Williams Threw First Mud Pie
My, my. Democrat Dan Williams likes to dish it out, but he can’t take it. Now, Williams is whining that U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth, his Republican opponent, is running radio ads tying him to national labor unions. Complained Williams in a news release Tuesday: “I am not going to stand by while Helen Chenoweth tries to mislead people (sniff!) This is what the voters are angry about - all this negative campaigning (sniff!) I am running nothing but positive ads telling people where I stand (honk!)” Baloney and baloney. First, Williams started the mudslinging - with a lot of help from his AFL-CIO buddies. For months, the unions have scared senior citizens with dishonest advertising that Chenoweth had voted for the largest Medicare cut in history. Williams has parroted the lie. (Actually, Chenoweth voted to rein in Medicare growth and possibly save the system.) Second, Williams has disclosed few of his stands on issues, choosing instead to criticize Chenoweth for campaign finance irregularities. Maybe he should go positive now and start another trend.
Board of Education feels Idaho’s pain
The Idaho Board of Education earns a Sweet Potato for voting to reduce trustees’ meeting pay from $50 to $25 per diem. An eagle-eyed colleague spotted the action in the small print of the minutes from the board’s last meeting. President Carole McWilliam and her colleagues shaved their pay in response to Gov. Phil Batt’s emergency order to state agencies to reduce budgets by 2.5 percent across the board. Sure, the board’s action is a gesture. After all, the University of Idaho must trim $2.3 million unless the Idaho economy improves. But it’s a nice gesture.
Craig doesn’t have time for North Idaho yet
So, U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, has squeezed some time into his glad-handing tour of the state for another debate with Democrat Walt Minnick - again in Boise, this time on Oct. 29. Instead of facing his foe a few more times, Craig will conduct a bus tour of 200 Idaho towns from Oct. 9-26. Said spokesman Mike Tracy: “The bus tour will take up the bulk of October, and we feel that’s important. Sen. Craig wants to meet as many of his constituents face to face as possible.” Pressing the flesh and smiling cheesy grins for admiring partisans is important - for the front-runner. But not for the rest of us. I’ll say it again: Craig needs to debate Minnick in North Idaho. You can tell a lot about a candidate by the way he reacts when confronted by an antagonist with TV cameras rolling. Or by the way he tries to avoid that confrontation.
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