The recent resignation of Governor Matt Blunt's chief of staff James Harris has drawn considerable attention, most of it centering around the fact that Harris was the one in charge of selecting operators for license fee offices, something which is being investigated by the FBI.
Of course, Harris, 29, has an entirely different spin on his departure. Consider this passage from an article in his hometown Washington Missourian:
Harris said Democrats will read all kinds of things into his resignation from the governor's office but stressed that he's leaving to resume his career as a campaign consultant which he began full time shortly after he graduated from St. Louis University in 2000. The timing is also right. With the legislative session just ended, races are starting to heat up for November's elections.
"Politics is all about timing. Some people stay too long and I don't want to be a staffer forever. I don't like sitting in an office all day. The political season has already begun. I want to do my part to help the Republicans maintain their majority. It's an important year in state politics and my leaving to campaign is natural progression of wanting to help the governor and the party," he added.
Harris has nothing but praise for his boss who he says hasn't always gotten a fair shake from the press.
"In some respects the press has been unfair to Gov. Blunt. He's turned the state around in many respects. We've created 30,000 new jobs since he took over and you never hear about that. We've led the nation in job growth for some months. Our roads are getting better. We've created a better climate for business. This is great stuff. But you rarely read about it in the press. They've focused on the Medicare cuts which were difficult but left unchecked would have bankrupted the state. We've created a sustainable (Medicare) system.
"I think when people look back they will say he made a lot of tough calls but created a better business climate and made this a better state," he explained.
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