Red State Rebels

LaRocco has economic plan; debate set tonight

Four of the five Idaho candidates for the U.S. Senate will appear together tonight for a debate at the College of Idaho in Caldwell. The event is set for 7 to 8 p.m. in Jewett Auditorium. We'll have the live feed on here at Red State Rebels at 7 Mountain/6 Pacific, but Treasure Valley residents may want to check out this one in person, especially since it features not just Democrat Larry LaRocco and Independent Rex Rammell, but Libertarian candidate Kent Marmon, and the single issue candidate “Pro-Life” (formerly known as Marvin Richardson). Political economy professor Jasper LiCalzi will moderate.

Of course, Republican Jim Risch will be a no-show, as usual ... just in case anyone had any doubt.

Meanwhile, Larry yesterday announced his economic plan, "America's Path to Recovery and Prosperity." Speaking with reporters in Boise yesterday, he said, "My prescription for the economy is one-two-three: first solve the immediate crisis on Wall Street, then tackle energy independence and health insurance. If we get to work and put partisan politics aside, we should be able to accomplish these things in the first 100 days of the next Congress."

As the intro to his plan (available online) says, LaRocco "has more than 30 years experience in the financial services industry, including four years on the House Banking Committee. Larry LaRocco is uniquely qualified to understand the current crisis on Wall Street and to formulate effective solutions."

Weekend edition 9/19-21: Three cool events

Every election season, there are a few events that just rise above the rest in utter coolness. This fall, so far, these are my picks for the most Ida-licious shindigs for progressive people who care:

Tuesday, September 23 - "Turn the Feather Blue" is a fundraiser for state Senator Kate Kelly, future state Senator (and current Rep.) Nicole LeFavour, and the Canyon County Democrats (represented by future Canyon County Commissioner Estella Zamora). Enjoy great local food and fine beverages at the Red Feather Lounge in downtown Boise. Tickets are $25 for happy hour or $75 for a full six-course meal hosted by the Red Feather's Dave Krick. Get more info here and sign up here.

Sunday, September 28 - Several downtown Boise businesses are teaming up for an afternoon of music and fun to help elect officials who will safeguard our clean air, water, quality of life, and natural places. Conservation Voters for Idaho board member & Record Exchange owner Michael Bunnell and CVI Executive Director Lee Flinn are hosting the party with free hors d’oeuvres and drinks, friends, and music, plus a silent auction featuring a Nirve Paul Frank Cruiser bike and other great items. Tim Johnstone of KRVB 94.9 The River will emcee, and Idaho Mountain Touring and the Boise Co-op are helping out, too. All proceeds from the auction and from the sale of the Record Exchange’s 3’ x 3’ mounted rock posters will go to Conservation Voters for Idaho Action Fund. The fun runs from 2 to 6 p.m. No RSVP's needed; just come to the RX at 11th and Idaho and have fun.

Friday, October 10 - Internationally known Boise-based musician Curtis Stigers will give a rare solo acoustic performance to benefit the Ada County Democrats' Get Out the Vote effort. The "Concert for A Change" is set for 8 p.m. at the Egyptian Theater in Boise. Tickets are $30; order 'em online here or get 'em at the Record Exchange, the Boise Co-op, or the Egyptian Box Office.

This is an open thread. I'm going to spend my weekend walking in the Women's Fitness Challenge (Go, Team Obama!), watching the Broncos battle the Ducks, and planting Team 17 yard signs all over my precinct. What are you doing?

Minnick gets Cook boost while Sali shills

Great news in the 1st CD race: the prestigious Cook Political Report today changed its rating of the Idaho 1st Congressional District race from "Likely Republican" to "Leans Republican."  The Cook Report had already  swung the seat from "Solid Republican" to "Likely" earlier this year. To put this into context, in 2006, The Cook Report made the "Likely" to "Leans" switch on October 18, so Walt Minnick is a full month ahead of that benchmark - even with Idaho native Sarah Palin at the top of the GOP ticket.

The Cook Report noted, "Despite this district's very serious GOP bent, Republicans admit that Sali himself is the biggest issue in his reelection race. Sali was recently criticized for pressuring non-major party candidates to exit the Senate race, and has taken to holding yard sales to bankroll his shoestring campaign. ... Once again, Republicans are extremely nervous about a district that they shouldn't have to lose sleep over."

Yard sales. You read right. Read more at Swing State Project and Sali's own blog, and see Sali himself make a pitch for it (or for yard signs, oooops) at YouTube. I wonder whether Bill Sali Fan has held his event yet? Or whether, as this blogger wonders, very, very few Idahoans would actually be willing to admit to their neighbors that they'd actually give this guy another term. In any case, Walt Minnick supporters can take the more traditional route to donating money via his website.

Also on the 1st CD front, Minnick has scored the endorsement of the League of Conservation Voters (on whose scorecard Sali gets a zero); the Idaho Democratic Party has launched a list of 30 reasons Idaho voters don't want Bill Sali (#30 – Sali voted to worsen health care in rural Idaho); and  Betsy Russell of The Spokesman-Review had a story yesterday on the candidates' relative cross-party appeal. A snip:

Both candidates for North Idaho’s seat in Congress are now saying party labels don’t really matter, after Democrat Walt Minnick released a list of 60 “Republicans for Minnick” and GOP incumbent Bill Sali named a Democratic county commissioner as one of his campaign co-chairmen.

"We hear from people all the time who are loyal Democrats, don’t like Walt Minnick, don’t like his position on issues and find they have more support on the things they care about from Bill,” said Sali’s campaign spokesman, Wayne Hoffman.

Funny, though, how the Sali campaign has released the name of exactly one Democrat who supports Sali. According to Russell, "Hoffman said other Democratic supporters didn’t want to be named." I'll bet!

The campaign's best ad yet

It's two minutes long - unusual for an advertisement of any sort. But in it, Barack Obama spells out a coherent, concrete, and can-do vision of how we can get America back on track, and asks people to read more specifics at his website. Good stuff. Read the script in the comments.

Otter lets Risch hog the spotlight

How often does someone from Idaho win an Olympic gold medal? How often do Idaho universities land a $15 million research grant - our state's largest ever - from the National Science Foundation? You'd think such things would be worth a personal high-five from the governor, right? But Butch Otter has repeatedly ceded the spotlight in such recent high-profile media events to Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, who is running for the U.S. Senate.

As you can see from this media advisory (still posted on the governor's website as of this afternoon and preserved here for posterity; click it to enlarge), Otter was scheduled to attend a press conference last Friday to announce the NSF grant, but he backed out and let Risch do it. And last month when the city of Boise welcomed champion cyclist Kristin Armstrong home from Beijing, it was Risch - not Otter - who joined her on the podium on the state's behalf.

Now everyone knows that lieutenant governor is a largely ceremonial role, and Risch clearly needs something to do, especially since he's passing up most opportunities to debate his opponents. But it seems odd that Otter is consistently having Risch enjoy the best photo ops. It's especially ironic that Risch was asked to hail a grant to study the effects of climate change on the Snake and Salmon River watersheds.

Climate change?! Why, just two years ago when serving as our temporary governor, Risch told the Los Angeles Times he remained unconvinced that global warming is caused by humans. Less than two months before the election, he still hasn't posted anything on his website about where he stands on energy, never mind anything like the detailed plan Larry LaRocco presented on the issue back in spring 2007.

Update: Energy isn't the only issue on which Risch seems to have no position. Check out this side-by-side comparison from the LaRocco campaign on Risch's shocking lack of substance. As of today, Risch has approximately 300 words' worth of policy on his website. LaRocco has more than 2,000 words on energy alone, plus lengthy statements on health care, immigration, veterans, and the war in Iraq.

Obama's new ads: change is more than a slogan

Barack Obama has hit the airwaves with two new ads: one on how "change" isn't just a slogan, but a deep commitment to solving real problems, and another on just how stuck in the past John McCain really is. Enjoy 'em and share 'em!

Mid-week comic relief - except for Dirk

I heard about this Sunday (at church, as a matter of fact), and 43rd State Blues had it days ago, but I just now watched Idaho state Sen. Michael Jorgenson attempt to explain "small-town values" to a Comedy Central "reporter" at last week's Republican National Convention. Check it out at New West.

Meanwhile, a year after Larry Craig's career was reduced to a punchline, his attorney today suggested in court "that his foot tapping in an airport men's room may have been protected by the First Amendment right to freedom of speech." There's more at CNN and the AP.

Also from the Republican culture of corruption department, get a load of this breaking report of sex, drugs, and other bad behavior at the federal agency that's supposed to be regulating the oil industry. I'll wait for your jokes in the comments ... they're so obvious ...

To be fair, we'll note here that the period covered in the report is from 2002 to 2006, so Dirk Kempthorne had just arrived on the scene at Interior. Still, this is certain to create headaches for our former gov. According to The New York Times, "The reports portray a dysfunctional organization that has been riddled with conflicts of interest, unprofessional behavior and a free-for-all atmosphere for much of the Bush administration’s watch." More here. And rec this diary at Kos. (And this one, too.)

Only one green choice

Thomas Friedman, writing in yesterday's New York Times:

As we emerge from Labor Day, college students are gathering back on campuses not only to start the fall semester, but also, in some cases, to vote for the first time in a presidential election. There is no bigger issue on campuses these days than environment/energy. Going into this election, I thought that — for the first time — we would have a choice between two “green” candidates. That view is no longer operative — and college students (and everyone else) need to understand that.

With his choice of Sarah Palin — the Alaska governor who has advocated drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and does not believe mankind is playing any role in climate change — for vice president, John McCain has completed his makeover from the greenest Republican to run for president to just another representative of big oil ... Indeed, Palin’s much ballyhooed confrontations with the oil industry have all been about who should get more of the windfall profits, not how to end our addiction.

Read it all here, then pass it around, as my friend Dale did. I believe that with its implications for national security, a robust economy, and the mere survival of our planet, energy is this year's biggest issue, not just for students but for us all. And the choice is plain not only at the top of the Democratic slate, where Barack Obama will push for a decade-long Apollo-like project to secure clean, green, good-paying jobs and energy independence in a decade, but all the way down the ticket. Simply put: If you care about your children and grandchildren - their health, their safety, and their ability to make a living in the global economy - you will vote a straight Democratic ballot this year.

Does that sound harsh? Can you imagine where we'll be four or eight years from now if we continue to ignore reality and insist that more oil is the answer? From Idaho Republican leadership's willful disdain of local transit needs to the McCain-Palin platform of "drill, drill, drill," the choice couldn't be more clear.

New commercial from Walt Minnick for Congress

Idaho for Obama HQ re-opens this week

Idahoans took the political world by storm in February by packing Boise's largest sports arena for a pre-dawn speech by Barack Obama. Three days later, we did it again by giving Obama the biggest margin of victory from any primary or caucus state. Now, Idahoans for Obama are getting set to make history again as we reopen Obama for America's Boise office. The new digs are downtown in the Jefferson Place building on the southeast corner of 9th and Jefferson Streets.

Idaho last voted for a Democrat for president in 1964, and we know it will take a lot of hard work to help Obama prevail here. But the fact is: Idahoans don't want a third George W. Bush term, which is what we'd get with a John McCain presidency. Like the rest of the nation, we are ready for a visionary, forward-thinking president who can bring people together across party lines to start solving our nation's most pressing problems, including sustainable energy; a strong economy for everyone; affordable and accessible health care insurance; and real national security based on leadership, not fear-mongering. Idahoans know: Barack Obama is that president.

Join us from 5 to 7:30 p.m. this Thursday, August 21, as we open the new HQ. Food and drink will be served, courtesy Lisa Peterson Catering. Buy Obama gear and learn about volunteer opportunities and what you can do over the next 11 weeks to help Obama make history, yet again, in Idaho and across the nation. Click here to RSVP. And click here to visit the newly designed Idaho for Obama website to learn about other events and volunteer opps all over the state. Idaho matters ... for a change!

P.S. West Ada County Obama supporters ... click here for info on a Meridian canvass this Saturday.