Good Job, Walt

Alan at Idablue bemoans what Walt Minnick’s service in Congress has wrought in dividing Idaho’s leftosphere:

There are two camps. One is, as long as he’s got a D by his name, I’ll support him. The other is, I voted for him because I wanted to elect a Democrat… Well, there it is. Two camps. Walt has succeeded in doing something that lately the Republicans haven’t been able to do; he’s divided Idaho Democrats.

To paraphrase President Bush, “Heck of a job, Walt.”  There is quite a bit of moaning and complaining about Congressman Minnick. The question remains, “What are you going to do about it?”

Let us consider the case of Mr. Minnick. He outspent his opponent 2:1 and benefited from the Democrats voter turnout machine, as well as a media full course press to personally destroy Bill Sali. Minnick won by 1.2%. Minnick is precariously balanced and could easily be tipped over. Let’s consider some possible options in this light: 

First, let’s say they persuade Minnick to vote more liberally. Any more liberal and Minnick will be too liberal for this district. Net result: The Democrats will lose the seat.

Secondly, they could consider putting up a third party candidate from the left to protest Minnick’s voting record. Net result: The Democrats will lose the seat.

Third, they could raise a Primary Challenge against Minnick. Of course, if it fails spectacularly, Minnick will have little reason to care what the left thinks. If Minnick is almost retired in the Primary, it will weaken Minnick, just as Matt Salisbury’s challenge t Bill Sali set the stage for Sali’s defeat. The net result: Democrats will lose the seat.

Fourth, they could just stay home on election day or abstain from the First Congressional District race. However, if they do that, Minnick will lose the seat.

Of course, if they back Minnick 110%, he could still lose with the likely drop off from first time voters coupled with anger at the national Democratic Party.

The ironic reality is that Minnick, if re-elected will be far more likely to feel secure in taking some more liberal stances. Indeed, he’ll begin a predictable leftward March, the longer he’s in Congress, and become less the guy who rails against health care reform, and more like the guy who gave big bucks to John Kerry. It’s a heck of a game, too bad for him, a lot of local liberals lack the patience for it.