Spokane7
42°
In a story in The Hill evaluating the growing strength of the Republican Party in this fall’s elections, reporters Rep. Walt Minnick, D-Idaho, and Republican Raul Labrador has moved from “toss-up” to “lean Democratic.” The report continues: “Minnick has taken to Twitter to highlight the National Republican Congressional Committee’s reluctance to buy TV ad time in his once-targeted district. After party-favorite Vaughn Ward lost the primary to Raul Labrador, Republicans seem to have abandoned their ambition of unseating the conservative Democrat.” The rest of the story here.
DFO: A person in the know in Kootenai County Republican politics tells me that s/he’s thinking about voting for Minnick — as are a number of his/her Republican friends — thinking they’d rather have the incumbent for 2 more years than risk having a Bill Sali-like representative for the foreseeable future. Dunno if this person has ever voted Republican in a 1st Congressional District race. But it doesn’t bode well for Labrador.
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.
999 W. Riverside, Spokane, WA 99201
P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210
Main switchboard: (509) 459-5000 • (800) 338-8801
Newsroom: (509) 459-5400 • (800) 789-0029
Customer service: (800) 338-8801
© Copyright 2012, The Spokesman-Review
Terms of use • Privacy policy • Copyright policy
Find DFO on Facebook
DFO on Twitter
ShoshoneConservative on August 30 at 10:09 p.m.
I don’t think Labrador would be a “Bill Sali-like” representative. Remember, the main thing that sunk Sali was his public demeanor, not his positions on the issues. Labrador, as I’ve said before, can be a tad bit arrogant, but I can’t see him proposing a bill to repeal the laws of gravity in response to a minimum wage bill.
The big problem for Labrador is that Minnick is a fiscal conservative, and voters are thinking fiscal issues with today’s economy. That, the incumbency advantage, and Minnick’s overall approachability all help him.
Labrador needs to stop running against Pelosi, and his Primary supporters need to stop alienating other Republicans, and quit running against Vaughn Ward. Then he’ll have a fighting chance.
hhuseland on August 30 at 10:48 p.m.
I am a republican. Having said that, I also am totally aware of the problem in congess with the democratic majority. Still, we have a conservative democrat serving now, that has proven through his votes to be right about where I should like to see my representative to be. Representative Minnick has served us well and has done so without the weirdo representation that followed his predecessor In my only second. well third choice, if you don’t count the nonpartisan vote for Dan English. I firmly believe that the republican party will recapture the house, and maybe even the senate. We don’t need another Sali.