Posted on 04/28/2006 3:46:44 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
The six-way race to win the Republican nomination in Idaho’s 1st Congressional District has turned into a full-fledged family feud, fraught with intraparty tensions and resentments.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
Which means he is notta rhinoceroses. This guy is supported by Club for Growth and that's good enough for me.
The following excerpt is worth reading:
"The state’s two senators, Republicans Larry Craig and Mike Crapo, have stayed on the sidelines, but Craig’s wife, Suzanne, is the chairman of Norm Semanko’s campaign. Semanko, an attorney for Idaho Water Users, had worked for Craig as an aide in Washington and Idaho.
Still, Craig’s former aides are divided among Semanko, state Controller Keith Johnson and former state Sen. Sheila Sorensen, Republicans say. The political leg up that Semanko expected from his ties to Craig never materialized.
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) has endorsed his longtime friend Sorensen, but several Idaho Republicans said Simpson’s bigger goal is to stop Sali. The two men had a strained relationship in the state House.
“They were often on opposing sides of issues,” an Idaho Republican candidate said. “Sali was considered a grandstander. He just had to get on television.”
Sali’s critics pointed to an incident earlier this month in which he insisted on discussing studies linking abortion to breast cancer during a debate on a bill to require doctors to inform women about abortion-related risks. The Idaho House Democratic leader, a survivor of breast cancer, walked out in tears, and her Democratic colleagues followed her.
The Idaho GOP leaders postponed the day’s business. The Speaker, Bruce Newcomb, told The Idaho Statesman, “That idiot is just an absolute idiot. He doesn’t have one ounce of empathy in his whole fricking body. And you can put that in the paper.”
Sali said that he and Newcomb have deep philosophical differences and that Newcomb does not like him because he has outmaneuvered Newcomb on different pieces of legislation.
With Sali attacking Vasquez on immigration and Sorensen on abortion, and Semanko unable to move beyond his agricultural base of support, Johnson could be the best-positioned candidate.
He has won endorsements from Jack Riggs, Idaho’s lieutenant governor; Phil Batt, a former GOP governor; and the D.C.-based Business Industry Political Action Committee (BIPAC). Otter’s top campaign aide is working for Johnson in northern Idaho.
BIPAC endorsed Johnson in an attempt to stop Sali or Vasquez from winning the primary."
I don't blame the establihsment for opposing Sali, who is right on the issues but a flake. But their opposition to Vasquez is based on ignorance.
As for Sheila Sorenson, she seems like a nice lady, but her politics are pure RINO.
I support Bill Sali.
Bill spent the last 18 years in the Legislature fighting hard for conservatism. He's proven.
If he doesn't win, liberal Sheila Sorensen will.
THAT would be a crying shame.
The rest of the pack needs to retire from the field, pronto.
The establishment tries to paint every conservative as a flake. I know, I'm from Ohio. Where they do it all the time.
I serious wonder how I can continue to support a party that is so anti my beliefs even if the Dems are worse.
A flake? Because a bunch of RINOs hate him and mischaracterize anything and everything he says and does?
Sorry, but we could use a whole bunch more 'flakes' like Sali. He's as solid as it gets.
But their opposition to Vasquez is based on ignorance.
In many other cases, Robert would have been an awesome Congressional candidate. But this one wasn't it.
I have lots of friends in Idaho conservative politics.
They all support Bill Sali.
He's been THE pro-life, pro-family, pro-gun leader in the House for a very long time.
I would be very happy if either Vasquez or Sali won. They're the two conservatives in the race.
In addition to the Club for Growth endorsement, Bill Sali also has the support of Mike Pence and most of the members of the Republican Study Committee.
And he's bucked his party on tax increased. State parties hate that but I love it.
He's never once voted for a tax increase in eighteen years in office.
Go Vasquez !
Speaking for myself, I support Robert Vasquez. He's a decorated Vietnam veteran, and he's willing to speak out on an issue that the corporate establishment wants to keep silent on. Also, he will belie the myth that all Hispanics are opposed to border security.
Absent a Vasquez victory, I lean towards Keith Johnson. There aren't enough Certified Public Accountants in Congress and he would be a step towards correcting that.
I know of two right off the top of my head: Mike Conaway of TX and John Campbell of CA. Both talk a pretty good game but are real squishy if you look close.
I have no idea what is so attractive about a CPA. We already got plenty of congresscritters who know how to cook the books.
Putting that aside, though...I know what's going on on the ground in the district...it's going to be either Sorensen or Sali.
Take your pick.
Are you a native of Idaho?
By the way, you have a very clever tagline.
I like what I've seen of Sali so far. And, if this is any sort of benchmark, one of my very socialist coworkers despises him.
What's attractive about a CPA is that the government budgets and beaurocracies are absurdly complex and their background would help them work through the mazes.
Better a CPA than a lawyer.
Robert is a great guy, and handles himself well. He's been a hero in the border wars. I'd be pleased to see him in Congress.
But, unfortunately, all he can do now is play the spoiler and hand the seat to the very liberal Sheila Sorensen.
Which he may well do.
Which will be a crying shame. If conservatives can't get their act together enough to hold onto a seat like ID 1, that doesn't bode well.
Sure. But the CPA's I know of in Congress haven't really been exactly reformers.
What we need are more engineers, they have logical, analytical minds.
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