[Vision2020] Welcome news in Idaho's 1st CD

[keely emerinemix]

Excellent news!  I am a Democrat, but I'm glad that the diversity of thought 
the GOP loves to brag about is now made more evident.  I don't see the State 
of Idaho Sali-ing forth in education, the environment, or workers' rights 
under Bill . . .

keely


From: Mark Solomon <msolomon at moscow.com>
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Welcome news in Idaho's 1st CD
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2006 06:23:33 -0700

For more info on Republicans for Grant: http://www.republicansforgrant.com/

Mark

**********

Popkey: Republicans for Grant could pose problem for Sali

Dan Popkey
The Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 08-16-2006

No matter how much cash Vice President Cheney raises for Bill Sali's 
congressional campaign this afternoon, it's a better day for Democrat Larry 
Grant.

That's because the long-term impact of Cheney's fly-by fundraiser will pale 
compared to the announcement today of a Republicans for Grant organization, 
giving license to Republicans to vote for a Democrat.

The group includes some top GOP names: Jim Nelson of Nelson Construction, 
Micron co-founder and former GOP congressional candidate Ward Parkinson and 
lawyer-lobbyist Allyn Dingel.

Former Lt. Gov. David Leroy knows disloyalty's sting. In 1986, Republicans 
for Andrus helped Cecil Andrus defeat Leroy in the race for governor by 
3,635 votes. Though Leroy never thought the defector organization large, its 
very presence made a difference. "It acts as a device to chip away at the 
base," Leroy said, "and it makes some people less guilty about doing 
something that they're not typically inclined to do."

The erosion includes those outside the formal group. Longtime GOP 
contributor Warren McCain, a retired Albertsons CEO, is not joining but gave 
Grant $1,000. "I'm a Republican," McCain said, "but I'm a Republican for 
Grant."

Another important defection could come from GOP icon Phil Batt, former 
governor, party chairman and legislator. Batt won't vote for Grant but may 
withhold his vote for Sali because of Sali's vociferous right-wing record. 
"When I was thinking about running for a second term, he told the Wall 
Street Journal how worthless I was and how they were trying to get somebody 
to run against me," Batt told me.

Batt then furnished an Aug. 18, 1997, clip in which Sali said he disagreed 
regularly with Batt and that Republicans "wish somebody would run against 
him in the primary."

Batt later decided not to run. He left a legacy including a smaller state 
government, tougher environmental laws, moderation on abortion, field 
toilets and workers' compensation for farmworkers and the beginning of a 
conversation about sentencing reform.

"I'm reserving judgment until I find out if he still thinks the things I did 
as governor were wrong," Batt said.

I tried to reach Sali by phone and e-mail. What I got was a written comment 
from Campaign Manager Jesseca Sali: "The real story is that Idahoans 
overwhelmingly embrace the limited government, low taxes and traditional 
family values that Rep. Bill Sali has a long record of supporting. Voters 
see Bill as an honorable, honest and decent family man who has dedicated his 
time in public service to helping Idahoans. For these reasons and more, 
Republicans, Democrats and independents are supporting Bill's campaign in 
greater and greater numbers."

But Sali's incivility in his 16 years as a legislator is driving Republicans 
away. Nelson, the leading organizer of Republican for Grant, called upon the 
words of the GOP speaker of the Idaho House. "Bruce Newcomb had it right," 
said Nelson. "He's an idiot's idiot."

In April, Sali refused to honor Newcomb's request to refrain from raising 
the non-germane and false claim of a link between abortion and breast cancer 
in debate. "That idiot is just an idiot," said Newcomb, who adjourned the 
House for the weekend as a result of Sali's bad manners.

U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, who represents Idaho's 2nd District and preceded 
Newcomb as speaker of the Idaho House, once threatened to toss Sali from the 
third floor of the Capitol for spreading what Simpson called lies. But he is 
trying valiantly to enforce party loyalty and putting control of the U.S. 
House first.

"You've heard some talk about 'Republicans for Grant,'" Simpson said at the 
GOP convention in June. "There is no such thing as a Republican for Grant. 
They are Democrats!"

Nelson and his fellow travelers belie that claim. In Simpson's first race in 
1998, Nelson held a Simpson fundraiser. "I had a get-together for 10 people 
at $1,000 apiece," Nelson said. "And you know, he didn't call me a Democrat 
then."

Pressed about Nelson's GOP credentials, Nikki Watts, Simpson's spokeswoman, 
said her boss still considers Nelson a good Republican. "Jim Nelson is a 
strong supporter and a friend. Congressman Simpson respects Jim's views, but 
he believes we must maintain the majority in the U.S. House."

"That's putting politics over principle," Nelson said. "That's totally 
against everything our country was founded on."

Business people like Nelson, Parkinson, Dingel and McCain trust Grant as a 
problem solver. They remember that he was Micron's first general counsel, 
who won the nation's first anti-dumping petition against Japanese chip 
makers, saving Micron. They distrust Sali because he rejects centrist 
solutions. "Politics are so polarized, nothing is getting done," Nelson 
said. "Moderate Republicans and moderate Democrats could control the 
process. Larry's that kind of guy. Sali's not."

This campaign will be won in the middle. Grant's appeal to Republican 
moderates got a boost today, but he'll need thousands more on Nov. 7.


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