Otter's doing what he ought to do

Perry Swisher

Former Idaho legislator

The Butch Otter of the 1970s might have bucked the GOP hierarchy and sent a Barry Goldwater type to replace Larry Craig in the U.S. Senate. But the older Otter will do what he must -- and that means putting Jim Risch in Craig's shoes, writes Perry Swisher.

When you're young and frisky and think of yourself as a libertarian, it must be fun to contemplate what is next if by waving a magician's wand you could become governor. But when reality requires you to spend decades getting there without relieving you of that ambition for the governor's chair, does that take some of the fun out of it? In the instance of Idaho's new governor, C.L. "Butch" Otter, I'm afraid so.

The first clue I picked up that an aging Otter won't be the same governor that the dreaming young lawmaker would have been when in the 1970s he first considered becoming chief executive was his response earlier this year to a reporter's question: Would he want the state of Idaho to continue to be the sole source of the public's liquor?

Instead of looking into the questioner's eyes with the mischief that once characterized him, Otter instead looked soberly at the state's books and said yes. The state couldn't afford to surrender the markup it makes on every bottle and has ever since the repeal of Prohibition.

As a young populist, Otter brimmed with a belief that the state shouldn't be doing what the private sector is all about: enterprise. He would quote Jefferson on the importance of the state confining itself to doing only what the people couldn't do for themselves but needed the state to do. I noticed because -- although not ever a populist -- I still believe what I thought generations ago: that the liquor business would be more profitable, more imaginative and more efficient in the hands of private enterprise. State stores should have been only a momentary parking place for the wet goods until government decided how best to turn off the moonshine and illegitimacy of the dry experiment so one could have a drink without also having a conniption.

A member of Cecil Andrus' Cabinet during Andrus' first term as governor used to enjoy playing games with the animal surnames abounding among the politicians at the time -- Otter, Fox, Martin, Fisher and so on. A new take on our newest governor's handle has entered my head. Butch is feeling terribly responsible these days. He's not so much the Otter that was. He's doing what he ought to do. Governor Oughter.

Stripped in this past week of powerful committee assignments by his fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate over an embarrassing arrest in Minnesota, senior U.S. Sen. Larry Craig has announced he is resigning effective Sept. 30. It is the governor who has the power to name Craig's successor.

Whom will Otter choose? I have no idea whom Otter would most like. Someone who would tweak noses in the Senate caucus, a Barry Goldwater advocate of leanness and meanness.

But the most outstanding Republican vote-getter and wielder of policy power in this new Idaho century is easily Jim Risch. The current lieutenant governor -- in pre-2000 speculation Otter's surest primary opponent in a governor's contest -- Risch, on the face of it, would be the toughest senatorial opponent the party could field against the Democrats, who see opportunity in the Craig tumble.

My perception is that Otter will do what according to the party he oughter do. Send Risch to the Senate. In the pre-2000 speculation, 'twas said that Risch is so fond of his John Wayne lifestyle on a ranch southwest of Boise that he wants to stay here, not live in or near the Beltway.

But duty is big as the GOP prepares for 2008. Both parties are expecting big things of their candidates as the Bush presidency -- or presidencies -- becomes history. A younger Otter might have thought the hell with party discipline when so many issues are on the table of governance.

This governor will do the responsible thing. His party and the people will pay attention while he does so. No recent incumbent has turned in a more impressive display of ability than Risch's seven-month tour de force as governor when incumbent Dirk Kempthorne left to become Bush's Interior secretary.

Duty: I don't see how today's governor could appoint anyone other than Risch in this major vacancy without upsetting most of the Republican leadership. Strange as it is, this is a time when we are fighting a prolonged war without universal conscription; we are handing out tax breaks like candy while trillions in debt must become the chore of the next generation; and obesity, which only the individual gullet can reverse, is the national obsession. At such a time, a chief executive must be the very embodiment of duty by doing. The new art form isn't hip-hop. It's hypocrisy.

Swisher is a veteran Idaho newsman, former state legislator and a retired Idaho Public Utilities Commission member. You can write to him at 8660 Oakmont Drive, Boise, ID 83704.