US Senate - In Idaho, Your Vote Really Counts!
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When our government was being established the founding fathers gave us both a House and a Senate – the number of representatives in the House is determined by a states population, but all states receive two votes in the Senate. That means our state with a population of about 1.5 million Idaho gets just as much say as a state like California with a population of 35 million. And our two Senators votes count just as much as the two Senators from the big state of California. In part, this means when you go to vote, your single vote counts 20 times stronger than those in California. That is a large burden. I believe we have the responsibility to be informed, to not vote party lines, but to elect the best Senator to represent our state and our country.
Primary elections are coming up on Tuesday. Below are some of the candidate’s websites. Please share with everyone your thoughts as to what candidates you think will do best for Idaho and what strengths they have that lead you to believe that? For this discussion, let’s please be respectful of other individuals viewpoints, attempt to maintain a positive discussion, and avoid bashing candidates. (There will be plenty of time to “bash” before the general election.)
Outside of President of the United States, the Senator we elect will be one of the most influential elected leaders in the world (along with the other 99 US Senators). And with only 1.5 million people deciding this seat, your vote counts BIG. Who are the best candidates for the job?
Republicans:
Jim Risch
www.risch4idaho.com
Neal Thompson
www.nealthompsonforussenate.org
Scott Syme
www.scottsyme.com
Fred M. Adams
www.adamsforidaho.com
Brian Hefner
www.brianhefner.com
Richard Phenneger
www.phennegerforsenator.com
Bill Hunter
www.idsenatehunter08.com
Hal Styles Jr.
(No known website. PR reported: “He told media outlets in California that he’s a Ronald Reagan Republican who’s never been to Idaho before.”)
Democrats:
Larry LaRocco
Web site: www.laroccoforsenate.com.
David Archuleta
Web site: www.davearchuletaussenate.org
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Comments
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0 
0 Also, Please let me know if you find articles and links like this useful to you or not.
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0 0 Good post…lotsa links, I went to each one. So here goes:
Risch…wasn’t happy with what he did as Governor, don’t want to vote him into the Senate.
Thompson…okay, nothing stands out good or bad.
Symes…I’m always leery when someone says they want to replace a career politician…they turn INTO career politicians themselves. I know someone who was impressed when they met him.
Adams…turns me off because he focuses on the Republican issue itself…his little national map that’s almost all red…what about Idaho and Idaho’s issues, including those folks he will represent who aren’t red?
Hefner…seems okay, makes a lot of vague promises but seems like his heart’s in the right place.
Phenneger…seems okay, too, nothing outstanding although I’m a little put off by the promise to “win the war on terror”.
Hunter…doesn’t even live in Idaho, although his parents do…hmmm. I don’t think I’m interested in this one.
Styles…same as Hunter…not interested in him if he doesn’t even live here…but haven’t heard of him anyway.
LaRocco…isn’t he turning into Harold Stassen? Running all the time. He seems to be okay…I think he got pretty close last time, didn’t he?
Archuleta…not much on the website, I think the Journal had something today, so I’ll check it out.
Joe E, thanks again for the links, they will be useful to check back on in the near future.
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0 0 what about “Wide Stance Larry”???? I heard a rumor he was considered as a running mate for Hilary……oh man, just picture those dinner parties, with Bill and Larry making polite conversation about their various and assorted extra curricular activities…..
oy vey.
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0 0 “wide stance Larry”….LOL good one Babs!
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0 0 actually, that came from Jose Cuervo a looonnnng time ago…….I guess Larry Craig, at one time, referred to himself as “Wide Stance Larry” because he claimed he took a ‘wide stance’ on social issues or some such. Anyway, Jose Cuervo (where has he/she been?????) cited that nickname for ol’ Larry when the scandal broke……
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0 0 Thats right….I remember now!! Good ole Jose Cuervo, stickin up for “wide stance Larry”! haha!
Seems Mike has been MIA for the past couple weeks as well.
Guess we all need a break at one time or another.
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0 0 Valley Man Runs For Senate
A Desert Hot Springs man is running for senate about a thousand miles away from here. He’s gunning for Larry Craig’s seat. Styles lives in Desert Hot Springs and he’s running for office. Not locally, not, even in California.
Hal James Styles Jr: “I am running for Office of United States Senator from the State of Idaho.”
He says he’s run for office in California before, but Styles has his eye on Idaho. He signed the paperwork March 14th. Hal James Styles Jr: “But specifically Idaho because, I like to refer to myself as a Ronald Reagan Republican. Think L.L.S.” He wants; lower taxes, less government and strong national defense. Current Idaho senator Larry Craig won’t be running again. Last summer he was arrested for suspicion of lewd conduct in a bathroom. However, that paves the way for Styles to run. Here’s a kicker, Styles hasn’t actually been to Idaho, but by law, senators have to live in their state. Therefore, Hal plans to move there.
Hal James Styles Jr: “I know I’ll love it because, clean air, clean water and many, many, many mountains.”
Dean Gray/Desert Local News Reporter: “I thought, ‘wow this is going to put DHS on the map.” Dean Gray a reporter for Desert Local News interviewed Styles. He’s impressed with how well Styles grasps the issues. For now, Styles says he’s headed to Idaho in a few weeks to campaign. Hal James Styles Jr: “My heart, my mind, my body, my thoughts are in this to win and I can do it.”
(This was cut and pasted from a KMIR6 TV NBC affiliate news source)
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0 0 This isn’t an endorsement of this candidate. But what’s not to love about this statement:
Hal James Styles Jr: “I know I’ll love it because, clean air, clean water and many, many, many mountains.”
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0 0 A response to Nemesis:
Nemesis, take a look at the website again. The statement is win the war on terror, not Iraq. Truly, I hope our outstanding soldiers can turn the tide in Iraq, but that is but a battle field in the war on terror, which must be won.
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0 0 Hate to burst anyones bubble here, but the “war on terror” will never be “won”.
What we need to do is bring our troops home and worry more about protecting our borders instead of trying to sway the minds of people who have been fighting for thousands of years and have been brought up to hate Americans. It’s a no win situation over there and the sooner we all realize it, the better off we’ll be.
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0 0 Right on 007. This is one of your posts that I couldn’t agree with more. BRING OUR TROOPS HOME!
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0 0 Anyone know why turnout so low so far?
Hope it picks up, KIDK has article saying one of lowest turnouts election workers have seen.
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0 0 Mr. Phenneger #10…thanks for commenting!
But truly, I didn’t confuse the two. Of course I’d like the war in Iraq to be over and done with, but the comment was about your statement that you wanted to win the war on terror.
I agree with Guest_007 in comment #11, it’s not possible to win the war on terror, mainly because I don’t believe there is such a “war”.
Much as with the “war on drugs”…both terrorism and drug abuse have been with our civilization for many many years, and no amount of “war” on them has made much of a dent in the overall problem. I’m not saying we just give up and let both run rampant, but that we recognize the dangers and do some proactive things to lessen the impact, or take steps to ensure safety without compromising our integrity as a country, or our constitutional freedoms as a citizenry.
I just think it’s a little jingoistic to talk about “winning the war on terror”…
Vote:
0 0 Low turnout this year probably due to Republicans saying they want to close their primaries, that they do not want independents voting for their candidates. I have voted in the Republican primary every year except this year because that is where the action is in Idaho.
This year I stayed home.
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0 0 So to protest the proposed closing of primary elections, you stay home — effectively closing yourself out of the primary election? I don’t get it.
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0 0 Sure, send them the message that they are losing the support of most Idahoans who are conservative yet independent. Rex Rammell may have a strong shot at beating Jim Risch as an independent if this continues.
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0 0 The war in Iraq needs to be won. The war on terror was a horrible excuse presented to the masses at a fragile time that was designed to ultimately place us in the Middle East.
I would love to have all of the soldiers come home, quite a few are friends of mine, but to bring them back before the job is done would be a mistake.
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0 0 I don’t want to create any problems with this post, but I don’t understand why people think it would be a mistake to pull out of Iraq. I hear that we need to finish the job. I don’t know what that means — how will we know when the job is finished? I hear that we would lose face if we pulled out now. Haven’t we already lost a lot of face? Is it worth another 4000 American lives, untold injuries, thousands of other nations lives (I don’t know how many actually — you never hear about Iraqi lives lost), and the billions of dollars that have been spent and will continue to be spent?
I don’t think we need to look far to find the underlying cause of our nation’s oil crisis, recession, and possibly (God forbid) depression.
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0 0 Whoops, I get so wrapped up in my feelings on this war, that I forgot to add my last sentence to post #18.
When we go to the polls in November, let’s think about where we are as a nation, and where we want to be in one year, two years, and so on, and vote accordingly.
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0 0 If we pulled all of the soldiers out of Iraq at this point, the Middle East as a whole would revert back to pre-U.S. entry. I would hope that we wouldn’t let 4,000 American lives be lost with an overall result of zero.
There are some that say that regardless of time invested, the region will revert after we’re out of there…I try to have a bit more hope than that.
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0 0 On that note, how do people feel about Obama’s proposed income tax overhaul, including his intention to eliminate all income tax for seniors earning 50K and under?
“His plan means billions in breaks by nixing income taxes for the 7 million senior citizens making less than $50,000 a year, establishing a universal credit for the 10 million homeowners who do not itemize their deductions — most of whom make less than $50,000 annually — and providing 150 million Americans with tax cuts of up to $1,000.
“I’d reward work by providing an income tax cut of up to $500 per person — or $1,000 for each working family — to offset the payroll tax that they’re already paying,” he said.
“Because this credit would be greater than their income tax bill, my proposal would effectively eliminate all income taxes for 10 million working Americans.”
Obama also said he would repeal the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.”
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/09/18/obama.taxplan/index.html
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0 0 I would definitely hope that we would not be satisfied with allowing those 4,000 people to die without a result. Iraq will undoubtedly revert back to its pre-entry state if we were to pull out of the country at this point in time.
I know there are those that say that even if we stayed for another 15 years, the country would revert…but I just cannot believe that the man hours and lives that have already been put into this campaign have been all for naught. There has to be some sort of light at the end of the tunnel.
As for Obama…I think that he will go a long way toward eradicating our freedoms if he takes office in November. Not that McCain is much better. This is a tough election all around.
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0 0 This is Marcus Bowman from the post above. Wanted to clarify.
I would hope that we would not be satisfied with allowing those 4,000 people to die without a result. Iraq will undoubtedly revert back to its pre-entry state if we were to pull out of the country at this point in time.
I know there are those that say that even if we stayed for another 15 years, the country would revert…but I just cannot believe that the man hours and lives that have already been put into this campaign have been all for naught. There has to be some sort of light at the end of the tunnel.
As for Obama…I think that he will go a long way toward eradicating our freedoms if he takes office in November. Not that McCain is much better. This is a tough election all around.
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0 0 Sounds like arguments for staying in Vietnam.
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0 0 That’s exactly what my father says. I wasn’t around for Vietnam…and for that much I am grateful.
I do agree on security within our own country though, and I agree with a reduction of soldiers overseas…but I just don’t think that leaving at this point would be a wise decision.
I’d get into what I think about illegal immigration and such…but I’ll save it for a future blog entry that deals with that topic =).
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0 0 I’m curious as to how the domestic security you refer to might occur without the further eradication of freedoms you suggest we will face after the 2008 election.
Here is a link to an IFz immigration thread I found under “Popular:”
http://idahofallz.com/2007/06/02/illegal-immigration-helpful-solutions-and-harmful-pursuits/
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whew, slow day, time to all start commenting again!
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Because of my huge distaste for voting party lines, I very much considered not including which candidate was from which party. But because in the primary election we have to select a party to vote down, I thought it would be useful to include here. For those of you who agree with my philosophy in NOT voting for someone just because they are from a certain party – please forgive me for highlighting parties in this case.