Big screw up by North Dakota GOP

How was it that the North Dakota Republican Party did not ask a candidate for secretary of state the essential question? "Is there anything, in your history that could embarrass the party and scuttle your candidacy?" How could it be that savvy political operatives did not have the perspicacity to probe Will Gardner's personal and professional life before he made his pitch to the endorsing convention? Why did an honest(?), go-to-Mass family man leave off his resume a crime that was sure to be exposed?

For observers who said the party should stick with outstanding public servant, incumbent Secretary of State Alvin Jaeger, it's I-told-you-so time. So, to rub it in a little: I told you so.

GOP delegates bought the myth that youthful Gardner was just what the party needed. He was a star. This articulate, camera-friendly guy would be secretary of state for a term or two, and then be the perfect candidate for higher office. The stepping-stone strategy. Turned out it was stumbling-stone strategy.

Let's be clear. Gardner's behavior was no fraternity prank. Facts in the 2006 police report are disturbing in and of themselves: more so because Gardner was a 29-year-old father and an employee of North Dakota State University where the crime occurred. He lied to officers who caught him window shopping at a girls' residence hall.

Read more: http://www.inforum.com/opinion/columns/4450806-zaleski-big-screw-nd-gop-old-school