Brad Little Flaps His Wings - and His Gums
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Brad Little flaps his wings - and his gums Marty Trillhaase/Lewiston Tribune It's no secret that anyone willing to take on the job of Idaho lieutenant governor sees a future governor in the mirror. For the most part, however, they've accepted the job description - be seen, not heard; preside over the state Senate and inquire discretely about the governor's health. Even those second bananas with a virtual lock on ascending to the top job - Democrat John Evans and Republican Jim Risch whose predecessors, Cecil D. Andrus and Dirk Kempthorne, respectively, were about to resign in order to accept a presidential cabinet appointment - never went as far as Lt. Gov. Brad Little. In a weekend interview with the Spokesman-Review's Betsy Russell, Little said: He's already doing a lot of work as governor. Under the Idaho Constitution, the powers of the office are transferred to the No. 2 whenever Otter leaves the state or becomes incapacitated. So far, that's happened 247 days since Little became lieutenant governor on Jan. 6, 2009, "with the days per year sharply increasing over his time in office," Russell reports. Otter, who spent 14 years biding his time as lieutenant governor to Andrus, Phil Batt and Kempthorne, has delegated far more responsibility to his second in command than was delegated to him. Little sticks to a low-paid, part-time job because he expects to become governor. "I feel I've got to," he told Russell. "I mean, I'm getting paid to be prepared to do that. ... I don't anticipate it, but I think it's part of the job description." Ambiguous? Maybe. Until you consider the story lines Little's comments encourage: Such as the one about Idaho's absentee governor. Nearly three years ago, then-Idaho Statesman reporter Dan Popkey found that Otter took Mondays off, that the governor's personal days were up 28 percent while his official appointments were down 21 percent. During the recent campaign, Democratic candidate A.J. Balukoff accused Otter of being a "part-time governor" who worked between 27 and 33 hours a week. "Gov. Otter treats his job like he's in semi-retirement," Balukoff said. Such as the one that has Otter handing off the office to Little at midterm, enabling him to run as the incumbent in 2018. Feeding that rumor is the argument that Otter ran for a third term because Little could not stop Congressman Raul Labrador from cinching the GOP gubernatorial primary. Such as the one that says Otter - whose previous two terms were devoid of much success - begins his third as the lamest of lame ducks. Such as the one that says Otter at 72 is getting long in the tooth while Little, at 60, is primed to take over. And such as the story that says Otter, whose administration is immersed in scandals over his handling of private prison and school broadband contracts, may long for the peace and quiet of his ranch. As a rule of thumb, Little could have prevented all of that by responding to Russell's questions with a simple answer: "Idaho has one governor at a time. Go ask him." The big question, of course, is whether Little asked Otter about giving the interview in the first place. But Little is one of those people in public life who may lack the devious gene. He's known for sincerity. Ask him an upfront question, he's likely to give an honest answer. As a matter of honesty, Little got a good boost from his electoral performance. He exceeded expectations by pulverizing Idaho County Commissioner Jim Chmelik with two-thirds of the GOP primary vote and doing almost as well against Democratic candidate Bert Marley in November. In contrast, Otter only survived his primary challenge. Even though the governor thumped Balukoff, his tally was nearly 36,000 votes smaller than Little's. Unintended or not, Little has made it clear he's not waiting. He just launched his 2018 campaign for governor. - M.T. .