[Vision2020] Otter’s Challengers Blast Him at Debate

[Tom Hansen]

“We’ve already had one civil war. Abraham Lincoln is known for two things,
getting rid of slavery and keeping the union whole. I think keeping the
union whole is a worthy goal,”

- Sharon Ullman, Republican Candidate for Idaho Governor

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Courtesy of today's (May 19, 2010) Spokesman-Review.

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Otter’s challengers blast him at debate
Betsy Z. Russell

 BOISE - Two of Idaho Gov. Butch Otter’s primary election challengers
lashed out at him during a statewide debate Tuesday night, while Otter
declined to participate in the matchup that aired live statewide on Idaho
Public Television.

“I’d like to ask him why he thinks he’s above having his ideas challenged
by the public,” said GOP challenger Rex Rammell, a veterinarian from
Rexburg. “Isn’t it the responsibility of the top elected official of the
state of Idaho to let the people know what your ideas are? 
 Why didn’t
you show up for this?”

Sharon Ullman, a Republican Ada County commissioner, said she wished she
could’ve asked Otter if he’ll really serve a full four-year term if he’s
re-elected. “There’s a strong rumor going around that he plans to 
 step
down and let the lieutenant governor become governor,” she declared.

In a statement issued Tuesday by his campaign, Otter repeated his
contention that the debate should have included all candidates, including
those not actively campaigning for the post. He also said, “I met some of
my primary opponents at Lincoln Day events around the state in recent
months. Each of us had ample opportunity to get voters acquainted with our
issues and priorities.”

Rammell and Ullman bashed Otter for proposing a gas tax increase in 2009;
for failing to attract more jobs to the state; for proposing increasing
counties’ costs for indigent health care; and for not being hostile enough
to the federal government.

“If you elect me governor, they will be asked to leave this state,”
Rammell said of the federal government. “I will do whatever needs to be
done.”

Ullman chided him for his rhetoric. “We’ve already had one civil war.
Abraham Lincoln is known for two things, getting rid of slavery and
keeping the union whole. I think keeping the union whole is a worthy
goal,” she said.

She added, “I think we need to fight the federal government on different
terms. I think we need to team up with the other states. We do that in
county government, we get together with the other counties and go to the
state government if we want something changed. We work with the other
states, we work with our federal representatives, we work to get other
people elected when we don’t like what’s going on in Washington, D.C. We
get different policies set, we get policies changed. That’s what I’ve been
doing in this community for nearly two decades and it works, it’s
successful. That’s what we need to be doing, not taking up arms against
our own federal government.”

Rammell has been campaigning hard around the state, sponsoring free
dinners and holding “10th Amendment rallies,” and has raised $55,000 since
Jan. 1, nearly all of it from individuals in Idaho. Ullman has spent
$1,800 of her own money campaigning and received only two campaign
contributions, including $100 from Canyon County libertarian icon Ralph
Smeed, but she said she’s not accepting contributions from “special
interests.”

“My campaign is not about money,” Ullman said. She noted that with Idaho’s
low voter turnout in primary elections, she could win the primary if she
got the same number of votes she garnered in the last Ada County
commissioner race. “It’s all about voter turnout,” she said.

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Seeya round town, Moscow,

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown