Welcome to the Wednesday edition of your open thread. A hot & humid Wednesday. It certainly feels like summer today anyway. So, is there something on your mind you want to share? Put it here in the open thread.
RNC “Young Gun” and so-called “Worst Candidate Ever” Vaughn Walker lost the Republican primary for the ID-01 seat yesterday.
Idaho state Rep. Raul Labrador won the Republican nomination Tuesday in the state’s nationally targeted 1st Congressional District, pulling an upset over rival Vaughn Ward.
Labrador won the race despite a significant fundraising disadvantage and a campaign endorsement for Ward by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Labrador’s victory sets up a battle with first-term Democrat Walt Minnick in November.
So why was Vaughn Walker called the worst candidate ever?
Meet Vaughn Ward. He’s running in today’s Republican primary in Idaho’s 1st Congressional District. He’s an Iraq War veteran. A former CIA operations officer. A fourth-generation Idaho native. Heck, Sarah Palin supports him.
And after this spring’s disastrous, gaffe-filled primary campaign — during which Ward declared that Puerto Rico was a country, apparently plagiarized fellow candidates and Barack Obama, campaigned on cutting federal spending while his wife’s gig at Fannie Mae allowed Ward to go without an income, and re-released a six-month-old endorsement — Ward may be able to add another title to his resume: Worst candidate ever.
I’m sure Walt Minnick is sad he can’t run against the “worst candidate ever.” Ward was supposed to be the sane candidate.
The ongoing Nikki Haley story continues. The blogger who alleges he had an affair with Haley released some text messages that show the Haley campaign trying to contain the story.
The texts, posted on Folks site, FITSNews, are dated about 10 days ago and consist of discussions about various reporters working on a story that involves Haley and Folks, and how to kill the story. In one May 15 text, Haley campaign manager Tim Pearson tells Folks “I’m telling you man, we keep this under wraps and nh is going to win.”
Just one of the texts, purportedly sent from GOP operative Wes Donehue to Folks on May 14, actually describes the topic of the story being discussed: “Now, I don’t give a fuck of you believe me or not. Your the one who screwed her. You’re the one who bragged about it. She’s the one who told BJ. Yall point fingers at your own damn selves and leave me the fuck out of it.”
According to Folks, “BJ” is B.J. Boling, a staffer for Haley opponent Rep. Gresham Barrett (R-SC).
I hate to say I told you so, but I did say that the blogger (Folks) was likely to see Haley’s denial as an attack and respond accordingly. I’m sure Haley’s campaign is hoping to string out the denials until after the primary on June 8. So far I think her unequivocal denial probably worked but that can only go so far if the other party has proof. Pass the popcorn is what I say.