Dead Eye Dick does Boise (Wednesday)

Viceroy* President Dick Cheney will visit Boise, Idaho this Wednesday to support Bill Sali, the Republican candidate for Idaho's 1st congressional district. He will appear at a $125 per/plate dinner, and for an extra $2100 attendees can have their photo taken with taken with him.

It says a lot, that with Cheney's national popularity running at roughly half (18%) of his underling, err,, boss, that anyone would want him appearing on their behalf. But two things here make that irrelevant.

First, and most obviously, we're talking Idaho, where 54% still give Bush a favorable approval rating.

Secondly, the candidate is none other than Bill Sali, hoping to continue Idaho's proud tradition of sending certifiable rightwing wackjobs such as Steve Symms and Helen Chenoweth to Washington. Having a fellow gun nut and liberal-loather such as Dead Eye support you, well, it can't get much better than that!

One of Sali's other big supporters is Brandi Swindell. You may remember her for her 'Save the Ten Commandments monument' drive last year. Her main cause is anti-abortion, another of Sali's big issues. You may also remember Idaho Democrats staging a walkout at the Idaho statehouse earlier this year when Sali attempted to link abortion and breast cancer, continuing even after Wendy Jaquet, the House Democratic leader and a breast-cancer survivor, objected.


*A viceroy is somebody who governs a country or province as a substitute for the monarch

but this could tip the balance. Dicky boy helped bail out a candidate in Nebraska who is still down in CoH despite a Cheney fundraiser and $400,000 from Club for Growth. I don't suppose there are any polls on that race, are there? There isn't for our third district race which I am watching very closely either. It's kind of frustrating to put so much into these races and not know where you stand.

I don't put much faith in early polls with a small sample, though.