Zinke Getting Down to Business in DC

News Article

Now that Montana's new Congressman, Ryan Zinke has taken the oath of office, how will he rise to his new responsibility? MTN Political Analyst David Parker got some hints on the campaign trail with Zinke this fall.

"How are you? You know what I'd like to be known as is a statesman. As a teamwork guy. You know, I don't need to be on the front pages every time, you know, tooting my horn about something."

That's what then Congressional candidate Ryan Zinke told MTN Political Analyst, Dr. David Parker on the campaign trail in October. But Parker thinks Zinke may have a much more public future.

"I think you're going to see him become one of the national spokespersons, potentially, for the Republican Party on defense issues."

So why does Parker think that could happen? "Because he is a Navy SEAL, that makes him distinctive and a potential valuable commodity for Republican leadership to try to exploit and maybe get him out in front of the cameras."

Zinke sees his SEAL background differently. "When I was a SEAL, we never talked about it and certainly when I was at SEAL Team Six, if you did talk about it, you were no longer at that command."

But Zinke does have a vision for the military. He is on the Armed Services Committee. Parker says that's a big deal for a freshman Congressman. Zinke wants to make sure promises made to veterans are kept. And, he wants to apply the teamwork skills he learned in the Seals, to government.

"Every one of us, whether you're a Democrat, Republican, establishment, Tea Party, we're all stakeholders in the success of our country. And, it's time to act more of a team to fix and meet the challenges, which we can," Zinke said.

"Because of his prior experience, he might be a more noticed freshman than the average bear," Dr. Parker pointed out.

"I think as a representative you should listen and you should have the courage to recognize, you know what, I didn't have it quite right, and that's what leadership is about," Zinke said.

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