Perhaps the most remarkable feature of former Idaho Gov. Phil Batt's critique of the GOP came when he turned the focus on himself. Speaking to the Canyon County Lincoln Day banquet last week on the 20th anniversary of his inauguration as Idaho's first Republican governor in 24 years, Batt observed how history had judged him. Batt's legacy was not necessarily the agenda he'd scoped out - such as shrinking property taxes by $40 million or his ongoing drive to be a fiscal "tightwad." "I was tight. But do I reflect on that as my legacy?

No, and the public doesn't either. "They'd rather talk about my uphill, successful effort to cover farm laborers with workers compensation, my contract with the federal government to keep nuclear waste from being stored over the Snake River Aquifer or my help through monthly meetings in transforming Idaho's Indian tribes from being poverty-stricken to moderate recovery"/Marty Trillhaase, Lewiston Tribune. More here.

Thoughts?