Navajo Nation Council delegate Kee Allen Begay
questions whether
Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) has done anything for tribes in Arizona. Indian voters in Montana might be wondering the same thing as the presidential race heats up.
With his
campaign building momentum, the former chairman of the
Senate Indian Affairs Committee, told
Newsweek he was "angry" when he "saw the abuse that [Jack] Abramoff committed and his friends and members in Congress." And just who was one of Abramoff's closest friends in Congress?
Well, it was none other than former Sen.
Conrad Burns (R-Montana), who accepted more
money from Abramoff than anyone else in Congress.
But McCain's anger seems to have died down a whole lot. That must be why he put
Burns in charge of his
Montana campaign.
"The Republican party wanted to have a Washington insider like Sen. Burns to head up his campaign effort in Montana," said Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger who was ousted from that role for being a closet Democrat.
Of course it doesn't hurt that the
Department of Justice dropped its investigation of Burns this year, giving McCain an excuse for hiring a tainted ex-member of Congress. "Conrad served his country in the United States Marine Corps, and was a dedicated representative of the people of Montana for more than two decades," McCain said.
So how will this have an effect on the Indian vote in Montana? it's too early to tell. But in 2006, Indian voters
overwhelmingly favored
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana) in his matchup against Burns. It won't look good for McCain to have Burns on the trail, at least not in Indian Country.
