Idaho’s Gang of Three Survives Primary Challenge

The boss told me he believed Clint Hostetler would win his primary battle.  The boss explained that Clint is personable.  Hostetler’s opponent was a guest on my show, and as she left the building, the boss asked if she would like to buy advertising.  She kept walking and said her campaign manager would be in touch.  It never happened.  If that’s how they differed during campaign appearances, Clint had an advantage.

The Brownshirts Failed to Rattle Voters

I was on-air a few weeks ago, and probably said it online, and I said people want to relate to candidates.  Coming across as nice is a good place to start.  Sending out the Brownshirts to assail anyone who questions your motives or positions is a losing formula.  Today, the caucus known as the Gang of Eight numbers three.  I noticed that one of them blamed it on low turnout, but would more voters have made a difference?  I’ve labored under the impression they had the most dedicated base.  Apparently, another observation I made is true.  A noisy base, but a tiny minority.

Looking through the numbers today, I was also struck by how it looked like a lot of people voted for their friends, but left boxes for the allies of their friends blank.  And character counted.  Scott Tverdy won a seat on the Twin Falls County Commission despite some unpopular positions because he’s well known as a decent guy.  On Tuesday morning, a member of a fraternal organization of which Scott is a member (and yours truly as well) sent out a group email urging a vote for our guy.  Looking at the results, I believe that could easily have tipped the outcome.

Time to Blame Others for Your Loss

Losing hurts, and we often look for reasons why.  You can blame turnout or talk show hosts, but the latter gets only one vote.  People who vote care about the future, and they’ll choose a candidate every time who they think is a better fit.

One last point in a brief post.  A couple of weeks ago, a candidate told me he wasn’t going to knock doors, even though it was cited as a key source of victory two years ago.  He told me people really don’t like a string of strangers constantly ringing bells.  After all the mailings and texts, maybe they just wanted to be left alone.