Sali Spikes Ward, Ward Declares Sali “Part of the Establishment”

Well, as I thought, Bill Sali endorsed Raul Labrador and in doing so offered his opinion on Vaughn Ward:

Well, you know, Vaughn has served our country with distinction and we owe him a debt of gratitude for that, there is no way around that, as we do with all of our veterans. But I have to tell you, sending Vaughn Ward to Washington, D.C. is a little bit like sending a boy scout to Iraq. He doesn’t have any experience casting tough votes. He doesn’t have experience in the political realm.

I suppose one could get technical and point out that Boy Scouts can be up to 18, so many people have gone from the Scouts to the Army, but clearly Sali was thinking on the lower end of the boy scout age spectrum, which are ten and eleven year olds.

I wouldn’t entirely agree with the idea that we always ought to go with legislative experience. I’ll take inexperience v. a really bad record, but Sali’s point here has some validity. It’s the one issue I’ve come back to over and over again that remains Ward’s big question mark. How can conservatives know he’ll be trustworthy when it comes down to crunch time and the leadership is demanding something in violation of conservative principles. This is the question many conservatives have.

Well, what was Vaughn’s response going to be? The first response was somewhat typical of the the banal cliches released by the Ward campaign, “Idaho Republicans are ready for new leadership, the kind of fiscally conservative, common-sense approach that Vaughn Ward will bring to Congress.” The second response was more direct:

“No decision in Congress will be tougher than the decisions Vaughn made in combat.  Vaughn is a proven combat leader who has spent his life in service to Idaho and our country.  Bill Sali and Raul Labrador are politicians who represent a failed establishment that has given us higher unemployment, increased spending, and a record deficit.   

Yep, mark this on your calendars. Bill Sali has been accused of many things. Being a member of the political establishment isn’t one of them–until now. Of course Ward’s statement is quite ironic as he just made an announcement of a new co-chair, Former Idaho Secretary of State Pete Cenarrusa, who served nine terms as Secretary of State. You can’t get much more establishment than Pete Cenarrusa, who was last seen fighting against term limits in Idaho in 2002. So let me combine the two messages, “Idahoans are ready for new leadership, that’s why we’re pleased to announce that we’ve been endorsed by the a guy who served thirty-six years in office.”

So, let me understand this, what the Ward campaign is saying is, “Look, I have the support of Dirk Kempthorne, Lori Otter, Lt. Governor Brad Little, Minority Leader Boehner, Minority Whip Cantor, the NRCC Chairman, and Kirk Sullivan, but that Raul Labrador guy represents the establishment.”

My question to Vaughn Ward is if Raul Labrador represents the establishment, why has nearly every member of the party establishment endorsed you.

And as for Bill Sali as an establishment Republican. Give me a break. He locked horns with Bruce Newcombe and Mike Simpson wanted to throw Bill Sali out a third story window. You don’t get more anti-establishment than that. The ACU, whose endorsement Vaughn trumpets gave Sali a 98% American Conservative Union rating, he scored a 94% anti-pork rating, and was twice given an “A” by the National Taxpayer’s Union. Bill Sali is as conservative as you can get.

Ward’s attack on Sali was either dishonest, or completely ignorant. Either Ward knows that Sali’s got a conservative record, but saw some rhetorical value in pitting himself against “the establishment”, or he either has no clue what Mr. Sali’s actual record is.

Hanlon’s razor demands that we prefer ignorance over plain deception. Ignorance would also seem to fit the way the Ward campaign has been run. While Ward is up on national issues, he seems more than a bit out of it when it comes to understanding the dynamics of state politics.

 I was at the State March for Life and Sali’s name was mentioned with a sense of reverence. Those of us who are conservative activists know Sali’s name and we know Sali’s record. Sali won two straight primaries from the voters whose support Ward needs. Were these voters just dupes of the establishment when they supported this conservative Congressman?

If Vaughn Ward wants to win in the fall, he’s going to need the support of folks who respect what Bill Sali represents. Dumping on him isn’t going to help. To me it raises questions as to if he can bring our party together if he’s nominated.

It also should be noted that he didn’t answer the concern. It was far easier to attack the messenger than to come up with something that would reasurre Idaho voters. The fact that Vaughn Ward served in the military will not mean he’ll be a fiscal conservative. It doesn’t mean he’ll have a conservative voting record.

Bob Dornan, Duncan Hunter, Daniel Inouye, John Murtha, Duke Cunningham, John Kerry, John McCain and hundreds more have served in Congress, and their military experience has produced different ideologies, different fiscal records, different willingness to stand up under political fire. John Boehner served this country in the U.S. Navy and it didn’t stop him from voting for TARP.

With respect to Vaughn Ward, I would have to say, “Thank you for your service, but you’ve still failed to answer the question.”