaster that was the January meeting, the whole process went … (wait for it)… (wait)…
…to Hell in a Handbasket, with several of the well-qualified candidates withdrawing from consideration. After much angst and an arbitrary delay by the committee leadership, the final four candidates appeared in a segment that had more closely in common with the interview portion of a local beauty contest than a substantive discussion of qualifications for a serious job in the public sector. Good thing the candidates were better than the shallow and largely unenlightening questions they were asked.
Ultimately, these are the final three candidates submitted for Commissioners Hunthausen and Murray to consider.
Steve Bostrom – former pastor of now defunct church. Currently chaplain for city of Helena (who even knew the city HAS a chaplain!) and active in local service club.
Susan Geise – resident of, and librarian for, the community of Augusta. Has served in Montana legislature and been active in Montana Republican politics for over twenty years. She was a “conservative when conservatism wasn’t cool.â€
Tom Rolfe – fleet and commercial sales manager of local car dealership for over 20 years, native Montanan, former legislator, active in local church and service clubs, LCCRCC precinct committeeman since 1980’s, active in Republican politics since “fifth gradeâ€.
So now the speculation du jour among the local political junkies begins: Who should Mike and Andy pick? Vote — and then share your thoughts and insights below.
Poll open until midnight Friday, May 17th.
Sadly I have not been reading the IR. It tends to make me nauseous. So I missed Betsy withdrawing.
Whom ever they choose it will be at the very last minute so the commission can keep its liberal dominance with no opposing voice as long as possible. Just like the IRS and political groups.
Betsy didn’t withdraw – she garnered the fewest votes in the balloting last Monday night.
She had contributed to a couple of Democrats in 2008, and although her supporters tried to hide the details, they came out. Contributing even a minimal amount of money to any Democrat for any reason is an unforgivable sin to the new leadership and majority of the Republican Central Committee, so Betsy – although arguably much more qualified for the job than the erstwhile city chaplain – was fourth in a three=person race.
Too bad. I know her and she is not a liberal… not even close. Not as rabid a conservative as I but still not liberal.