CQ Politics decided to
highlight Idaho yesterday. The state also got a mention in
The Economist (they got it all wrong), and of course is being
visited by Cheney right now. (I am being followed by Bush and Cheney--I just got into Idaho this afternoon, on my way to Montana).
CQ has uprated both the CD01 and governor's races. The House race is now listed as "Leans Republican" while the statehouse race is now "Republican Favored." CQ is notoriously cautious, so this has to be taken as good news in both campaigns. As does the fact that some of Sali's more extreme positions are getting a lot more attention.
Here's an example from the CQ story:
Sali has also drawn controversy for his image as an ideological firebrand. For example, in a recent speech, Sali reiterated a statement, which he first made last April, that there is a medical link between abortion and breast cancer -- a claim that has been widely circulated by some anti-abortion groups but is disputed by a number of medical researchers.
It gets even better. From political columnist Dan Popkey in today's Idaho Statesman:
There's nothing new about Sali's cruel remarks. In 2002, he said women get Medicaid abortions to preserve their good looks: "The taxpayers of this state don't have to pay for abortions just so a girl can have a nice bikini figure."
Yup. You read right. Women want abortions to keep their figures. How's that playing with women in the district?
"I am so turned off by Sali because he doesn't seem honest," said Mary Bierman, 55, who twice voted for President Bush. "It doesn't sound like he's gotten anything done and he doesn't get along with his own party. How's he going to get anything done for Idaho?"
Bierman objects to Sali's rigid anti-abortion views. Sali failed to convince lawmakers to extend Medicaid coverage to fetuses, giving equal status to mothers and the unborn.
Bierman is the mother of three. If her daughter were advised by a doctor that her life was at risk by continuing a pregnancy, "if I'm honest, I would want my child to live," she said.
LaVeta Overman, 63, said she will "probably vote Democrat for the first time. I just don't like what I hear about Sali. I don't know that I can trust him."
Younger voters like Morgan Hochstrasser, 21, a stay-at-home mom with a young child, are not so equivocal. "If he gets elected, CNN will be very happy. They'll set up a camera on his doorstep. He says crazy things: Abortion causes cancer -- what's up with that?"
All of this, not surprisingly, gives Grant the edge with women. In last week's Statesman poll, women favored Grant, 39 percent to 35 percent; men backed Sali 43 percent to 35 percent. Idaho women, time to have a stern talking-to with your fathers, brothers, husbands, and male friends.
And here's a bonus. A new ad directed by Michael Hoffman ("A Midsummer Night's Dream," "One Fine Day," "Soapdish") and shot and edited by Gregory Bayne ("Trudell"), both Idaho natives. I think it's a good, low-key, straightforward and quiet antidote to the negative ads that have been filling Idaho airwaves.