Red State Rebels

What we're facing in District 21

My opponent apparently finally realized that the election didn’t end in May. He’s been a no-show all summer – his website and blog still encourage people to vote in the primary, and I never saw him at Meridian Dairy Days or Kuna Days and other events, and he didn’t respond to the Statesman’s questionnaire in July.

However, the Statesman did their endorsement interviews last week, and he deigned to show up for those, and the Statesman let him respond to their questionnaire at that point. I’d been concerned that he had the opportunity to see my answers before formulating his own, but it doesn’t seem like I have to worry.

But hey! Don’t take my word for it. Check it out for yourself:

The Statesman questionnaire

The Statesman interviews:
Mine
His

An additional question on energy (to which he didn’t respond)

There’s not a lot of meat to comment on, but he does have one idea, which he mentioned in both the questionnaire and the interview: “I would like to see us make it mandatory to graduate from high school!”

Well, I’m certainly not going to deny that it’s a problem. As the mother of a child in school, I’m not trying to insist on people’s rights to drop out. But this brings up a lot of questions.
• Just how would he propose making it mandatory?
• How would he force the people to come to school?
• How long would it take? Will we have disgruntled people in their 20s lurking around the high schools because they’re forced to be there?
• Would it result in people getting diplomas they hadn’t earned, diluting the value of an Idaho high school diploma?
• One of Tom Luna’s reasons for asking the Legislature for a high-priced longitudinal data system is to help track high school graduation rates better. Shouldn’t we find out the true scope of the problem first?
• Based on current data, Idaho actually has a pretty good graduation rate compared to other states. Where we fall down is getting our children beyond high school to college.
• The flawed federal No Child Left Behind system is essentially predicated on cutting loose the children who don’t perform, or running the risk of having a school labeled as “failing to meet adequate yearly progress.” What will happen to Idaho schools’ ranking when they are forced to keep these students around?

But the biggest problem is that he prefers to just slap a law on something rather than finding out the cause of a problem. What is making the kids drop out in the first place? Let’s determine that, and address *those* issues, perhaps by providing other options for letting Idahoans earn high-school diplomas.

And this is a guy who wants to be on the Education Committee!

Please. Tell your friends in District 21. If you can contribute time or money, please let me know. Write letters to the editor, in both the Statesman and the Press Tribune. This is Bill Sali’s old seat, and this guy’s ideas are in Sali's fine tradition of repealing the law of gravity and “abortions cause breast cancer.” Southern Ada County deserves better.

Voter #17 at 2:35 p.m.

Turnout for today's Boise school board election is super-low. I voted about an hour ago at my neighborhood school (Hawthorne), and I was only the 17th voter in more than six hours. Ouch. But what do they expect when they hold an election with almost no publicity, the day after a three-day holiday weekend?

Polls are open until 8 p.m. Get a list of locations here, and read the candidates' positions here. I cast my ballot for Jeff Almeida and Nancy Gregory.

Update 10:15 p.m.: The incumbents (Nancy Gregory and Janet Orndorff) won. Sorry, Jeff. And sorry, Boise. Turnout was an abysmal 1.19%, with fewer than 1,200 voters casting ballots. More here.

Election day comes early this year

Well, ok, not that election... But, today, Tuesday, September 2nd, marks the Trustee election in the Boise School District.  Polls are open from 8 to 8, a list of polling places can be found here, and you can vote at any of the polling places (provided, of course, you live in the District).

Needless to say, I'd (once again, that's "Jeff Almeida" -- the "JA" in my username) appreciate your support.  For more information about my candidacy, check out my campaign website at www.backjeff.com.  Note that there are three candidates vying for two seats; of the two incumbents, I'd strongly recommend also voting to retain Nancy Gregory, who is seeking her second term on the board.

Thank you again, and remember to make your voice heard!

Stealth elections for our schools ... why?

Do you know what happens in Boise a week from Tuesday, just as we all settle into fall's unofficial start the day after Labor Day? That's right: We elect three members of the Boise School Board of Trustees. The candidates are Jeff Almeida, Nancy Gregory, Derick O'Neill, and Janet Orndorff . You sure wouldn't know this election is at hand, would you? No signs, no mailings nor lit drops that I've seen, and the only campaign info I could find online is linked above.

The school district does have a little information posted on its website, including polling locations for the September 2 election (most elementary schools, Hillside and Riverglen junior highs, Capital and Timberline high schools), plus a PDF absentee ballot request form. Early voting has begun and is available from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays at the Boise School District Services Center, 8169 W. Victory Road.

I applaud Jeff for running and giving people a choice. Had he not filed at the last minute at the urging of other parents, we would have re-elected the three incumbents without any debate or discussion over the district's priorities. Heck, without a public candidate forum of any kind (what's up with that?!), we may still do so. I'll be voting for Jeff because I know him, he currently has a child in the district, and he seems dedicated to being sure that Boise retains its record of excellent schools that challenge our children.

Speaking of stealth elections, the Boise Guardian had a good piece earlier this week on how young politicos might want to consider running for the upcoming College of Western Idaho trustee elections. The filing deadline for that position is September 2, too, with balloting in November. Like the Boise school board, the CWI board is nonpartisan, but we need to be sure progressive people run for these positions - and win.

Obama campaign announces platform meetings

Just got this email from the Obama campaign:

Every four years, the Democratic Party assembles a platform that outlines the party's position on a number of issues. Traditionally, the drafting of the platform is not open to ordinary people.This year, that's going to change.

For two weeks in July, people all across America will hold Platform Meetings in their own communities to discuss the issues and share their input. The outcome of these meetings will be reviewed by the Drafting Committee as it creates the final Platform.

The window for meetings is July 19-27, which is actually just over a week. No meetings have been set up in Boise yet, but if you're game to do so, you can get info here. The campaign suggests that rather than tackle the task of writing an entire platform, meeting organizers choose to focus on one key plank. It'd be great to see separate meetings emerge in Idaho population centers on such key topics as energy and the environment, the economy, education, health care, and America's role in the world.

I'm voting Republican

You know, I just think they've been right all along - so why fight it?

Seriously, on behalf of my fellow Boise Democrats, welcome to the 2008 Idaho Democratic Convention. I won't be with you - I'm in Denver on a business trip - but I am there in spirit. Have fun and get ready to kick some GOP butt! (Thanks for the video, Dale ...)

Timber vote fallout

Bill Sali is in a heap o' trouble over his vote to deny continued timber program payments to rural communities hurt by logging cutbacks - money that helps fund schools, roads, police protection, and more across 700 rural counties in 39 states.

To be fair, almost all the House Republicans - including Mike Simpson - voted against the bill because they didn't like Democratic plans to pay for the extension by collecting back payments from big oil companies. But Sali is taking more heat than most because he represents a district that will be one of the hardest hit by the decision. As the Walt Minnick campaign noted yesterday, losing these funds could mean a $2.8 million budget shortfall for Idaho County, while Shoshone County stands to lose $4 million - a full third of its annual budget.

The Sali campaign blasted the bill as a sham that will boost gas prices. But writing at New West, Jill Kuraitis noted:

So far, the Sali for Congress campaign has accepted $21,000 from oil PACs and $371,366 from all PACs, which is 75% of his contributions. The Minnick for Congress campaign has accepted no oil PAC money, and $29,500 from all PACs, which is 4% of his contributions.

At Ridenbaugh Press, Randy Stapilus says that this bill was crafted by Dems to put Republicans on the spot, but that it nonetheless served to show where GOP legislators' loyalties lie - and it's not with rural communities:

You can ask the question, If top priority was getting a funding bill passed, why would (Oregon Rep. Peter) De Fazio and his allies run one that was so likely to draw Republican fire and therefore likely doom it? (Of course, finding the money hasn’t been an easy thing regardless - (Oregon Rep. Greg) Walden and other Republicans haven’t yet found a winning formula either.) But we suspect that will be superseded by another question: When the choice came to a decision between taxes paid by oil companies and desperately needy counties in the Northwest, why did those Northwest representatives vote on the side of the oil companies? That could be a deadly question.

The evening news ...

It's been a busy day. A few highlights:

In Congress today, Bill Sali helped defeat a bill designed to help rural communities and schools. Idaho would've been one of the bill's biggest beneficiaries. Sali challenger Walt Minnick has more, as does the Washington Post.

From the Huffington Post, Idaho and the 2006 Larry Grant campaign get huzzahs from the Barack Obama campaign, as Exhibit A of how Democrats can compete here. Ah, it sure is nice for the '06 Grant campaign  to get a little respect. (Disclosure: As most of you know, I was its campaign blogger and netroots outreach person.) Also, Hillary Clinton (who plans to endorse Obama on Saturday) has distanced herself from efforts to promote her as the VP nominee.

C-SPAN bus is in SW Idaho this week

The C-SPAN Campaign 2008 bus is making appearances around the Treasure Valley today (Tuesday) through Thursday. It's worth wondering why the 45-foot mobile production studio often seen on C-SPAN's "Road to the White House" is in Idaho a week before the Pennsylvania primary, but it turns out that this is Bus 2. Bus 1 is indeed in the Keystone State this week.

Learn more about the bus at its MySpace page and website. Its local stops include:

Today (April 15):
9-11 a.m. - Boise High School, 1010 W. Washington St.
1-4 p.m., Idaho Department of Education, 650 W. State St., Boise

Wednesday (April 16):
8-10 a.m., Homedale High School
11 a.m.-2 p.m., Boise State University

Thursday (April 17):
9-11 a.m., Mountain View High School, 2000 Millennium Way, Meridian
noon-2 p.m., Rotary Club of Boise, 802 W. Bannock St., Boise

Canyon County youth trending Dem

Dan Popkey had a good column in Sunday's Idaho Statesman about the mock political conventions held last week at Caldwell High School. A snip:

Students pick their party affiliations and, until this year, they reflected Canyon County's GOP loyalty. The last time the presidential race was wide open - Bush-Gore, in 2000 - Republicans outnumbered Democrats about 400 to 200.

The ratio was reversed last week, with 487 students at the Democratic convention on Thursday and 199 with the GOP on Wednesday.

"I personally want to see the looks on your parents' faces when they find out where you hung out today," said Caitlin Hogge, an 18-year-old senior whose nominating speech helped Democrat John Edwards to a second-place finish ahead of Hillary Clinton. Obama won in a walk, with 423 delegate votes.

Later in the column, Popkey quoted 35-year-old state Sen. John McGee as saying the teens are more interested in backing Obama than being Democrats. The thing is, research has proven that people tend to  stick with the party they choose as young adults, and that nationally, far more young voters are identifying as Democrats than as Republicans. So if Obama gets the nomination (let us pray) and young Canyon Countians turn out en masse for him this year, it'll not only mean good coattails for downballot Dem candidates; it'll also portend a long-term Democratic trend for Idaho's second-largest county.

And why not? For every Patti Anne Lodge running home to bottle-feed her calves, there are a thousand young Canyon County residents struggling to make their rent and car payment, stuck in traffic commuting to and from low-paying service sector jobs. Canyon County is urban, it's diverse, and its residents deserve representation that's more in tune with their lives. It's no surprise that Caldwell High students realize this means voting Democratic.