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Saturday, October 07, 2006

ID-01: Another Republican Takes Aim at Sali

Posted by James L.

The race for Idaho's first congressional district is one of the craziest scenarios this cycle. Just how awful must Bill Sali, the Republican nominee, be to give his Democratic opponent (netroots candidate Larry Grant) a chance to wage a competitive campaign for this open seat that delivered 69% of its vote to Bush in 2004? Pretty awful.

After squeaking out a victory with 26% of the vote in a very crowded GOP primary back in May, Sali's reputation as the embarrassment of the state House ("an absolute idiot" according to the Republican Speaker) hasn't done him any favors in his general election campaign. And now, Sali's runner-up in the primary, county commissioner Robert Vasquez (who is actually now waging a primary challenge to Sen. Larry Craig for the '08 nomination), is quite willing to bash Sali senseless in front of any reporter willing to listen:

Vasquez also took aim at Bill Sali, the Republican candidate for the 1st Congressional District who defeated Vasquez in a six-way primary election. Sali took nearly 26 percent of the vote, Vasquez took 18.5 percent. The commissioner said that if both he and Sali end up representing Idaho at the nation's capital, he would not work with Sali on any legislation.

"I would have no problem working with any other member of Idaho's delegation," Vasquez said. "I cannot in my wildest imaging contemplate any issue that Bill Sali would champion that would be beneficial to Idaho or the United States of America instead of big business corporations."

The Spokesman-Review blog has more:

Today, in the Idaho Press-Tribune in Nampa, second-place finisher Robert Vasquez, a Canyon County commissioner, said he’d never vote for GOP primary victor Bill Sali because, “I would not and do not and cannot endorse a liar for Congress.”

Ouch. Meanwhile, Alan at Idablue has managed to find some of Sali's campaign paraphernalia.

Posted at 10:31 PM in 2006 Elections - House, Idaho | Technorati

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Comments

Vasquez may have pointed out one of Sali's weak points (among others...LOL), that "big business corporations" e.g. "Club For Growth" types may not be so popular in this State. Great news, another boon to Grant! I may just move this one up from my second tier prediction forecast list to first tier.

Posted by: Predictor at October 8, 2006 12:19 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Thanks for the mention, James L! We appreciate the way you've been watching this race from the start - and now everyone's starting to take notice.

Posted by: Julie Fanselow at October 9, 2006 06:00 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment