Guardian,

Don’t feel bad. Now you know a bit better how Scott Dorvall feels when he predicts sun and gets snow.

I volunteered for my party and knocked on a slew of doors in a variety of districts and I must admit I am a bit shocked. Most of the people I met were pretty much in the mood to block Sali and send Lil’ Jimmy packing. Must of been some waffling at the end.

Two years from now should be a real fun-fest. People need to prepare themselves for this year times ten.

I agree–don’t feel bad. You can always hope . . . . I no longer live in Idaho and I miss everything about it except the politics. I cannot tell you how refreshing it is to live in a place that actually has two parties. I am totally enjoying the national Republican spanking, especially now that Rumsfeld has exited the scene. Otter, Sali, Luna, your marriage amendment–the only upside is that this keeps your lovely state from being inhabited by 15 million people.

Very disappointing results from Idaho, especially with Sali winning. Idaho would have been better off had the Democrat, Larry Grant won. At least he might have landed on some committees and had some sort of influence with this new congress. Sali, and his fringe views, will be shut down, and deservedly so.

At least Boise made the correct move on the 10 Commandments issue.

So, when Sali is making an arse of himself in DC at the State of Idaho’s expense…I hope I can bring myself to chuckle and know that I had NOTHING to do with him being there. I worked a polling place for over 17 hours yesterday and the voter turnout was awesome. That’s the good news. I guess we’ll all enjoy the peace and quiet!

Yes, Paul Woods did get support from the conservation community for his fine work on the city’s foothills open space protection program. But the decisive factor in Paul’s election was having Sharon Ullman on the ballot which had the effect of drawing away voters from Kimball. Without Sharon, Kimball would have drawn most of those votes and won, so thanks, Sharon, for saving us from disaster.

Geez, losing to Bill Sali has to be a huge slap in the face to Larry (“I was a Micron VP”) Grant.
I sorta thought the Dems could of filled up a bag with sand, painted a face on it, and beat the stumbling, bumbling Sali at the polls.

On the other hand, maybe too many current and former Micron employees voted for the lawyer they didn’t know instead of the one they did know.

Am I at all surprised that Sharon lost, not at all? There was a reason no one voted for her when she was a commissioner and there is a reason no one voted for her this time. She is just like Sali, a one timer. Once everyone found out how she really was, just like they will with Sali, they voted her out.

It pains to see Sali going back to D.C. But I guess the good thing is he won’t be here in Idaho anymore. I also was annoyed at the media coverage and how they were titling the marriage union as the anti-gay marriage proposal. This bill had to do with gay and straight unions, bad on channel 6’s part. Oh well, like you said, you get what you pay for.

Sorry Guardian, but I can’t be so kind when it comes to your grade in Prophecy 101.

First, in the following races, there was never a doubt in anyones mind who would win (and that probably includes the challengers). So these 2 prophecies have been tossed: Lt. Gov & 2nd Dist.

Therefore, I score you a 3 out of 7. This drops your percentage from 55% to 42%. Good thing you have a real job to fall back on. (Or you could still be a weatherman with scores like that)

As for all of you Sali bashers — Ha! The Dems really blew a golden opportunity. In two years it’ll be nearly impossible to unseat him (short of him committing high crimes and misdemeanors). If it gives you hope to think that you’ll be able to boot an incumbent Republican Congressman in Idaho, then stick with your sad fantasies!

I fear this election is going to prove to be a lose/lose for the American people. With a near 50/50 split and Congress going to the Dems, now is the time for true statesmanship and bi-partisanship. Unfortunately what we’re already seeing is ‘look at our mandate’ & ‘this is what we’re going to do now that we’re in power’. The GOP had that attitude and blew it & now the Dems are destined to repeat history. Stand-by for two years of political gridlock

Here’s my prediction: This Congress will get less done in the next two years than any in American history.

Doesn’t matter what you call it, it IS an anti-gay marriage proposal.

patman2u: I don’t get the feeling that the Democrats are going in with the attitude that you are talking about. I think after 8 years of disastrous Republican rule the Democrats will work to set the country back on the right course. I really think gridlock will only happen if Bush decides to veto everything the Democrats try to accomplish. But if political gridlock occures then I would rather have that over the terrible policy that the Republican majority has given us.

If I remember right I think it takes a 2/3 vote to override a veto and that might be difficult to get. I look for congress to only get a few small maters done over the next two years .
Let me state here I`m not big on either party and
vote for who I hope can do the best job.

Sagenay,
The problem with gridlock is that everything stays the same. So if it does happen, none of the policies you despise will change because they’re already in place.

As far as the Democrat’s attitude, I formed my opinion based on media reports of what soon-to-be Speaker Pelosi said (This is one of many I could quote):
“House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi is thinking 100 hours, time enough, she says, to begin to “drain the swamp” after more than a decade of Republican rule.-Washington Post”. Pelosi’s rhetoric after winning is as corrosive as her pre-win rhetoric. I will concede however that in today’s news, her comments are a bit softer (maybe a trusted friend told her to shut up??)

A true statesman would have realized that, with such a hairline majority, neither side has a ‘mandate’. Nor does either side have the votes to push their agenda. I would be a whole lot more optimistic about the next two years if her comments reflected the reality that without compromise and bi-partisanship, nothing will get done – especially in the first 100hrs.

Patman2u said, “Here’s my prediction: This Congress will get less done in the next two years than any in American history
God lets hope so!
There’s been so much damage done now we need a break!

I wanna know what kind of pollyanna pot Bikeboy is smokin’! 🙂 The idea that Sali could “learn some negotiation/compromise skills” would be laughable if it weren’t so utterly ludicrous. The man pissed off everyone he came into contact with….geez let’s hope he stays away from anyone who advocates for Breast Cancer research. He’s not just rigid and lacking diplomacy. He’s not got enough snap about him to be of any utility, even if he had a mind to be. Which he doesn’t. Club For Growth…I hope you know what you bought, and jacks jacks no trade backs.

Some are saying Dems won’t be able to accomplish much in Congress because G.W. Shrub will veto anything they pass.

Well, they could take a tip from a certain Idaho Republican gov who said, “I’ll veto every bill you send to me until you pass the gigantic highways bill I want. Do it my way, or sit down, shut up and do nothing.” (OK, that’s not an *exact* quote, but …)

So the Congressional Dems could tell the R’s, “You stop your king from vetoing our bills, or we’ll vote no on every bill you want, and our one-vote margin is enough to do it! Now play nice, or don’t play at all!”

Would D’s stoop to a dirty trick like that? I dunno, but nobody seemed surprised when an R did it.

Thanks Tam and Slim Jim. It is an oddity why any woman, let alone breast cancer survivor, would have voted for Sali given his position. Governor Andrus predicted that Sali would go down just because of that issue. Can someone explain why a woman would vote for him? Anyone?

Tam – I didn’t mean to be disrespectful of all religions. However, there are some big church groups out there – and I won’t name them – which have specific agendas and give their congregations the word in their weekly newsletters and a wink and a nod from the pulpit to convince their followers to stay on message. I have relatives who are followers of one of these groups. Of course these people have the right to promote their agendas but I don’t like to see any religion get the power to take over public policy, which needs to be nonpartisan and secular.

Funny, but not at all funny that the guy won.

Robert – the only persons who admit to having voted for Sali are the ones who admitted to having voted a straight Republican ticket. If I were into conspiracy theories I would demand a recount. This is, however, Idaho. My only solace is that we have elected Frank Church and Cecil Andrus into office in my lifetime. That proves to me that sometimes Idahoans come through. As a native I feel guilty about wishing we might have enough newcomers to give Democrats a fighting chance. It looks like only hard line Repubs moved here. Let’s get some muscle into the 2008 elections and find candidates who are honorable and can win.