Sali Does What He Needs To
Posted by Adam Graham in : Idaho Conservative, TheLong-time Idaho Political observer Randy Stapilus gave Bill Sali positive reviews on last night’s debate performance:
It was a master performance. For anyone watching, Sali defined himself in a way that completely contradicted every news report thi(sic) year about how difficult he, as a legislator, has been to work with. If he continues doing that in his two or three (sounds as if there may be four debates in all) upcoming performances, he will have positioned himself as simply a likable conservative Republican, which is all he really needs to do to win.
‘
He also caught this quote from Julie Fanselow at Red State Rebels that I somehow missed:
This race is Sali’s to lose if he can convince Idahoans he is a happy-go-lucky conservative and not the extreme and divisive figure he’s been in the Idaho Legislature.
Whoa, so if you’re in the Grant Campaign, you’re really playing the role of a vulture in this one. It must be sad to be part of a campaign whose hope rests on the other guy messing up. Unless they can convince people that Bill Sali is a bad person, Larry Grant goes nowhere. There’s not enough energy, there’s not enough substance to Larry Grant to win this campaign unless they’re convinced his opponent is evil. No wonder the desperate Grant campaign continues to attack relentlessly.
UPDATE
Julie Fanselow graces our comments:
If you were honest (as I have been in my blogging), you’d also note that Randy S had some good things to say about Larry Grant’s performance, too.
Randy Stapilus described Bill Sali’s performance as masterful and spent several paragraphs talking about it, he described Larry Grant’s as “generally good.” Nothing dishonest about it. I didn’t say Grant stank it up or even that Sali won. Sali doesn’t have to win. Turning in good performances are really enough and so I don’t really care about Grant’s performance.
And maybe you’ll even permit me to say that I respect Mr. Sali for at least committing to these debates when so many of his GOP brethren won’t even bother.
Of course, I will. And I would hope we’d see more Republicans showing up at debates in the future. Though, that may coincide with Democrats nominating a more serious slate of candidates.
Comment by Julie in Boise [Member]
Adam,
Our hope does not rest in Mr. Sali messing up in a carefully controlled debate environment.
Our hope rests in people knowing that he has not gotten along well with people in the Idaho Legislature, only three of whom attended his party with the vice president.
Our hope is that Idahoans will learn that Bill Sali is primarly funded by an extremist out-of-state organization (the Club for Growth) that wants to dismantle Social Security, denigrate senior citizens, and decimate public education. Mr. Sali will not mention this in debates, speaking instead of school choice and a simpler life with less government.
But of course, our hope is mainly that people will realize Larry Grant’s values are far closer to their own than Mr. Sali’s, and that Larry’s record of business success as VP of Micron has prepared him for the tough bipartisan work that must be done in Congress to make our country work again.
If you were honest (as I have been in my blogging), you’d also note that Randy S had some good things to say about Larry Grant’s performance, too. And maybe you’ll even permit me to say that I respect Mr. Sali for at least committing to these debates when so many of his GOP brethren won’t even bother.
Comment by Adam Graham [Member]
Our hope rests in people knowing that he has not gotten along well with people in the Idaho Legislature, only three of whom attended his party with the vice president.
So we need to send someone up there to go along to get along. In addition, Summer is a busy time for Idaho legislatures who are after all average people with vacations planned, work, etc.
Our hope is that Idahoans will learn that Bill Sali is primarly funded by an extremist out-of-state organization (the Club for Growth) that wants to dismantle Social Security, denigrate senior citizens, and decimate public education. Mr. Sali will not mention this in debates, speaking instead of school choice and a simpler life with less government.
I like that alliteration with the “d” words. Of course, Club for Growth is also the organization that led the charge for earmark reform and a public database of searchable information on campaign contributions and next week, I will actually write why the Club for Growth’s endorsement is something to be proud of, because they’re doing great work for our nation. Meanwhile, you’re just upset that you’ve not gotten as much support from out of state interests at Act Blue who seek to Obliterate Unborn Children, Obscure Issues of Truth, and Obligate future generations to pay for a Social Security System that’s become nothing more than a ponzi scheme.