CQ Politics writer Greg Giroux quotes former Idaho Democratic congressional candidate Larry Grant describing GOP 1st Congressional District hopeful Vaughn Ward as "a Sarah Palin Republican" and rival Raul Labrador as "a Bill Sali Republican," and adding, "The moderate Republicans ... won't run because they know they can't beat the ultraconservatives in the primary."

The two GOP rivals have lately been engaged in something of a contest in which each has tried to portray himself as more "conservative" than the other guy. Giroux was following up on an earlier Grant comment - repeated on several blogs - that Grant might jump into the race as a Republican, but Grant told Giroux that was a joke, designed to make a point that "the moderate Republicans in this state have no place to go in their primary." You can read the CQ item here.

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