Stapleton: Voters want 'grownups' in DC

A candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives said what he is hearing from Montana voters is that they want to see a little more maturity in their federal elected lawmakers.

“They say, ‘We want you to go back and do the right thing,’” he said, adding that much of that would involve planning and managing risks as he does as a financial planner in Billings.

“We need the grownups to show up in Washington, D.C.,” he said during a recent interview with the Havre Daily News.

Stapleton, who received

a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and master’s in political science from Temple University in Philadelphia, is a Republican candidate in a campaign with numerous candidates in both primaries.

A former Montana Senate majority leader and minority whip, Stapleton faces Drew Turiano of Helena and another former state senator, Ryan Zinke of Whitefish, and standing state Sens. Elsie Arntzen of Billings and Matt Rosendale of Glendive in the Republican primary June 3.

Stapleton said his work as a leader in the state Legislature shows his ability both to lead and to negotiate. He cited his work in replacing the failed POINTS computerized taxing system purchased by the state government as an example.

“It took two-and-a-half years to solve it, but it was incredibly important,” Stapleton said.

He said one thing he has not heard a lot about during this campaign is health care reform.

“I think there is a lot of Obamacare fatigue,” he said.

He said he would like to serve on the House natural resources committee, the financial services committee and, if he is on three committees, the foreign affairs committee.

He said in his 12 years in the U.S. Navy he learned a lot and has great interest in foreign affairs.

“I learned a lot about Americans from experts who weren’t Americans,” he said.

Stapleton said there is a vacuum in the Republican Party about the United States living up to its obligation as a world leader, and that national policy has led to a loss of the country’s reputation in the world, on issues such as in Syria and in the Republic of Crimea.

“While we don’t need to get back into a cold war, I think we need to pull our head out of the sand, and the world is waiting,” he said.

When asked if he would approach foreign policy more like Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., or Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, “I would like to think I am more Reagan,” Stapleton said.

He said he thinks he can provide leadership in Washington, although he realizes as a first-term representative that might seem counter-intuitive. Showing sincerity and quiet leadership and doing homework can help fill what he said is a vacuum of leadership in the capital. That is what he did in Helena, Stapleton said.

“I think you can do that in D.C., too,” he said, adding that his intent is to under-promise and over-perform.

Being on the financial services committee would be a natural extension of his work as a financial planner, Stapleton said, and being on the natural resources committee would let him help the state be rewarded for the “blood, sweat and tears of Montana.”

He said the problem for Montana is a continuing issue of the children going to college and then leaving the state to pay for the cost of their education. His being on the natural resources committee could help Montana create careers to keep the children here, Stapleton said.

He said that he sees in Billings the results of resource development like in the Bakken oil fields — the boom is creating jobs outside of the oil fields and outside of the oil industry.

But people are opposing development of technologies and developing resource industries, as if Montana can’t develop resources and remain a beautiful state, Stapleton said.

He said he believes that providing leadership from the top, just like in a business or sports team, can help change the attitude. That could lead to more development, such as in the Otter Creek coal resources in Montana that he helped negotiate development of while in the Legislature but has stalled, Stapleton said.

He said he has a message that will stay consistent through the primary into the general election, Stapleton said. He won’t tailor one message to conservative primary voters then change his stance for the general election.

Stapleton said he thinks the infighting in the Republican Party, between moderates and far right-wing conservatives, could lead to the GOP losing seats in the Legislature. He said he considers himself a conservative but he will maintain a message that he thinks will appeal to conservatives, moderates, Libertarians and independents.

“My goal is not to win the primary,” Stapleton said. “Anything short of winning the general election is failure.”