Huckleberries Online

Butch Thinks Allred Is Swell Guy?

Posted by DFO

Dec. 11, 2009 9:29 a.m. • 3 comments

At the website for The Common Interest, a nonpartisan good-government group headed by newly announced Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keith Allred, a page is devoted to testimonials from Idaho politicos. Guess who’s first on the list? “The Common Interest already has proven itself to be a valuable resource on issues of public policy,” says Republican Gov. Butch Otter. “There is an important place in any public policy discussion for a well-researched, facts-based voice of reason. We may not always agree, but the essence of sound public policy is open discussion and constructive disagreement that leads to better ways of empowering individuals and communities to succeed”/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. More here.

Question: Will Butch Otter see his words in Allred’s campaign literature and live to regret them?

Three comments on this post so far. Add yours!

Sisyphus on December 11 at 9:57 a.m.
What you are already starting to see are Republican stalwarts trying to intimidate by saying he’ll never work in this town again.
ShoshoneConservative on December 11 at 10:27 a.m.
While the Idaho Democrats realize, correctly, that, to have half a chance at winning in Idaho they need to pick a moderate, their strategy of simply seeking out those who “aren’t Republican” will have a negative effect on party morale, as seen by the grumbling over Minnick.

What I think they need, FWIW, is an old-time, Blue Dog, Shoshone County-style populist Democrat, whose family has been Democrat for generations, with all the party connections, but whose views are sufficiently conservative to be acceptable to most Idaho voters - not a Minnick-style “social liberal, fiscal conservative,” but a Bart Stupak-style social conservative, pro labor fiscal moderate (though, I think Stupak is out to lunch on environmental issues…).

Of course, if closed primaries go through, we’ll get more of them, since it will force conservatives who identify as Democrat, mainly out tradition, to vote in the Democratic primary…
Cis on December 11 at 12:21 p.m.
BUTCH THINKS ALLRED IS A SWELL GUY….
Isn’t that kind of like a kiss of death.????…

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.