Risch trying to railroad foes out of race

UPDATE Friday afternoon: LaRocco talked about the GOP's ballot machinations during a short interview with the Spokesman-Review's Huckleberries Online just now. Read it here.

Jim Risch and the Idaho Republican Party are apparently losing sleep over the idea that the lieutenant gov has to compete not just with surging Democrat Larry LaRocco but with three other conservatives in his drive to win Larry Craig's U.S. Senate seat. First, the GOP power elites tried to get independent Rex Rammell tossed off the ballot, a request that the Idaho Supreme Court denied on Wednesday. Then, on Thursday, KTVB reported that U.S. Rep. Bill Sali has called Rammell, Libertarian candidate Kent Marmon, and independent Pro-Life (yes, that's his name), asking them to drop out lest they throw the election to LaRocco. All three underdogs refused, and LaRocco told KTVB that the GOP efforts to winnow the field show disrespect for the voters. LaRocco served two terms in the U.S. House in the 1990s, and he offers that seniority and his place in the Democratic Party to improve Idaho's lowly status in Congress.

Comments

[Bill Sali Fan]

Yet another example of Bill Sali's leadership and effectiveness that's so vexing to you Anti-Sali Socialists! As mega-spokesman Wayne Hoffman implies, it's just not fair that you Democrats have the gall to try to win Bill Sali's seat, and it's certainly not fair that you only run one person for Senate against 4 Patriots! Why, in a situation like that, Liberal Larry LaRock could end up winning this multi-candidate race with less than a majority of the votes! He could even win while getting as little as 25.37% of the votes. How American is that? I refute your heresy here: http://billsalifan.blogspot.com/2008/09/another-bill-sali-success.html

[Irwin Horowitz]

Of course, if Bill Sali really wanted to help Idaho, he could ask Jim Risch to bow out of the race.

[Julie in Boise]

Thanks for the laffs, BSF. Here's the comment I just posted at your place:

Did you know that Bill Sali got more votes in 2006 (115,843) than Sarah Palin (114,697)? So why didn't Sali get chosen as McCain's VP, eh?

Is he embarrassed to be beaten by a girl?

Of course, they both got less than 50% of the vote that year, meaning that more people voted against them than for them.

[Julie in Boise]

Irwin, if Bill Sali really wanted to help Idaho, he'd ask himself to bow out of his race.