Weaker opponent not always the loser
Walt Minnick has the Demo congressional primary field all to himself, now that Larry Grant has thrown in the towel. Minnick’s has also raised $638,690 in his attempt to unseat Repub Congressman Bill Sali. However, Demos shouldn’t count on wresting the seat away from the elephants yet. Randy Stapilus, an Idaho political observer extraordinaire, offers a compelling stat on his blog to illustrate the difficulty Minnick faces in unseating a “weak opponent”: Only one Dem has unseated a Repub incumbent for a major Idaho office in the last 24 years. In 1998, Dem Marilyn Howard knocked off schools super Anne Fox, a North Idahoan whose only term was characterized by one foolish mistake after another. In 1984, Demo Richard Stallings upended Congressman George Hansen, a convicted felon at the time. On the other side of the aisle, in 1994, the late Helen Chenoweth-Hage beat incumbent Demo congressman Larry LaRocco and then was re-elected twice before retiring. Frustrated Dems also considered “Can Helen, Not Salmon” Chenoweth weak. We’ll know in November if Sali is as weak as Dems think he is.
Ringo Is No Elton
After watching Sir Elton John in concert at WSU last weekend, Berry Picker MamaJD declared Rocket Man superior to Beatles drummer Ringo Starr (who’ll play at the Northern Quest Casino July 18): 1. Ringo needs the help of real musicians like Lennon and McCartney to raise his star; 2. Ringo is not, nor will he ever be, knighted by royalty; 3. Ringo’s assumed name sucks; 4. Ringo is like the smelly kid you never picked to be on your team in grade school – he was the last to join the Fab Four; 5. Ringo is the only Beatle to not top the charts in the UK; 6. Even Ringo Starr’s resentments and schisms fail to rise to the level of mastery of Sir Elton – just browse TMZ.com; 7. Ringo Starr has appeared in more movies than Elton, but can you name one without running it through your search engine? 8. Five outta six Grammy’s prefer Elton; 9. (Ringo’s) entire tour schedule involves mainly the bingo crowd at AARP-approved casinos; and 10. Drummers never win against people who play real instruments.
Huckleberries
Poet’s Corner: The moisture from heaven; that will bring May’s delight; tends to freak people out; when it comes down in white – The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“April Showers”) … Quotable Quote: “I feel like we are having Monty Python seasons this year. You know, when winter decides to give spring and summer a-miss and go straight on into autumn? We almost have an entirely new season, some sort of winter/spring hybrid. Maybe we can call it wringter? Or springter?”/Sandpoint High grad Savannah Cummings, UI Argonaut news editor (Off The Cuff column)… State Sen. John Goedde’s citation for speeding in a school zone was noticed by Fox News.com, USA Today.com and a host of blogs, including “Blogs About: Hypocrisy” in World Press.com. The Coeur d’Alene solon also received a finger wag from the Moscow-Pullman Daily News for getting busted on the same day that his legislative playmates were discussing his successful bill to sharply increase fines for lead-footing in a school zone.
Parting shot
In response to Barack Obama’s comment in San Francisco that working-class America is bitter, Free In Idaho blogger BillH/Meridian penned this great response: “I live in a small town. Small enough that our dairy princesses don’t get a float, they ride down Main Street in convertibles. The local Lions club project is a rodeo. We work. We go to church, and pray over our meals, even in restaurants. Our pastors don’t “damn America.” We hunt, fish, and own a lot of guns (even the Democrats … well, OK, a lot of them do). We don’t hate immigrants, and we most assuredly are not bitter. We love life, our country and most of our fellows. Our distrust of the government is not because we don’t get enough from it, but because it insists on screwing with our lives WAY more than it should.” See what you miss by not tuning into Huckleberries Online?