Now that the primaries are over and both state political parties have convened, it’s officially silly season in Boise.

That means the election campaign is in full swing, the letters-to-the-editor column in Boise’s Idaho Statesman is full of pro- and anti-Bruce Willis letters (because of Willis’ bankrolling of the anti-nuclear waste initiative) and the state’s top Republican pooches are preening on the Internet.

Uh, that’s right. On Bob Dole’s official “firstdog.com” home page, his miniature schnauzer, Leader, invites folks to view some doggy friends. Click and you’ll see Sniffer Batt, the First Dog of Idaho, and Pudge, who sits happily in the lap of owner Sen. Larry Craig (who just happens to be wearing a casual sweat shirt reading “U.S. Senate”).

Pages of “Leader’s friends and supporters” show lots more dogs, a horse, and what appears to be a frog in a party hat. But there’s not a cat in sight, in an apparent calculated swipe at the White House’s current first pet, Socks.

From the top, ‘Ma heeaart’s on fire …’

Trent Lott, the new U.S. Senate majority leader, says he and his “Singing Senators” colleagues learned the hard way the virtues of that old saying, “Practice, practice, practice.”

Lott and Idaho Sen. Larry Craig are among the four Republicans who croon barbershop-style and have performed with the Oak Ridge Boys and at partisan fundraisers.

“We’re not really professionals,” Lott confided during a Boise stop last week. “We learn by rote.

“We’ve tried it not rehearsing. We sang in Houston last month. We were not good, and man, that afternoon we said hey, that was about to be the end of our singing career. We weren’t going to appear in public again sounding like that.”

Lott made sure to schedule an afternoon rehearsal before the group’s Idaho performances. The senators’ signature song is “Elvira.”

My turn to jump!

It may not be the city’s best-known claim to fame, but Boise is the home of Medalist trampolines, which are manufactured locally by the AJ Landmark Co. in Boise and Regal Western Trampolines in Nampa.

Greg Goodman, the No. 2 guy at AJ Landmark Co., says modestly that the Medalist is “the best 14-foot in the industry.

“There is no comparison. It has the best warranty on it, the highest weight limit.”

National sales for the Medalist have been declining since the early ‘90s, when cheaper lightweight trampolines came out at the big discount stores. But Goodman said local sales have been increasing for the past five years, with just a slight slump this year due to the wet spring.

If you drive around Boise, you’ll see a trampoline on nearly every block. Anyone with kids and a big yard seems to have one.

Trampolines are most popular with the 8- to 12-year-old group. But don’t invite the whole neighborhood in. Asked how many can jump on a trampoline safely, Goodman answers, “One.”

Any more than that, and “they get what they call a double bounce.” That’s when the other person’s weight causes the tramp to bounce back as you hit, making for “kind of an uncontrolled bounce. … It can cause injuries that way.”

, DataTimes MEMO: North-South Notes runs every other Saturday. To reach Betsy Z. Russell, call 336- 2854, send a fax to 336-0021 or e-mail to bzrussell@rmci.net.