[Vision2020] Idaho Candidates Voice Positions on Election Issues

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today's (September 29, 2010) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

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Idaho candidates voice positions on election issues
By Christina Lords Daily News staff writer

Posted on: Wednesday, September 29, 2010

More than 100 candidates running in Idaho's general election this November
have weighed in on issues important to voters over 50, stating their
positions on how to address the state's budget woes and ensure more
physicians make their home in Idaho, among other things.

Their views are in a new AARP voter's guide that includes responses from
candidates for the positions of Idaho governor, lieutenant governor and
legislative district races in the state. The voter's guide for Legislative
District 6, which includes all of Latah County, was released Tuesday at
Gritman Medical Center.

A cross section of members from the state's AARP, a nonprofit organization
for people age 50 and older, were surveyed about what they believe to be
the most pressing issues before policymakers in the 2011 legislative
session. Their answers formed the basis for the questionnaire for
candidates.

"People do have a lot of tough questions on their minds, and we asked our
members to tell us what these questions were," said Linda Pike, a state
AARP Executive Council member from Moscow. "Today, we're going to help
them get the answers they deserve right from the candidates."

Older voters are a powerful political force.

About 56 percent of all votes cast will come from voters 50 and older,
while about 30 percent of all ballots will be cast by AARP members, said
David Irwin, Idaho AARP's director of communications and government
affairs.

About 90 percent of Idaho's AARP members are registered to vote, Irwin said.

How legislators plan to resolve the state's budgetary problems was the top
concern of those surveyed among Idaho's AARP membership, he said.

Other top issues for older voters on which candidates' positions were
sought included the role and influence of large campaign contributions in
Idaho politics, the lack of physicians in Idaho, and many health care
providers' reluctance to accept more Medicare patients.

Candidates were asked if they supported Idaho's recently passed
"conscience law" that allows health care providers to refuse to provide
end-of-life care or follow parts of patients' living wills if that care
would violate a provider's conscience. Irwin said the AARP will encourage
its members to speak out against that portion of the legislation early in
the upcoming session.

In the District 6 Senate race, Democratic candidate Dan J. Schmidt
responded to the survey, while Republican candidate Gresham D. Bouma did
not.

In the District 6A House race, Democratic candidate Judith Brown and Rep.
Tom Trail, R-Moscow, both responded to the survey, although each left a
question unanswered.

In District 6B, both Republican candidate Isaac Young and Rep. Shirley
Ringo, D-Moscow, responded.

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Candidates for State Senator, Idaho's 6th Congressional District

Dan Schmidt (D)
Gresham Bouma (R)

http://vote2.aarp.org/index.do?i=2

(Available in PDF format)
http://vote2.aarp.org/pdf-race/District6IdahoSenate-196119418.pdf

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Candidates for State Representative, Seat A, Idaho's 6th Congressional
District

Judith Brown (D)
Tom Trail (R)

http://vote2.aarp.org/index.do?i=3

(Available in PDF format)
http://vote2.aarp.org/pdf-race/District6AIdahoHouse-196119419.pdf

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Candidates for State Representative, Seat B, Idaho's 6th Congressional
District

Shirley Ringo (D)
Isaac Young (R)

http://vote2.aarp.org/index.do?i=4

(Available in PDF format)
http://vote2.aarp.org/pdf-race/District6BIdahoHouse-196119760.pdf

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Later, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
On the road somewhere between Monterey and Bodega Bay, Calif.

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

- Unknown