Campaign ‘96

And the Democratic mascot is …

Bethine Church, widow of the late Democratic U.S. Sen. Frank Church (yes, there was a person, not just a wilderness area) ought to consider charging the Democrats by appearance. She came to North Idaho to help Dan Williams kick off his campaign last spring and has been doing fund-raisers for Williams and other Democrats since. Even Vera White, who is running for one of the Moscow-area legislative seats, got the Bethine benefit appearance. Pretty soon there will be Bethine T-shirts, Bethine baseball caps and Bethine billboards. Maybe it would be easier, in fact, to just run Bethine for office.

No work experience desired

Speaking of Vera White and legislative races, it appears the former Nez Perce County Commissioner and current newspaper reporter’s political career is threatened by hard work. Retiring Idaho Rep. James “Doc” Lucas endorsed White’s opponent recently saying of White, “she’s bright and articulate but she’s not running a very good campaign because she has to work.” White, at a speech at the Moscow Chamber of Commerce, wasted no time salvaging her respect. “Hi, I’m Vera White and I’m not going to apologize for having to work for a living. It puts me in a class with the rest of Idaho,” she said. But obviously not in a class with politicians.

The donkey stall or elephant?

The political season produces the most interesting telephone calls to newspaper land than just about anytime but movie-making season in Wallace. This week’s favorite came from someone in Republican Party Headquarters in Sandpoint. The query? What is the fax number for Republican National Headquarters? And if you don’t know it, where would you look? Shucks, we would probably suggest calling your local Republican Party Headquarters.

Don’t vote for me

Jack Riggs has to love his opponent. At least one of them. Charles Eberle, the U.S. Taxpayers candidate for the District 4 Idaho State Senate seat, is telling people to vote for Republican Riggs instead of himself. Or instead of voting for incumbent Democrat Mary Lou Reed. Eberle explains that he is merely holding the seat for the third party so the U.S. Taxpayers group won’t have to petition to get on the ballot next election. Funny, throughout time there’s been several successful politicians who seemed to strive for nothing more than holding a seat.

Cellular none

Speaking of Mary Lou Reed, voters might consider raising the dough to buy her a Sears Diehard, a gas can or a AAA membership. Recently we hear that Reed kept stalling her car to the point that she ran out of gas. Then her political networking snarled because her battery was low and deprived her of the use of her cell phone. Now that’s stranded in the 1990s.

Web Site of the Week

At the risk of seeming immodest, we’re plugging our own home page this week, and not just because it serves as a source for all the political coverage already published in the paper. Virtually Northwest is also letting readers “bet on democracy” by matching their picks for 15 hot Northwest races … See if you’re better than the pundits by heading for http://www.VirtuallyNW.com, clicking on Election Central and heading for “The Games Voters Play.”

, DataTimes MEMO: Campaign ‘96 is published regularly during the campaign season and is compiled by Ken Olsen 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.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by Ken Olsen from staff reports