On March 3, 2008, 13 Montana Republican Legislators were accused of ‘morphing into Democrats’. In response, we felt compelled to weigh in.

Letters for Friday, March 14, 2008, The Missoulian

I’ve been around long enough to know that politics can be a full contact sport and not for the meek of heart. But one thing we don’t often see is Jurassic justice - when a carnivore’s political blood lust compels them to eat their own.

But that’s exactly what Roger Koopman did when he accused Rep. MacLaren (and 13 other Republicans) of ‘morphing into Democrats’. Why? How? Apparently, Rep. MacLaren et al had the temerity to sit down with Democrats and try to salvage last year’s legislative debacle, aka “Helena Legislature 2007, where good ideas go to die.” Gosh, Gary - what were you thinking? The peoples’ business trumped partisan loyalty?

Now - as you know - I’m running for public office. And as I meet people to discuss what’s important to them, their children, our communities, the crazy thing is we agree far more than disagree. Call me naive but I think we all want solutions and Republican vs. Democrat catfights just cause more problems.

So I called Gary to offer my condolences and support. When I spoke with him his reaction to the article was pretty mild. And since Rep. MacLaren is a veteran political player and I’m a rookie, I decided to keep my powder dry and reminded myself that it’s not who is right but what is right. So if elected, I’m looking forward to going to Helena and when a good idea comes along (regardless if it’s a Democratic or Republican proposal) I’ll support it on the merits and not party origin. But I gotta tell ya, I will be looking over my shoulder…Mr. Koopman’s appetite for destruction is an awesome thing.

Peter Rosten, Darby, MT.

http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/03/14/letters/letters67.txt