Here's our 'kiss of death'

It's time for the annual "kiss of death," when we offer our endorsements in key political races.

The endorsements represent a majority of the members of the editorial board of the Mountain Home News, rather than merely the editor's opinion as is the case in most editorials on this page.

This year, there are enough nuts on the ballot to open a hardware store, but there also are a number of quality candidates, and in some cases candidates who are an upgrade over incumbents.

The Republican ballot is the most crucial of the primary ballots, since in Idaho the winner of those races stands an excellent chance of winning in November.

In the District 2 seat for county commissioner, the board endorses Wes Wootan over incumbent Larry Rose. While Rose has mellowed in his 12 years on the job, the board also believes he has become stale and Wootan would be a stronger, more effective voice for the residents of eastern Elmore County.

The race for county clerk, between first-term incumbent Marsa Plummer and her employee, Barbara Steele, who is challenging her, generated considerable debate within the editorial board, but the nod goes to Steele. Plummer's failure to catch the tax commission error that led to a supplemental assessment and the fact that, tellingly, the overwhelming number of elected officials in the city and county who work with Plummer have indicated privately they will be voting for Steele, carried the day.

In the race for county assessor, the board endorses Ron Fisher over Mark Russel. Fisher's resume is stronger for the training required to do the job effectively. The last time Russel held elective office, as a city councilman, he chose not to seek re-election in the face of almost certain defeat at the polls. He's extremely bright and innovative, but also often inflexible and abrasive. The board believes Fisher deserves a chance to prove his merit in public office.

The District 22 race for state senator drew the longest and most divisive debate within the board, somewhat symbolic of the general voting public. Although incumbent Tim Corder has disappointed some voters, which is where challenger Marla Lawson found her support on the board, Corder eventually earned the endorsement of the editorial board because of his intelligence, his careful study of legislation, his responsiveness to voters that actually bother to contact him, and the fact that he is seen as a rising star in the legislature with the opportunity to move into positions of significant power and influence. Corder is clearly a conservative Republican, but Lawson has accused him of being a liberal, which shows how far to the right she actually stands. Furthermore, Lawson's proposal to remove the income tax and replace it with a more volatile sales tax increase would result in a doubling of the present sales tax to 12 cents on the dollar if the state were to make up the difference in general fund revenue. That shows the kind of ill-researched simplistic "tea party" solutions we don't need when trying to solve the serious and complicated problems that face us.

For state offices, the board overwhelmingly endorsed incumbent Gov. Butch Otter over the five challengers he faces in the primary. Otter may be vulnerable on some issues, but one board member described his opponents as "a can of mixed nuts, you just can't chose one." Otter has battled with the legislature over many issues, but he has always stayed true to his conservative Republican philosophy. He deserves re-election.

The board also felt there was simply no reason to replace incumbents Lt. Gov. Brad Little and State Controller Donna Jones, so they earned the board's unanimous endorsement.

At the federal level, incumbents Sen. Mike Crapo and Second District Congressman Mike Simpson won the board's overwhelming support for re-election. Both men have done an excellent job representing the state of Idaho and are moving into positions of significant power and influence in Congress. They deserve not only the nod in the primary over opponents whose positions are at best scatterbrained and simplistic, but, getting ahead of ourselves, both should be re-elected in November, as well.

On the Democratic ballot, where there are very few contested races (and for that matter, even candidates) Keith Allred earned the board's nod for the nomination for governor over Lee Chaney Sr. The board believed Allred has the better organization and would be the stronger of the two candidates to challenger Otter in the fall, although it would probably take a minor miracle to actually win in November.

For federal office, the only challenged race is for the senate seat, where William Bryk and P. Tom Sullivan are battling for the right to lose in November to Republican incumbent Mike Crapo. So you might as well play pin the tail on the donkey here. The board made no endorsement in this race.

Finally, there are the non-partisan judicial races, which in most cases ask you to affirm or reject a sitting judge keep his job. We have no problems with any of the incumbents, so urge voters to cast ballots to affirm. There is one judicial race, however, where two candidates are battling it out for a seat on the state Supreme Court. The board felt that while incumbent Justice Roger Burdick has done nothing to raise anyone's dander and demand his removal, challenger John Bradbury would bring fresh blood and some good ideas on judicial reform to the court, and therefore earned the board's endorsement for that race.

Whether you agree or disagree with our endorsements, the election ultimately is in the hands of the voters. Especially in the Republican primary, the outcome is likely to be crucial to the future direction of this county and this state. We cannot encourage our readers enough to get out and vote next Tuesday in the primary election. The future is in your hands. Use your privilege wisely.