The divide in Idaho's Republican Party ...
It is real.
It is deep.
Can Idaho Republicans get past it in order to win back the 1st Congressional District?
To the outsider there wasn’t really a significant difference between the views of Republican congressional candidates Raul Labrador and Vaughn Ward – the idea of one as more "conservative" than the other seems to make little sense. But they did seem to represent sides of a divide, and that divide seems as real now, post primary, as it did before.
writes Randy Stapilus in a post entitled Blowback in the 1st.
Stapilus goes on to mention an anonymous post that is circulating, called "Downfall of Ward signals downfall of GOP in Idaho."
In a detailed, seven-page document author of the piece attempts to make the case that "No one is inspired by the GOP in Idaho."
Basically, the GOP has lost its credibility with (State Chairman) Norm Semanko's leadership. When the sniping began, Norm Semanko was asked about it and basically had some folksy reply along the lines of "boys will be boys." Thanks, Norm, why don't you do your job next time?
A look at recent Idaho Republican history would help here:
Raul Labrador is former 1st CD Congressman Bill Sali's heir apparent, according to 43rd State Blues blogger Sisyphus.
Democrat Walt Minnick won this seat from Sali in a district that gave McCain 61% of the vote.
Minnick's opponent, Bill Sali, was a Republican flame thrower who became a congressman in a similarly divided primary after being funded by a right wing PAC, Club for Growth. Sali was the informal head of the ideological wing of the Idaho Republican party which constantly clamors for purity purges to cleanse it of notions they see as an anathema to conservatism.
In 2007, Sali helped lead a fight to defeat the Executive Director of the party, Kirk Sullivan, a big business lobbyist and a moderate. The moderates are largely composed of business types more concerned about government regulation than abortion. While smaller in number, they have most the money. A legislator that helped Sali in that fight was none other than Raul Labrador.
Sisyphus writes that as a result of that schism, Sali ended up lonely and alone when running for re-election in 2008. His sugar daddy, Club for Growth, had other fish to fry. Big business Republicans like Dirk Kempthorne, Phil Batt and Governor Butch Otter were noticeably absent from Sali's campaign trail.
And the big money, usually relied on by Republicans to fund their campaigns, actually started showing up on Minnick's campaign finance disclosure forms, probably as a result of Sali's xenophobic immigration legislation he was threatening. With the help of this money, Minnick was able to cobble together a sufficient coalition of disaffected moderate Republicans and eager enthused Democrats to squeak out a victory in a heavily Republican district.
The Republican primary ... was merely a continuation, if not a deepening, of the Republican rift. Fourteen months prior to the primary, Vaughn Ward was plucked from DC by Dirk Kempthorne, anointed by the Republican establishment such as Phil Batt, and funded by Idaho big business Republicans like Micron. Ward had secured the support of the NRCC who provided labor and promotion labeling him one of their "Young Guns" to take over DC from the likes of Nancy Pelosi. In stark contrast Labrador came to the race late, had sorely anemic fund raising, and secured the endorsement of ... Bill Sali, as well as most his colleagues in the Idaho House of Representatives known for its extremism and for bucking the Governor and his moderate cronies in the Senate.
The blogger summarizes the divide in stating:
Had Ward won this race, Walt faced a very real prospect of a unified Republican party behind a well funded candidate in an off year election in which the sour economy will reflect badly on incumbents. And while Labrador isn't burdened with Sali's caustic personality, he nevertheless represents the same extremist ideology that alienates big business and divides Republicans.
Thus, Sisyphus goes on to call the Labrador win a victory for Minnick.
Andrew Romano of Newsweek concurred:
...almost no one in Idaho was happier than the supporters of a state representative named Raul Labrador. That's because Labrador managed to come from behind to defeat Vaughn Ward 48 percent to 39 percent in the First District's Republican House primary, even though Ward, a former Nevada state director for John McCain '08, had outraised Labrador nine-to-one ($1.5 million to $173,000) as a top-tier member of the GOP's "Young Guns" program—and had received Sarah Palin's coveted endorsement as a result.
Romano continued with an analysis that many are upholding (one that Labrador disputes) - Labrador did not win the election - Ward lost it:
I said "almost no one," though, for a reason. While Labrador's folks were undoubtedly excited, Democrats were positively ecstatic.
Until recently, Rep. Walt Minnick—the freshman Dem currently serving in ID-01—appeared to be a prime pickoff candidate for the GOP. In 2008, the district went for McCain with 62 percent of the vote. Couple those strong Republican tendencies with the current anti-Democrat, anti-incumbent climate—then stir in a candidate with Ward's fundraising prowess and background (Iraq vet)—and you've got a pretty foolproof recipe for a Republican pickup.
The only problem? Despite (Sarah) Palin's imprimatur (she visited Idaho at the last minute to hold a campaign rally for Ward), Ward turned out to be a disastrous campaigner.
To counter such claims, which are running rampant on the internet, Labrador first told newspapers including the Idaho Press Tribune that "the win was his." Labrador cited the absentee ballots, which gave him a margin of victory, and the fact that they were turned in before Ward encountered most of his problems. Labrador also stated that he is working with members of the Republican National Committee in order to help mend fences, prompting a series of news articles regarding Republicans who buck the establishment - then need to reach out to it.
In a show of unity, Michael Steele and his troops have helped to fund two new staffers in Idaho, specifically to support Labrador's campaign.
But is the anonymous poster of Downfall accurate?
Will Republicans continue to eat their own in the 1st CD?
If so, the November election will be Minnick's to lose.