Press releases yesterday announcing Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck's entry into the 2010 race for the U.S. Senate listed Jack Stansbery, who fronted Republican presidential candidate John McCain's Colorado campaign, as a contact person. However, the person sending out the e-mail may actually have a higher profile: Monica Owens, daughter of former Governor Bill Owens.
Monica began grabbing a substantial amount of spotlight time last year. In August, she and her mother, Frances Owens, co-authored a Denver Post opinion piece in praise of First Lady wannabe Cindy McCain. Shortly thereafter, she blogged about the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis for 9News -- a quasi-journalistic foray that inspired a series of tips from ex-Westword staffer Adam Cayton-Holland. (His first effort, "Here's How Monica Owens Can Make Her Blog as Hot as She Is," was followed by not one but two sequels.) More recently, she took a position with Phase Line Strategies, a "full-service, multi-disciplined public affairs and political consulting firm" with a decided Republican slant that employed her a few years back. Her bio notes that Owens re-joined the Phase Line team in October 2007 after serving as scheduler for former vice president Dick Cheney. The piece adds that "Owens is currently working on a certificate program in Homeland Security at the University of Denver."
Is a future candidacy in Monica's future? Don't be surprised. After all, she's currently helping out the very sort of folks she'll need in her corner if she someday decides to follow in dad's footsteps.
