The Meridian Chamber of Commerce is hosting a forum in the 1st Congressional District race today, featuring Congressman Walt Minnick, GOP challenger Raul Labrador and independent candidate Dave Olson. In his opening comments, Minnick told the crowd, "There's no question but what our country's in trouble." Solutions to the nation's problems, he said, "can only be done by the two parties working together and from the middle. They're too toxic to be done by one party by itself."

Olson, in his opening remarks, said, "The reason I'm running is because I'm not happy with the direction our country is going. ... In a lot of cases I think it's the guy in the middle who's going to be able to work with either party getting things done."

Labrador read a letter from a constituent who lost a high-paying job and is now working for $10 an hour, as is his wife, who is no longer able to stay at home full-time with their daughter. "I am running because of this man and every other man like him who in the last two years have lost their jobs," Labrador said. He said the recession under the Obama Administration "has destroyed American enterprise, and I want to help the American people turn that around."

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