Bruning Defends Short-Term Hiring Of Political Pro

Analysis

Attorney General Jon Bruning has been hit with the kind of thing that may come back and bite him, or bite at him, down the road

Regardless of any legitimate explanation, voters raise eyebrows when told that a public official might have put someone on the payroll for plainly political purposes. The word plainly is important here. More on that later.

The specter of such down-the-road allegations came up last week when questions were raised about former Justice Department employee Vicki Powell.

Powell is a veteran political apparatchik, having managed both of former Republican Mike Johanns’ successful campaigns for governor.

Bruning has long acknowledged that he wants to governor – some day.

It’s this way:

Bruning faces suggestions that he was looking to his own political future when he hired Powell, at $59,000 a year, as the Justice Department’s “senior citizen outreach coordinator.”

There is nothing unusual about people with political skills being hired to do state jobs for which they are qualified. Powell is a bright enough soul, capable of handling any number of jobs.

So, what’s the rumpus? Read on.

Powell was hired on February 9 of this year. She quit some three months later to manage Representative Tom Osborne’s campaign for governor.

The thing is, Bruning had been publicly considering a bid for the Republican nomination for governor.

Bruning backed away from the race when he figured Osborne would be the GOP’s candidate. Powell’s departure to manage Osborne’s campaign came less than two weeks after the former Husker football coach entered the race.

Why does Bruning face suggestions that Powell’s short-term employment reflected his political self-interest?

Because Bruning had described the post she held as one of “critical” importance – and because he has left the so-called critical job unfilled for six months.

Ow-eee!

Appearances can be hurtful, regardless of reality. It appears to some that Bruning’s hiring of Powell was plainly a politically based move.

When it comes to public perception, the citizenry has been known to see a politician’s explanation as no more than an excuse.

The interesting thing is this: If Bruning had promptly filled the job that Powell vacated, he might not have faced any more questions about it.

Bruning now says he will fill the job. He still insists the post is an important one. He says Powell did a lot of good work during her short tenure.

Sen. Don Pederson of North Platte, chairman of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee, previously expressed skepticism about the post, and still does. During a budget hearing in March, he and other lawmakers were skeptical about Powell’s hiring.

In an interview with the Associated Press last week, it was obvious Pederson was still skeptical.

“I said at the time that Vicki Powell’s only history had been running campaigns, not certainly getting into something she knew nothing about,” Pederson told the AP.

The risk to Bruning is not that some Democrat might defeat him in a bid for re-election. He’s a Republican. When is the last time Nebraskans threw out a Republican attorney general to put in a Democrat?

The problem for Bruning could be in the way he is perceived by fellow Republicans, especially the ones who play big roles in state politics.

Bruning has drawn fire for his high-profile prosecution of a young man who got a 13-year-old girl pregnant, but later married her. He has indicated that more such prosecutions are possible.

In some circles, Bruning has been criticized simply for his effort to maintain a high profile. Whether the issue is the possible gouging of Nebraskans at the gas pump, illicit sex or a questionable hiring, when the attention it draws is perceived as doing as much harm as good, political regulars get leery.

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