6 March 2014

Did Conrad Burns endorse both Brad Johnson and Derek Skees?

Did 79-year-old former Senator Conrad Burns endorse both Republican candidates for the Republican nomination for Public Service Commission District 5 — and not realize he had done so? That seems a distinct possibility.

Here’s the chronology:

27 February 2014. Derek Skees, candidate for the GOP nomination for PSC-5, issues a press release claiming early endorsements from 22 prominent Republicans. At the top of the list, Conrad Burns and current PSC-5 commissioner, and PSC chairman, Bill Gallagher.

2 March 2014. Lolita Zinke (Ryan’s wife) posts a note on Informed Whitefish, asserting she knew for a fact that Burns had endorsed Brad Johnson, who was known to be running for the PSC.

4 March 2014. Brad Johnson finally files for PSC-5, issuing a press release (1) claiming an endorsement from Conrad Burns, and (2) asserting that Bill Gallagher had promised to stay neutral during the primary:

“I look forward to serving the people of Montana in this important role and I am extremely pleased to have the enthusiastic support of Senator Burns.” said Johnson. Burns announced his endorsement of Johnson saying:

“I have known Brad for a long time and he’s always been an honest, positive professional, a principled conservative and a good leader. He will do a good job for his district and for our state. I urge voters in District 5 to give Brad their vote.”

In addition, Johnson recognized Commission Chairman Bill Gallagher’s decision to remain neutral in the primary race as another example of his leadership and professionalism. “Montanans have been well served by current Commissioner Bill Gallagher and I deeply regret that he has chosen not to run again. Under Bill’s leadership, the atmosphere at the Commission was transformed from one of turmoil and divisiveness to one of civility and professionalism. Chairman Gallagher has personally assured me that he will not endorse a candidate in the primary but that he will enthusiastically support the candidate chosen by Montana Republicans. I appreciate Bill’s commitment to unity and leadership in this matter.” Johnson concluded.

Thus began the battle for the blessing of Conrad Burns. Whom did Burns endorse? Skees? Johnson? Both?

I emailed Skees asking for clarification:

Hi, Derek:

The Gazette just published a PSC filings story ending with these three paragraphs:

Johnson, 62, said he is “uniquely qualified” to serve on the commission, given his experience as secretary of state and state Land Board member and success as a small business owner.

He also said he has been endorsed by former U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, a Republican who served Montana as a senator from 1989-2006.

In a statement released late Monday by Johnson, Burns said Johnson has been “an honest, positive professional, a principled conservative and a good leader,” and urged people in District 5 to vote for Johnson.

Please explain how you received Burns’ endorsement, and provide me with a copy of Burns’ statement if he you provided you with one.

Thanks for your help,

James Conner

The next morning I received Skees’ reply:

James,

Good morning, I hope things are well with you and your family.

I talked with Senator Burns on the phone the evening of February 25th, and besides the normal polite conversation regarding health (which he needs our prayers regarding), we had a nice conversation regarding my endorsement list. He agreed with the folks I have gathered so far, and said he would be happy to add his name to that list.

I told him I was going to do a press release Thursday the 27th, and could I include his name in that, and further printing; He agreed. I told him his endorsement would be enough, and did not require the use of any quotes.

The Gazette story, a paper by the way that historically has had a great difficulty discerning truth from propaganda for left of center politics, is disconcerting. I know the good Senator has had a tough time of late with the effects of his stroke, so I will call him and make sure of his position. The last thing I want is for our good friend Conrad to be placed in a difficult situation, and I am confident we can work this out.

I would say thank you for your interest in sorting out the truth, yet I know from your printed history you are just on a fishing expedition to find any angle to attack Republican candidates. I will still pray for you, however difficult, and wish you good health and happiness.

[Derek]

When and if Skees provides more details, you’ll read about them here.

The big questions are whether Skees lied about having endorsements from Burns and Gallagher, was mistaken about having them, was sandbagged after Johnson’s campaign succeeded in wresting the endorsements from Skees, or was endorsed by a former Senator who also endorsed the other guy and wasn’t aware of doing so.

I can’t believe Skees lied. He might have overreached, but no candidate with any political smarts, and Skees has plenty of political smarts, would lie about endorsements months before the election. That kind of lie would be more than embarrassing; it would be political suicide. That’s why I take press releases on endorsements at face value.

Was Skees mistaken? That’s possible. He wanted the endorsements, and wanted them badly because Burns still carries weight with Republican primary voters, and Gallagher would carry weight in the PSC primary. So he might have drawn conclusions that were overly optimistic. That’s human nature. But is that what happened? I don’t know.

Did Johnson’s campaign get Burns to switch from Skees to Johnson? That’s possible and may be what happened. And it certainly looks like Johnson’s campaign may have persuaded Gallagher to retreat into neutrality.

Or did Burns endorse both men and not realize that he did? He’s 79 and in 2009 suffered a stroke that sent him to intensive care. Residual effects of that stroke coupled with advancing age may have affected his memory.

Burns’ defenders bristle at that notion. This morning I received the following email from Stan Ullman:

Sir, I am a friend and advisor for Brad and friend and former staffer for Senator Burns. I have every confidence that Conrad endorsed Brad and not Mr. Skees. I urge you to due diligence and fact-finding before suggesting that Senator Burns may not recall endorsing both candidates due to “confusion” related to his age and health. That would be disrespectful. It may be Mr. Skees who is confused or not properly advised. It would not be the only occasion where Mr. Skees is confused about who endorsed him.

Spoken like a true loyal staffer, Stan. Ditto Boland would have been proud of you.

But Burns wasn’t all that sharp when he lost to Jon Tester in 2006, and he certainly hasn’t gotten any sharper in the last eight years. He may well have endorsed both Skees and Johnson and not have been aware that he did. We’re unlikely to ever know, but the possibility is far from unreasonable.

But we do know that Brad Johnson had the wit to obtain a written statement from Burns, while Skees relied on oral assurances from a telephone conversation. Although both candidates are laying claim to Burns’ endorsement, and I believe those claims are sincere, I think Johnson’s claim will prevail in the court of public opinion.

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Johnson’s press release was in the Open Document format (.odt), which is open source and created by free applications such as NeoOffice. I like that. Although Microsoft Office is a standard, and MS Office word processing documents are a standard, I believe government should convert to open source software when possible. That would save taxpayers money. And if adopted by schools, it would save students and parents money.