Wearing cowboy boots and a rodeo buckle the size of a dinner plate, Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter landed at Friedmen Memorial Airport Monday to support Blaine County Republican candidates eight days before the Nov. 4 election. He was joined by House Majority leader Mike Moyle, Senator Brad Little, and House Speaker Lawerence Denney.
Otter spoke for at the Hailey Grange Hall to more than 100 people, including Sun Valley Mayor Wayne Willich, Blaine County Sheriff Walt Femling, and Blaine County Commission candidate Dale Ewerson, and Gooding cattle rancher Jeff Faulkner, who is running for a District 25 House of Representatives seat. Alex Sutter of Fairfield gave an invocation before leading the in a pledge of allegiance to the U.S. flag.
Otter described Idaho as the "reddest of the red states," saying 28 percent of the Idaho economy is based in farming and ranching.
"That's 28 percent of a $58 billion economy," said Otter, who appealed to native Idahoans during his 30-minute speech. "There are some people here not born of the land who want to make changes. That's O.K. as long as the changes are good."
On the other side of the aisle, Blaine County's Democrats gathered to rally the faithful on the same day. Rep. Wendy Jaquet, the House minority leader led a crowd of about 50 people at the Blaine County Democratic Party's headquarters on Main Street in Hailey in a rally for her party's candidates.
Jaquet said in an interview after the rally that enthusiasm for Sen. Barack Obama's candidacy would help drive Democratic voters to the polls, helping statewide candidates like herself. Obama's campaign, she said, has "ignited young people."
"I think it will help some of our legislative candidates," she said.
At the GOP rally, Otter introduced Jeff Faulkner, who is running against Jaquet, as someone "born of the land, willing to make sacrifices for public service."
"It'll be a huge learning curve the first year," Faulkner said to the crowd. "But Republicans have a two-thirds majority in the legislature. I will be able to get things done."
Sheriff Walt Femling, who is running for office against Hailey cop Steve England, said his department was responsible for busting 40 drug dealers in the last four years, and continues to be challenged by higher rates of violent crime in Blaine County.
"We have to look at a further consolidation of emergency services in the future. It will be more efficient and more effective."
Otter described the Idaho Republican Party as "diverse in opinions, but singular in purpose" stressing the importance of fiscal responsibility and creating a government that "controls as little as possible."
He also spoke out against providing tax-payer sponsored medical care to illegal immigrants.
"Barack Obama said the other day that the role of government is to redistribute the wealth. We didn't get where we are by dividing up the wealth," he said.
Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter introduces Republican legislative candidate Jeff Faulkner at the Hailey Grange Hall Monday.
Photo by David N. Seelig
