big sky democrats

ERIK IVERSON STEALING THE LIMELIGHT FROM HIS BOSS

From his perch atop “Mansion Heights” in Missoula, Rep. Dennis Rehberg’s chief of staff has been called many things, not the least of which a self important bomb-thrower. But perhaps the most fitting name for the 32-year-old Erik Iverson is “Mini Me.”

Long-time political reporter Chuck Johnson recently speculated in his Sunday Column, Horse Sense, that millionaire developer Rehberg may be setting his sights on either Gov. Schweitzer or Senator Baucus in 2008. Nobody really knows for sure what Rehberg will do. But the story behind the story is what Iverson is planning to do. more

STEALING THE STAGE

Iverson, Rehberg’s protégé and top advisor, has been tromping around the state under the guise of representing his boss at official events. But to many observers, Iverson is positioning himself to run for high office, even the U.S. Congress.

And then there are Iverson’s countless on-record newspaper antics. In politics, there’s a code Iverson breaks often that says “thou shall not overshadow the boss.” He clearly doesn’t care. Beyond that, the art of subtlety is lost on Mr. Mini Me.

For those of you who’ve been living under a rock for the last several years, Mini-Me is a character in the blockbuster Austin Powers films, which grossed more than half a billion dollars since 2002. The films, starring Mike Meyers, are a parody of seventies spy flicks. Austin Powers’ nemesis, Dr. Evil, cloned a smaller version of himself, naming him Mini Me.

At a Hi-Line event to promote Amtrak last spring, Iverson gave a speech that reportedly left the audience scratching their heads. “I couldn’t tell who the Congressman was,” one observer said. “His whole speech was me, me, me (Mini Me). He barely mentioned Rehberg.” Ouch.

And at the kick off ceremony for the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial in Fort Benton, Iverson was “giving his own campaign speech, no two ways about it,” said another witness.

Iverson is also a mainstay on “Berg in the Morning,” the right-wing nut job talk show on the Northern Broadcasting Network, which, by the way, states: “views expressed on this program” aren’t theirs. Right.

A not-so-shaggadelic Witlash native and Polson High grad, Iverson is also prone to getting Denny into hot water.

Shooting from the hip

Iverson was the guy-behind-the-guy when Rehberg shot from the hip earlier this year in announcing that Montana’s Air National Guard unit would survive the impending round of military base closures.

Rehberg said he had unnamed “sources within the Bush Whitehouse.” Uh huh. But Montana reporters bit hard on the announcement, and to their embarrassment – namely the Great Falls Tribune which ran a banner headline to that affect - Rehberg and Iverson were wrong. It was a cheap attempt to grab headlines. Yes, Malmstrom had survived, but the Pentagon put the Montana Air National Guard squarely in its sights. The state’s Congressional delegation, led by Max Baucus and Governor Schweitzer, spent the next several months fighting to keep planes in Great Falls.

All this has to chide Denny a little; his top guy stealing the limelight given Rehberg by the gracious, albeit blind at times, voters of Montana.

“Boy, Denny, That Couch Sure Looks Comfy.”

Who knows, maybe Iverson, if he plays his cards right, could get a spot on the comfy couch Rehberg has been surfing for the last five years. (Actually, strike that, we aren’t going to let either of them have another chance to sleep in that Capitol Hill office -- we are going to put a Democrat in there.)

But, any way you slice it, it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to connect the dots: Mini-Me has his sights set on being the “Me.”

Yeah, baby!