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Idaho Politics: Primary Election

Voting in Idaho primaries is easy.

You pick one political party and vote that ballot.

You don’t have to vote your own party or belong to any party. You just have to follow through and vote just one party’s ballot. (In the general election in November, you’ll be able to mix it up.)

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from the new west blog: comparing apples and shoes

There are two basic types of polls: those with a statistically near-accurate sample of people who match the demographics of a certain population, and those which are self-selecting and therefore meaningless.

If a blog or website posts a “poll” meant to survey the general population and you answer it, you’ve selected yourself to participate – along with another thousand people who happen to read that site – say it’s a liberal blog’s liberal readers. They may recruit their friends to answer the “poll” to drive up the results to their satisfaction. The population who answer the questions have no statistical relationship to the general population, so the poll means nothing. It’s a PR trick.

If the “poll” is meant to survey only the blog’s readers, that’s another matter.

But a poll which means to survey the general American population questions a representative sampling of American demographics – urban, rural, young, old, this percent white, Protestant, Republican, brown, Asian, those who vote, those who don’t – in proportions closely matched to the statistics of the whole population – then the poll means something. [more]

Column: Idaho Politics, U.S. Senate Race

When the state’s biggest newspaper hollers out “Hold on a Sec, Mr. Risch” in very big type in the proverbial front-page-above-the-fold position, its editors are feeling serious indeed about the story.

Current Lt. Gov. and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Jim Risch has finally been called out on his false claim that he “made the biggest tax cut in Idaho history when he was the temporary governor for 7 months in 2006: $200 million.” That’s a direct quote from his television ad.

Risch is not just inconsistent, he’s wrong.
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From the New West blog: Senator Ted Kennedy

The terrible news of Senator Ted Kennedy’s terminal brain cancer has dropped my spirits down a dark freefall of loss and fierce memories.

Kennedy tragedies generally don’t sneak up on you. One just suddenly learns that a war bomb, an assassin’s bullet or a spiraling airplane has taken another one. But the few hours of warning we had with Ted’s diagnosis – “he’s had a stroke” progressing to “no, he’s had a seizure but he’s fine” progressing to "he’s got a brain tumor” within half a day doesn’t make it easier to hear that a great American, a man whom I revere, will soon be gone. [more]

Diary of a Mad Voter: Joan McCarter

When there's trouble in Idaho for Republicans, you know they're hurting everywhere. We've already seen the grassroots revolt in the works on the part of Paul supporters. But the fissures in the Idaho party run deeper.

At the core of the party split is a fight over Idaho's primary system between the state central committee and many elected officials.
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Diary Of A Mad Voter: Nathaniel Hoffman

A couple of years ago I called Idaho potato magnate J. R. Simplot to ask him about farm subsidies. There was an Associated Press story coming across the wire that listed billionaire-farmer Simplot as one of the largest recipients of government farm subsidies in the country, and since Simplot is a major player in southwest Idaho, my editor wanted his side of the story.

I forget now how much J.R. was raking in for not growing certain crops or for growing certain crops or just for being a magnate: the details are not important right now.

But I recall Simplot’s quick response to my question almost verbatim: “If I got it, I earned it and I’m not giving it back.”

Well last week billionaire farmers got a reauthorization of the Farm Bill through Congress. And even if President George W. Bush, who is actually concerned about excessive subsidy payments to wealthy farmers, vetoes the bill, Congress is likely to override the veto.

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From the New West Blog: What it is ain't exactly clear

Something big is rumbling in the political climate, like a looming prairie storm that makes the cattle edgy and the coyotes settle watchfully in the tall grass.

This week saw Sen. John Edwards endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president, Obama overtake Sen. Hillary Clinton in the number of delegates needed, and, despite her victory in West Virginia, a settling assumption that she won’t make it. [more]

Presidential Politics: Idaho

Idaho State Democratic Chair Keith Roark, who is a superdelegate to the Democratic convention, announced today he will vote for Senator Barack Obama.

Roark said, “The unprecedented enthusiasm Senator Obama has generated here in Idaho is unlike anything I have seen in my 31 years of active political participation in this State. He has captured the imagination and mint fresh optimism of young voters from Coeur d’Alene to Caldwell, from Murphy to Montpelier, from Twin Falls to Idaho Falls. I firmly believe that the critical process of rebuilding the Idaho Democratic Party will receive a once in a lifetime boost from Senator Obama’s candidacy.” [more]

Column: Idaho Congressional Race

Idaho Democratic candidate for Congress Walt Minnick held a sale on gasoline today, and over 350 cars showed up.

The posted price at a Boise Chevron station was $3.59 a gallon, but for an hour this morning customers paid $2.26 a gallon, with the price difference of $1.33 paid by the Minnick campaign. 3,230 gallons were sold in 90 minutes. Minnick said $2.26 was the price of gas when Sali took office.

Minnick’s Republican opponent is incumbent Rep. Bill Sali.
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Diary of a Mad Voter: Joan McCarter

One of the slogans that resonated most strongly throughout the 2006 campaign season in Idaho was Jerry Brady's "Idaho is Not for Sale." Two years after his defeat, someone observing recent political news from the state has to wonder if a chunk or two of it hasn't been sold.

First there's the news, broken by New West's Jill Kuraitis, that Idaho was the intended recipient of 6,700 tons of highly contaminated--and potentially highly dangerous--Kuwaiti sand. First, let's just consider the insanity of actually shipping 6,700 tons of contaminated anything the thousands of miles from it's current home in Kuwait to Owyhee County, Idaho. [more]

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