Column: Idaho U.S. Senate Race
Risch Campaign Worried About Spoilers?
Two serious stabs at paring the ballot down to LaRocco vs. Risch both fail.
Attempts on behalf of the Risch for Senate campaign to get rid of rivals tell the story of a candidate who is afraid the race is a close one.
Sometimes, “spoilers” -candidates who can’t win themselves but who divert enough votes to throw the election to a candidate who is favored by a minority – can be convinced to drop out. But sometimes, a spoiler is running for the single purpose of just that – spoiling it for a candidate they don’t want.
In the case of Independent Rex Rammell, that motivation isn’t hard to imagine. Rammell’s dislike of Republican Jim Risch is well known, although Rammell won’t openly say he’s running to throw the race to Democrat Larry LaRocco.
In “Will Rex Rammell’s Run Ruin Risch?” I wrote about a Wall Street Journal article which quotes Sen. Larry Craig saying Idaho Republicans are worried.
(Please see UPDATE at the end of this article -hit MORE.)
Now, NBC affiliate KTVB's Ysabel Bilbao is reporting that Republican Senate candidate Jim Risch’s campaign had Rep. Bill Sali call three candidates and ask them to quit the race to ensure Risch’s election.
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Guest Column
In the Prism of the Farm Bill, Obama Looks RightU.S. agriculture provides the safest and most abundant food supplies at the lowest prices in the world. As consumers, we are all affected by the farm bills passed by the U.S. Congress every three to five years and signed by the president. They set the policies for production, health, safety, and distribution -- including exports -- of the nation's food supplies.
Farm bills do not just happen. Each takes months of study, discussion, debate and compromise. For the complicated, tiring passage of a farm bill, there are grandstanders like Sen. John McCain and farm policy advocates like Sen. Barack Obama.
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Blogvertorial
Designing the New West
NewWest.Net is all about fostering dialogue about the Rocky Mountain West, and especially, conversation about what we think of as "the big story" of the region: Growth and change. One way we do that is through our conferences, which bring together people, from many sides of the issues, for robust discussions about the topics we cover here at NewWest.Net on a daily basis.Above is a highlight reel from Anjin Herndon from our most recent conference, Designing the New West, a sold-out event held in Bozeman this spring. You can buy the full DVD from the conference here and find out more about for our next conference, the 3rd annual Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies here.
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letter from the Editor
Question to NewWest.Net Readers: Required Registration For Comments?We've been thick in the discussion of how to offer readers and commenters a better experience when interacting on our site and have batted about the idea of requiring users to register to comment.
It's not a move we take lightly, and it's one we've actually tried to avoid for a long time. But because we continue to have issues with keeping a handle on the trolls, on spam, sock puppets and the other unsavory things that comment sections can attract, we'd like to give required registration a shot -- but only if it won't deter the meaningful comment threads we've been able to foster here.
So, tell us dear readers and commenters, how would you feel about having to register, or log in, to comment? (Keep in mind that once logged in, you won't have to log back in unless you've logged out or are on another computer.)
Thoughts? Questions? Fire away.
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Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies
New West Conference: Discount Registration Ends FridayOur third annual Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies conference, Oct. 23-24 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Missoula, is shaping up to be our biggest and best yet. Economist Christopher Thornberg of Beacon Economics will again be giving his highly entertaining (and exceptionally accurate) take on trends in the regional real estate market, and this year for the first time he'll be joined by three other eminent economists: Tony Madden of the Federal Reserve Bank, Larry Swanson of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West, and David Eacret, the North Idaho Real Estate economist. Rick Holley, CEO of Plum Creek Timber, will also be joining us for a keynote talk. And that's just for starters: you can see the full lineup at www.newwest.net/realestate08.
We also have a much-expanded pre-conference seminar program this year, with continuing education credit for real estate agents, planners, attorneys, and architects.
You can save more than 20% off the regular ticket price if you register by Friday, Sept. 5. Click here for all the details on the event, and as always give us a call at 406-829-1725 if you have any questions.
LET'S FOCUS ON ISSUES THAT REALLY MATTER
Don’t Waste Energy on Rule Allowing Concealed Guns in National Parks
A lot of people are hot and bothered about the Bush administration's proposed rule to allow concealed weapons in national parks, but practically, is this really worth our time and effort?
Yes, it's maddening to tolerate such low-end, election-year politics spurred by the National Rifle Association (NRA), but I say give the gun lobby this hollow victory, so we can spend our time and energy on issues that could really help our national parks instead of worrying about something that's already happening and hasn't caused any problems.
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Peggy Noonan: "It's over."
Republican Strategists Caught on Live MicrophoneA YouTube video widely circulating on the internet today shows Republican campaign strategists Mike Murphy and Peggy Noonan talking with Chuck Todd, NBC News political director, on MSNBC, broadcast from the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.
Thinking the microphone was off, Murphy, who was chief strategist for Mitt Romney and has advised many Republicans including John McCain, and Peggy Noonan, longtime conservative speechwriter and commentator, discussed McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate, and it's clear they're not happy about it. (Transcript follows the video.)
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Convention Coverage: St. Paul
Washington Post Says Palin Not Vetted Until Day Before Announcement
The Washington Post's Dan Balz writes that John McCain knew next to nothing about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin before choosing her to be his running mate, despite the McCain campaign's claims to the contrary.
ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 2 -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was not subjected to a lengthy in-person background interview with the head of Sen. John McCain's vice presidential vetting team until last Wednesday in Arizona, the day before McCain asked her to be his running mate, and she did not disclose the fact that her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant until that meeting, two knowledgeable McCain officials acknowledged Tuesday.
So according to Balz, Palin was not subjected to a background check request or personal interview till Wednesday (the day before he chose her).
Before Balz' report was published, ABC's Jan Crawford Greenburg had written that McCain knew almost nothing about Palin until he finally rejected his top three choices and decided on Palin after Sen. Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. The campaign announced his choice the next morning, Aug. 29. [more]
Convention Coverage: St. Paul
Rowdy or Righteous? Police, Press and Protestors Clash
Democrats at their convention in Denver last week saw police shove and then arrest an ABC reporter for talking on his cell phone, as far as can be told from this video. Lawyers for ABC are trying to have the charges dropped.
Also in Denver, more than 100 protestors were arrested by police in riot gear trying to disperse a crowd of 300.
But the violent protests in St. Paul are in contrast with a relatively peaceful Democratic convention in Denver.
The Republican convention has seen almost 300 arrests so far, notably Associated Press photographer Matt Rourke and Democracy Now! Journalist Amy Goodman and two members of her production crew. According to LiveWire, two documentary filmmakers were also arrested.
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Edra Blixseth and the other top owner of the Yellowstone Club near Big Sky have retained an Arizona-based company to manage the private club and complete its long-overdue construction projects, according to an item on PR-inside.com.
Over the past year and more, the Yellowstone Club, the world's only private skiing and golf community, has been in and out of the news, thanks to the public divorce of owners Tim and Edra Blixseth as well as legal battles between owners and Tim Blixseth. Also, the club missed loan payments to creditor Credit Suisse and teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. Earlier this year, Edra won control of the club and vowed to get its overdue construction back on track and to keep its business out of the public eye.
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Missoula Notebook
Palin’s Lack of Qualifications May Spell Doom for Obama
As I sifted through news reports about Palin this weekend, I seemed to find more and more evidence suggesting that — given the upside-down, Bizarro World that American political culture inhabits — Palin will not hurt McCain’s candidacy but might even help it and, indeed, might even find herself in the Oval Office one day. I’m already anticipating that Palin will “win” her debates with Joe Biden, not despite but because of a shaky grasp on the facts of foreign policy. [more]
