Know thine enemies...

I was chatting with a fellow Dem tonight and mentioned the hotly contested race among Republicans for the first Congressional seat. When I mentioned Bill Sali's name, my friend told me that she wasn't very familiar with him.

Well, she's not alone! Most liberals/Democrats here in Magic Valley aren't familiar with Sali. He's a State Representative from Kuna and you may remember an incident during this last legislative session that involved Wendy Jaquet (District #25 Representative). Sali won the Republican primary yesterday and will now be running against Larry Grant for Butch Otter's Congressional seat. That district covers about half of Boise and goes north from there. So those of you who live in Magic Valley, eastern Idaho, etc., will not have an opportunity to vote against him. HOWEVER, if you have contacts in the upper portion of the state--Republican OR Democrat... you may wish to share the following with them!

{In addition, if Idaho starts getting national attention regarding this guy -- which it's already starting -- when your out-of-state friends ask you about this guy, you will know who they are talking about!}

Stop by Red State Rebels and follow the link to DailyKos to find out more...

Here is what Larry LaRocco has to say:

Sali was supported by the ultra-right "Club for Growth." The Club for Growth is headed by former Congressman Pat Toomey who lost to Senator Specter in a GOP primary in '04. This group is committed to purging the GOP in Congress of moderate republican members of Congress. Most recently they tried unsuccessfully to unseat moderates Sherwood Boehlert of NY and Wayne Gilchrist of MD. Both had solid enviornmental records and were targeted for defeat. This purge is similar to what Helen Chenoweth and Vern Ravenscroft tried in Idaho in 1985 when they formed a PAC to dislodge moderates in the Idaho legislature.

The Club for Growth's tactics are very transparent. It "bundles" money from right wingers across the country and then assists in the the day-to-day, minute-to-minute campaign tactics on the ground in the district or state it has targeted. Sali is a puppet for the Club for Growth. He never had control of his campaign from the instant he filed. The Club for Growth operatives had total control of his campaign and were prepared to use any and all tactics to ensure a win. Those tactics include a broad array of negative campaign strategies: suppression voting, push polls, focus groups, tracking polls, opposition research. Some of these strategies are normal in a campaign but the Club for Growth is a ruthless group and is only committed to winning at all costs no matter what splits they create in the state where it operates. Such is the case in Idaho. This broken egg will not be put back together anytime soon.

Money was no object in the 1st CD race. I estimate the Club for Growth spent close to $700,000 to corral 19,000 votes and claim victory. It's like a Ponzi Scheme. Now they will go out to the vast stable of funders, claim victory and ask for more money.

Speaker Newcomb had it right when he called (on the record) Sali ".....a fricking idiot."

UPDATE: I strongly encourage you to read this sobering article... Thank you again, Julie, for directing me to it...