Should Sali Run?

State Representative Ken Roberts wants Bill Sali to declare his intentions, because obvious Roberts hopes to capture Sali supporters and rally them to his side to beat Vaughn Ward:

“Bill probably enjoys all the press he’s getting, I guess, but it’d be nice if we’d just kind of ignore Bill and move forward,” Roberts told the Idaho Statesman during a phone interview Friday while on a North Idaho campaign swing.

That might not have been the way to do it. In fact, I think that was kind of a slap across the face to both Congressman Sali and people supportive of him.  I don’ t thing Sali is dragging this out for publicity. In fact, I’ve mostly heard about it through intra-party conversation, not the press.

The difficulty of making a decision comes from the fact that Bill Sali went through a brutal campaign and there are a lot of knives in his back that quite honestly have Republican fingerprints on them, including establishment folks who decided to go passive aggressive on him.

On the other hand, the country’s in trouble and we could really use the Principled Conservative leadership that Bill Sali would provide if he got back to Congress.  I don’t know whether Congressman Sali will run, but if he did, he’d have my support.

I think there are two things Sali would need to do to be successful is to address two big issues. Number one is public relations. He has a press opponent in the Idaho Statesman that serves as the advocacy arm of the Minnick Campaign. They’ve absolutely thrashed him.

I think the image of Sali is totally untrue. He’s a friendly stand-up guy if you meet him. Most Idahoans haven’t and he’s been really defined by the press. He’d really have to have some strategy to reintroduce himself.

Secondly, he needs to find some way to raise sufficient funds, which was his big issue last time. I think in a 3-way Republican Primary, he wins. If a Sali entry drains Roberts’ support and forces Roberts out, I think it becomes a lot harder.

For my part, I’d love to see Sali back in Congress, but I pray that he follows the biblical admonition to count the costs, and I’m sure he’ll make the right decision.