Page 18 - Flathead Beacon // 10.29.14

18 | OCTOBER 29, 2014 COVER
FLATHEADBEACON.COM
John Walsh, left, and Steve Daines at the U.S. Senate debate at Montana Tech in Butte.GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
Floating on the North Fork of the Flathead River, U.S. Sen. John Walsh slowly guides a raft down- stream. Set against a backdrop of towering mountains, the mo- ment has all of the metrics of a perfect campaign commercial or staged photo opportunity. But today, those tak- ing photos are only a staff member and a few river guides.
It would be different if Walsh were still running for U.S. Senate. A fleet of aides might be hurrying the guides to move along so the senator could hustle off to his next campaign event. A raft of reporters and photographers would be jockeying for a perfect position. Perhaps a Republican tracker, guiding another boat, would be training a video camera on Walsh, just like a tracker had a few weeks earlier, filming New Hampshire Senate candidate Scott Brown.
But there’s none of that.
When Walsh chats with the only re- porter who came along for the trip, ar- ranged to highlight efforts to protect the North Fork, he doesn’t stray far from the campaign rhetoric he had memo- rized months before – “doing right for our veterans” and how “polarization is what’s dividing us.” But after awhile, the exchange veers toward hiking and fish- ing, local microbrews and the previous night’s baseball game. Normal stuff.
During a lull in the conversation, Walsh’s wife, Janet, looks around and says, “It’s so quiet here.”
Montana Democrats thought they had the perfect U.S. Senate can- didate in John Walsh, a decorated veteran who served his country in the Montana National Guard for more than three decades. Chances for victory im- proved when Gov. Steve Bullock ap- pointed Walsh to the U.S. Senate to re- place retiring Max Baucus, providing the 53-year-old Butte native the power of incumbency.
Walsh’s political rise was unparal- leled in Montana history, from unknown military man tapped for lieutenant gov- ernor to sitting U.S. senator in just two years. But what’s more surprising than Walsh’s rise to power was his sudden downfall amid revelations that he pla- giarized a college paper in 2007.
As Montana State University politi- cal scientist David Parker said, “He rose like a meteor and crashed like a meteor.”
order to pay for college. He enrolled at Carroll College in Helena because he was able to save money by staying at his brother’s house there. At the time he planned on only serving in the guard for a few years, but he soon became enam- ored with the job. In 1984 he began work- ing full time at the guard and became an officer in 1987. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Walsh rose through the ranks of the Montana National Guard. He also graduated from the University of the State of New York in 1990, becoming the first person in his family to graduate from college.
In 2004, Walsh led 700 troops in Iraq as commander of the 1st Battalion of the 163rd Infantry, the largest deploy- ment of Montana soldiers since World War II. Insurgents often targeted Walsh because he was a battalion leader. On Oct. 15, 2005, the day Iraq ratified its new constitution, Walsh traveled to a local polling station between Kirkuk and Tikrit. As his five-vehicle convoy was traveling to the next polling place, an improvised explosive device, better known as an IED, detonated in front of Walsh’s Humvee. The blast blew the bul- letproof windshield into the vehicle and Walsh, who was sitting up front, hit his head on the dashboard. However, every- one escaped the blast largely unscathed.
In 2005, Walsh returned home from Iraq and the following year began at- tending the U.S. Army War College. He graduated from the school in 2007 with a master’s degree. A year later, Walsh
was picked by Gov. Brian Schweitzer to be the Adjunct General of the Montana National Guard, where he oversaw 1,200 employees and more than 3,700 soldiers.
As Adjunct General, Walsh began working with then-Attorney General Steve Bullock on a handful of projects, including the Montana Youth Chal- leNGe Academy in Dillon, which helped at-risk teens, and with efforts to prevent people from targeting veterans in fi- nancial scams. The two men apparently built a strong relationship and, in 2012, as Bullock was gearing up for a race for governor, he asked Walsh if he would like to be his running mate. Walsh said he would consider it. Although Walsh was interested in politics, many people, including members of his own family, were surprised that he would consider leaving the military to run for office.
“I thought he was teasing me at first but as the conversation went on I real- ized he wasn’t,” Walsh’s wife Janet re- called last week. “It was out of the blue because he had never even discussed go- ing into politics ... He was in the military and he planned on staying there for the rest of his career.”
As Walsh described it, the Adjunct General was an appointed position, and once a new administration was in place in Helena, be it a Democrat or a Repub- lican, there was no guarantee he would have a job. He decided to take a chance on politics.
Although Walsh had no political ex- perience, he did bring military experi-
W
alsh was born in Butte on Nov. 3, 1960, the son of a union pipe fitter who worked for the Anaconda Com-
pany and a stay-at-home mom. The fam- ily’s small house, where Walsh grew up with his brother and sister, was just six blocks from one of the ore concentra- tors. The home would shake every time miners set off charges in the pit.
Sports were a big part of the family and Walsh competed in baseball, bas- ketball, football, track and even speed skating. He graduated from Butte High School in 1979 and almost immediately joined the Montana National Guard in