The Idaho Republican primary is turning into a pretty fun show. The Republican party in the state has been showing faultlines for several years now between the standard Idaho Republican establishment crazy and the even further right Idaho Republican crazy. If they weren't in control of the whole state, it'd be a lot more entertaining.
But the fault lines are showing now in the primary race to see who challenge the doggiest of the Blue Dogs, Walt Minnick. The establishment candidate, Vaughn Ward, is the Palin-endorsed candidate. The teabagger candidate, however, is state Rep. Raul Labrador. Who has some potent ammunition going into tomorrow's primary.
Idaho Republican Vaughn Ward has already come under fire for mimicking other candidates’ policy language on his website, but now the congressional candidate is facing accusations of plagiarizing from another source: President Barack Obama....
Here’s what Obama said in 2004: “As we stand at the crossroads of history, we can make the right choices and meet the challenges that face us. If you feel the same urgency that I do, if you feel the same passion that I do, then I have no doubt the people will rise up in November and this country will reclaim its promise and out of this long political darkness, a brighter day will come.”
And here’s what Ward said in January: “As we stand on the crossroads of history, I know we can make the right choice and meet the challenges that lay before us. If you feel the same urgency and the same passion that I do, then I have no doubt that our voices will be heard in November. And our country will reclaim its promise and out of this darkness, a better day is on the horizon.”
A Republican blogger and state senate candidate in Idaho put together this video:
The controversy that hit today has led two state reps and a party activist to demand that Ward pull out of the primary. They use their status as veterans (Ward is an Iraq vet) to make the demand. They are all Labrador supporters.
A Mason-Dixon poll conducted for the Idaho Statesman/KBOI-TV Channel 2 May 17-19 found Idaho fertile ground for the "tea party movement", depressingly so.
A new poll says 63 percent of likely Republican primary voters in Idaho "generally support the agenda of the tea party movement," and one in six call themselves members....
A national ABC/Washington Post poll in late April found 27 percent support the tea party movement. The same poll asked respondents of all political parties if they were "active" in the movement, and just 2 percent said yes. The Statesman/KBOI-TV poll asked a different question of Idaho Republicans, "Do you consider yourself a member of the tea party?" and 16 percent said yes.
The poll also found Vaughn with a very slim lead over Labrador, 31-28, within the margin of error of 5%. Undecided is polling at 37 percent. With this plagiarism charge breaking just the day before the primary, it's uncertain whether the charges will make or break Vaughn's candidacy.