The race for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by retiring Senator Larry Craig will not be decided in the Primary.

This election is going all the way to the General Election on November 4th so that all Idahoans will have the opportunity to choose their next Senator.

After all, an independent poll paid for by Richard Phenneger in December 2007 found that only 21% of Idahoans were happy with Jim Risch and Larry LaRocco being the major party candidates for the U.S. Senate, and that only 21% believed that the “state Chapters” of major political parties should pick and endorse candidates before the primary election takes place.

Another interesting poll conducted by ABC in late August—early September asked Idahoans who they supported for appointment should Larry Craig resign.  12% supported Mike Simpson, 17% Larry LaRocco, 33% Jim Risch, and 38% wanted somebody else.  Put another way, 67% of those polled wanted somebody other than Jim Risch.

As I’ve been campaigning throughout Idaho, I find that most of the people I’ve met so far  want somebody other than Jim Risch to be their next U.S. Senator.

The news media and Jim Risch, himself, want us to believe that he is the “front-runner,” and that he is “favored to win.”

What makes Jim Risch “the favorite to win?”  Is it because Kirk Sullivan has informed all the Republicans of the state that they need to vote for Risch because he is the “chosen one?”  Is it because Butch Otter told the media shortly after Risch’s announcement when asked who he would have appointed had Craig stepped down that his “support speaks for itself?”  Is it because Mike Crapo stands as Risch’s campaign co-chair?  Is it because Jim Risch told us in his announcement to seek the seat , “I’m In!”  Or, is it simply because the news media has told us repeatedly that he is “favored to win?”

Large numbers of Idahoans, however, see him only as a man interested in boosting his ego and gaining more power.  They aren’t at all happy that he calls himself “the taxpayer’s friend,” because just about everyone out there knows that he is not.  People are keenly aware of his seven-month stint as governor, and how he spent $30,000 of our hard-earned tax dollars to call a special session of the legislature just so that he could preside over a session during his time as governor.  They know that he led the charge to reduce property taxes while increasing sales taxes.  They know that renters saw no property tax relief through a reduction in rent, and that they only experienced a 20% increase in their sales tax.  They know that property tax relief for homeowners was not only offset by sales tax, but that they ended up with less to deduct on their state and federal income taxes for property tax paid, so they had a higher income tax at both levels.  They also know that he opened up two new state offices, and added another layer of bureaucracy to our state government — all within a short span of just seven months.

People are looking for change.  They no longer want to support or elect “establishment politicians.”  They are upset about the “anointing” or “coronation” that occurred at Jim Risch’s announcement, and they want to make their own decision, not have it dictated to them.

With all the discontent as there with career politicians; our Republican governor proposing an increase in registration fees for all vehicles to at least $150; the perception that Jim Risch is a “smoke-and-mirrors”  politician; our own Idaho legislature approving such things as a $3 million donation to Special Olympics (a private non-profit organization) during an economic downturn and people beginning to have some real concerns about their future and the future of their children and grandchildren — people are looking for change.

We need to get the message of less government, limited government spending and taxation, and the protection of our Constitutional liberties out to all the people of Idaho to make sure that they don’t vote for the wrong kind of “change,” sending more liberals, so-called “progressives,” and “socialists” to Washington.  If we don’t get it done this election year, there will be more and more people stepping up to the government trough, and as government programs grow to serve their “hunger for more,” we can begin kissing away our liberty one day at a time.

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Marmon for Idaho

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Caldwell, Idaho 83606-0995