Campaign ‘96
Strange bedfellows make…a political alliance
Idaho Hispanic leaders announced last week they are forming an alliance with the Idaho Democratic Party to elect Hispanics to public office. Six Hispanics have been recruited to run for Legislature this fall. Part of the push is that while Republican Gov. Batt seems serious about working on Hispanic concerns, Hispanics see the Republican Congressional delegation as a serious threat to programs they consider important.
Push-button presidents
In the potato state’s Ross Perot camp, the Reform Party is contacting its 9,000 faithful in order to draft a presidential candidate. And to prove they are ahead of the curve, the Reform Party will allow members to vote by telephone, computer or mail to choose the party’s dark horse. “This is living room voting,” said Platt Thompson, state party coordinator. Yes, but what happens if you press the wrong key on your touchtone phone and the candidate you are seeking is not in service?
Fax Polluter of the Week
Every politician is preaching about austerity these days, but you can’t tell it by the fax machine. Not only do they pump out faxes by the wastebasket full, they often send us triplicate or quadruplicate copies of the same press release. Dan Williams, the Democrat hoping to unseat U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth, gets the weekly award for clogging up the fax machine, sending 17 pages (including cover sheets), 10 of the pages duplicates. U.S. Sen. Dirk Kempthorne was close behind - 16 pages, 10 of them duplicates, while U.S. Sen. Larry Craig shipped out 22 pages - seven of them duplicates. But even Perot’s Reform Party had to send us extra copies of its two-page press release. Talk about a need for campaign reform.
Got facts to back up that fat?
Walt Minnick, the Democrat who’s after Craig’s seat, received the least kind return-to-sender for his fax efforts. Minnick issues a weekly “Pork Chop” to illustrate where he believes Congress - and Craig - could cut federal spending. On a recent one targeting federal funding for ethanol, Craig retorted with a press release declaring “Minnick Pork Chop Slips on it’s Own Grease.” It then details how General Accounting Office studies refute Minnick’s money-saving jingle on ethanol. Of course, studies are in the eyes of the accuser. Craig is generally skeptical of a GAO study that says taxpayers lose millions of dollars a year on U.S. Forest Service timber sales - sales Craig supports.
It’s a Bird, it’s a plane, it’s a TV reporter…
A Boise television reporter came in on Gov. Phil Batt’s press conference a little late Thursday and was confused when Batt used the term “riparian.” “Is riparian a bird or a fish?” the Channel 7 reporter asked. “A bird,” Batt replied in his best straight-man style, “the state bird.” This exchange went on until one of Batt’s aides realized the reporter might start the evening telecast by announcing the governor was working to save the state bird. So Batt quickly let the reporter in on the joke. Riparian, by the way, refers to an area close to a stream or river. The state bird? The Mountain Bluebird.
Web Site of the Week
We have touted PoliticsNow in the past for a good supply of news and research sources, but the joint operation of ABC News, The Washington Post and National Journal is offering some fun things, now, too. It has a political IQ test with a grand prize of a trip for two to the inaugural and what it calls an “interactive biography” of Bob Dole and Bill Clinton … The latter features video and audio of the two candidates, timelines that compare where each was at important dates in history … Check it out at http://www.politicsnow.com.
, DataTimes MEMO: Campaign ‘96 is published regularly during the campaign season and is compiled from staff reports. To submit information on a political event or a question you want the candidates to answer, write us c/o The Idaho Spokesman-Review, 608 Northwest Boulevard, Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 83814. Or call Cityline at (208) 765-8811 on a Touch-Tone phone, then press 9893 to leave a message, your name and phone number.