For Record, Issues, Plans, Pall Is Best
Idaho voters shouldn’t have to be concerned that they might be embarrassed by a 58-year-old man who’s been a J.R. Simplot Co. executive and held statewide office for 13 years. They should be confident his government experience and international trade expertise would be valuable assets to the state’s small congressional delegation.
Yet, doubts persist about Republican Lt. Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter as he campaigns to replace retiring Rep. Helen ChenowethHage. Will he be the fine parliamentarian who superbly ran the Idaho Senate? Or will he be the party fool who once was cited for drunken driving and won a tight-fittin’ jeans contest? Will this charismatic cuss be a force to open markets for Idaho’s products and continue the fight to upgrade U.S. Highway 95? Or will he display the anti-government streak that got him in trouble with the EPA over a wetlands violation?
Undoubtedly, Otter is going to win his race in the heavily Republican 1st District. But he’ll do so without The Idaho Spokesman-Review’s endorsement. We think Democrat Linda Pall of Moscow is a better candidate.
Pall, an attorney and city councilwoman, is a practical Democrat and consensus builder. She knows the environment is important. But so are jobs. She’s promised to balance the two and seek federal dollars to clean up watersheds by hiring unemployed loggers, mill workers and miners. Otter, meanwhile, said he’ll fight new wilderness designations.
There isn’t room to spell out Pall’s long list of civic and volunteer accomplishments in community, state, regional and national causes and organizations. But they underscore her commitment to the little guy, her tireless energy and her ability to get things done. Otter, by contrast, showed he has lost touch with average Idahoans by stating recently that Social Security was a failure - a statement he later recanted when angry Idahoans began calling.
Importantly, Pall is committed to human rights and would use her position in Congress to fight Idaho’s image as a haven for racists. Otter takes an ostrich approach to the issue, preferring to blame the national media for Idaho’s reputation, rather than admit the state has a problem.
Republicans who are tired of party power brokers anointing Idaho’s governors and congressmen should cast a protest vote in this race.