The Idaho Democratic Party had a sweet post-primary victory rally on the statehouse steps yesterday. The Republicans usually do this, but they were conspicuously absent this spring. This may have been because top-of-the-ticket goober nominee Rep. Butch Otter was doing his real job in D.C., or it may have been that most of his fellow Republican heavyweights can't stand the guy the rank-and-file picked on Tuesday night to replace Otter.
The Democrats' speeches were great, really. Jerry Brady blasted Otter for his long love affair with Big Oil. Larry LaRocco was on fire, saying he'll work to eradicate meth use in Idaho and to raise the state's minimum wage. Larry Grant vowed to fight fiscal irresponsibility and corruption in Congress, and Jim Hansen called for an end to putting special-interest lobbyists in charge of health care, energy, and public lands policies.
But somewhere along the line, retiring Idaho House Speaker Bruce Newcomb ambled by - and at least half the press corps momentarily left the Dems' gathering to go talk with the Republican leader. Of course the question on everyone's minds was: So how about that Bill Sali? Newcomb's reply: No comment.
Well, maybe so ... except Newcomb has already gone on the record about Sali, quite nicely, thank you. AK at The Sniff Test suggests that some entrepreneurial Democratic soul ought to print up T-shirts with Newcomb's famous quote about his party's nominee. Whatever Newcomb does from here on out vis a vis the Sali Problem, he's not going to be able to turn his back on this one.
The Idaho Democratic ticket gathers to kick off the general election campaign. Meanwhile (above), Bruce Newcomb dropped by to check out the action - and reporters follow.
Update: Longtime Idaho political expert Randy Stapilus has posted a sobering assessment of why Idaho Democrats may need a reality check about Bill Sali's chances of winning in November.
The 't shirt' link goes to the Press Tribune abortion question. is that right?
Posted by: sharon fisher | May 28, 2006 at 09:23 AM
Jim Weatherby said something very important on the news programs today: Larry Grant *cannot* be a partisan Democrat in this race. If he forces the fact that he's a Democrat down people's throats, it's going to turn off Republicans. He *must* be able to build alliances with moderate Republicans who want a reasonable alternative to Sali, but he's not going to do it if he keeps reminding them he's a Democrat.
Posted by: sharon fisher | May 28, 2006 at 09:45 AM
Oh, one other thing -- I ran into Bill Sali and his wife on Friday night going to see the X-Men movie. Why is it not surprising that he goes to see a movie about government oppression?
It was pretty interesting, though. He was trying very hard to look invisible. I've never seen him do that before.
Posted by: sharon fisher | May 28, 2006 at 10:05 AM
I've fixed the link, Sharon. Thanks!
As for Sali at X-Men, I sure wish you could've reported they'd gone to see The DaVinci Code, but I am sure that's not going to happen. As it was, perhaps he was a bit nervous about seeing a film given a "caution" rating by the leading Christian movie review website. (Click my name.)
And Weatherby's right: Larry has a fine line to walk, and that line needs to run along the nonpartisan high road. He knows that the Democratic vote is secure, and we partsian Dems may need to occasionally remind ourselves that in order to win in a district that's elected Symms and Chenoweth, he must emphasize his bridge-building abilities.
Fortunately, for Larry, that's no stretch because that's exactly the sort of person he is. The fact he worked with a Republican administration to stop chip dumping - and the fact he's not a career politician - should help in this regard, too.
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Posted by: all-roses | September 04, 2007 at 01:04 AM