Congressman Bill Sali and his campaign staff disrupted a NewsChannel 7 reporter and a representative for his opponent during an interview Tuesday in Downtown Boise
KTVB reporter Ysabel Bilbao was interviewing Walt Minnick's campaign director John Foster Wednesday afternoon. During the interview, someone loudly yelled and was laughing during the interview at the Grove plaza.
Bilbao and Foster initially ignored the intrusion, but quickly noticed the source of the heckling: Sali and members of his staff.
Foster stopped the interview and noted the commotion.
"I am sorry I was a little bit distracted," Foster said. "I think at some point you even have to question his maturity."
Foster said he saw Sali making faces at him and holding up "bunny ears."
What an utter boob. And Sali's response?
"Look, I think that the Minnick campaign needs to take an approach like we have," he said. "I wish they would be a little more light hearted instead of so mean spirited." [...]
After this story first appeared, a representative for Sali's campaign challenged the characterization of the incident as heckling.
"I sincerely apologize if you took it as heckling. That's absurd," spokesperson Wayne Hoffman said via e-mail. "If we can't laugh at ourselves, then what have we become?"
You've got to hand it to GOP Rep. Bill "Brain Fade" Sali -- he sure keeps things interesting. Just check out what he had to say in the Sunday edition of the Idaho Statesman's Voter Guide. Sali and his Democratic opponent, businessman Walt Minnick, were both asked: "What has been a turning point or a challenge in your adult life?" (Emphasis mine.)
Minnick gave a thoughtful answer about his decision to resign from his job at the Nixon White House during the Watergate Scandal.
Bill Sali was assigned a book report in the fourth grade. Uncharacteristically, he blew it off. "I procrastinated," Sali said. "When I didn't get it done, I took an F." It was the first and last 'F' Sali ever got, and it became a transforming experience for the future congressman. From that point on he always was a good student, and while he acknowledged that he dropped some classes in college because he took on too much class load, he never again failed. "It changed my focus," Sali said in a telephone interview. "It was a turning point for me because I knew I had to be serious about things."
Yup, the most formative experience of Sali's life was flunking that book report in grade school. This might explain a few things.
Here at the Swing State Project, we've followed his career closely ever since he first ran for Congress last cycle. Sali caught our attention with his extraordinary primary victory in 2006, chalking up a victory with an astounding 26% of the vote - this despite a major infusion of support from the Club for Growth. We thought we might have a real live one on our hands, a real nutter nobody liked. But just how disliked was he?
As it turns out, a whole hell of a lot. The Republican Speaker of the Idaho House said of Sali:
"That idiot is just an absolute idiot. He doesn't have one ounce of empathy in his whole fricking body. And you can put that in the paper."
Today, in the Idaho Press-Tribune in Nampa, second-place finisher Robert Vasquez, a Canyon County commissioner, said he'd never vote for GOP primary victor Bill Sali because, "I would not and do not and cannot endorse a liar for Congress."
Simpson said he was irritated but had no intention of assaulting Sali. He added, however, that as House colleagues heard the story, many told him, "The third floor wasn't high enough. You should have taken him up to the fourth floor."
"Bruce has been a great speaker of the House," Otter said. "And as he told me, he learned everything that he knows from Mike Simpson. And that is why every time he has a bad day, he goes and beats the hell out of Bill Sali."
And that's just his own party. The maniacs at the Club for Growth had to bail Sali out yet again in the general, and even Dick Cheney spent some time hustling for dollars and votes in this district, which gave fully 70% of its vote to George Bush. In the end, Sali won just 50-45 over a Democrat he out-spent by 50%.
The amazing thing is that the fun never stopped with Bill Sali. Sometimes, serious screwups who manage to fail upward to the United States House of Representatives just learn to shut up and keep a low profile. Not Sali - he's way too colossal for that.
Six months into his term, Sali's approval rating stood at an impressive 29-46. Things clearly hadn't changed much a year later, when he squeaked through a primary against a guy who raised just $70K with only 57% of the vote. (I guess compared to his first primary, that looked downright awesome.)
He managed to continue his winning ways by supporting an insurgent challenge to Gov. Otter's preferred state party chair. Meanwhile, he stopped paying his consultant's bills, carrying a debt of $76,000 - no small sum in Idaho, and a dangerous fuck-you to other campaign vendors in such a tightly-knit political community.
It gets better. John Boehner, doubtless gritting his teeth, helped defile the English language like a good Inner Party member by adding Sali to the "Regain Our Majority Program." Yes, I know, you can't regain the majority by buttressing incumbents, but maybe Boehner just didn't feel like printing up different stationery.
Sali repaid the gesture with classic brain fade accuity. When the time came to file second-quarter fundraising reports, his finance staff declared that the dog ate their laptop. James Hell made this fine .TXT catch:
I am unable to file the 2nd quarter 2008 FEC report, as FEC technical support is still attempting to fix the Sali for Congress data file. I first attempted to upload a file to the FEC site on June 6. I again tried on June 9, using the new FEC software update, without success. I then sent FEC technical support a copy of the Sali for Congress FEC file. FEC technical support is still attempting to fix the file so that it may be uploaded. I am in regular contact with FEC technical support and the FEC analyst, in an effort to resolve this matter.
It took these clowns twenty-six days to figure out how to file their report (the law gives you 15), and even then it was still a shambles - just like the rest of Sali's campaign. He opened an office in - I kid you not - the wrong congressional district (Idaho's only got two). But the best was announced just recently: as a cornerstone of his fundraising plan, Bill Sali plans to hold yard sales to fill his campaign coffers. No word yet if Plan B is to rummage through the county dump for some discarded treasures - but I think we can assume that's probably on the list.
Meanwhile, Sali has drawn some very high-quality opposition in the form of businessman Walt Minnick. Minnick has consolidated support throughout Idaho and has also outraised Sali by a considerable margin - over $350K.
He's impressed the DCCC, too - not only have they added him to the Red to Blue program, they've reserved $350K in ad time in the district, which will go along way in this cheap media market. Panicked, the NRCC responded with a $500K reservation, but will they really be able to afford to spend the full amount? And you just know Tom Cole is grimacing at the thought of having to shell out cash to save this jerkwad's sorry ass.
SSP has long felt that, in the rubric we use, an upset could not be ruled out in this seat, just thanks to Sali's poor political skills. But he's managed to make things a whole lot worse in his brief time in office. He really is the perfect fuckup. Combined with a top-notch Democratic candidate who has run a flawless campaign, polling showing a competitive contest, and an environment which (even post-Palin) is still hostile for Republican incumbents, we feel compelled to upgrade this race to "Lean Republican". For an R+19 seat, it's not a decision we undertake lightly, but it's a decision we feel is supported by all the available evidence, and one we're comfortable making.
You can find the Swing State Project's complete list of ratings for competitive House races here.
Harstad Strategic Research for Walt Minnick (9/9-11, likely voters):
Walt Minnick (D): 43
Bill Sali (R-inc): 38
(MoE: ±4.9%)
These numbers paint a dramatically different picture of the race than a recent Research 2000 poll conducted for Daily Kos that showed Sali leading by 46-35. In that survey, Minnick had suspiciously high unfavorable numbers (41% favorable, 40% unfavorable), which is hard to explain given that Minnick has been airing nothing but unanswered positive bio ads for the past two months. In Minnick's poll, his favorables are at 39% and his unfavorables are at 12% -- I find this spread much more believable than R2K's poll.
The poll has some more good news: Bill Sali's favorables are pretty low (36-37) and his job approval is even worse (28-52). The cherry on top: only 22% of voters say that they're going vote to re-elect Sali, while 26% say they'll consider someone else, and 33% are definitely voting for someone else. A good base of anti-Sali and persuadable voters there.
The full polling memo is available below the fold.
It's no secret that Idaho's Republican House delegation is a bit of a tense duo. Case in point: when Bill "Brain Fade" Sali and Mike Simpson served with each other in the Idaho state House (Simpson as Speaker, Sali as undistinguished GOP grunt), Simpson once threatened to throw Sali out of his office window. So perhaps it's no surprise that Mike Simpson is publicly smacking Sali over his opposition to the recently-proposed federal Wall Street bailout:
"What's his answer: to let the economy go down?" Simpson said. "Sometimes Bill puts himself in a philosophical position that's untenable that he can't get off of. We got into this mess because of the failure of government oversight. Consequently, I think there's a role for government to play in trying to get us out of this, as much as I don't like it."
Now, whether or not you think the Wall Street bailout is a sound move is not really the issue here. What is important is that Sali just got publicly ripped by Idaho's most senior House representative.
It's no secret that frosh GOP Rep. Bill "Brain Fade" Sali has been having a hard time raising money since his narrow win in 2006. Indeed, at the end of June, Sali only had $250K in the bank, and $136K in debts -- including several bills left outstanding to disgruntled Idaho-based consultants.
With the economy in the shitter (thanks, Republicans!), Brain Fade is coming up with some unique strategies to replenish his coffers:
But out in Idaho, Rep. Bill Sali has decided to raise money by using a simple, grass-roots technique that church groups and youth sports teams have employed for decades - he's hosting a yard sale!
Actually, the freshman Republican is urging all of his supporters to host yard sales, with the profits from all those old clothes, dishes and furniture going to his Congressional campaign. Yard sale hosts also receive campaign literature to hand out to their bargain-seeking clients, a way to generate interest in the campaign while raising money.
"Some people who are calling our campaign have never been involved in a campaign before," spokesman Noah Wall tells HOH. "They're looking for ways to help Bill, and a yard sale is a neat way for them to get involved."
Good luck with that, Bill. Maybe I can buy a Jell-o mold in the shape of Idaho for a quarter at one of these.
Apparently Bill Sali's bad case of "brain fade" impairs his ability to read a map, because he has opened his campaign headquarters for his race to win a second term in ID-01... in ID-02. [Link is behind paid firewall; sorry!]
Idaho congressman Bill Sali has opened a new campaign office just upstairs from his congressional office in Boise - both of them in the 2nd Congressional District. Sali represents the 1st District.
"It's a convenient location, and it's a centralized location where people can interact easier with the congressional office," said Sali spokesman Wayne Hoffman. "It's in downtown Boise. A lot of people come downtown to see the offices of their elected officials."
So there's not only the matter of being in the wrong district, but this also raises the question of building the proper separation between campaign and congressional offices. Oh, well... based on Sali's skill at filing his FEC notices, it's not like he's let a few "rules" ever get in his way.
Democratic opponent Walt Minnick has an office located in the western part of Boise, in ID-01. (He also has almost twice as much cash on hand as Sali.)
UPDATE: Wow, Sali's not the only one. Turns out John Shadegg's campaign HQ is in AZ-04 instead of AZ-03, too!
Rep. Bill "Brain Fade" Sali just can't stay out of trouble. His latest offense? Supporting a successful insurgent candidate against the incumbent Idaho GOP chair, who was the preferred choice of Gov. "Butch" Otter. The Idaho Statesman's Dan Popkey writes that crossing Otter might have some in-state consequences:
But Otter matters most. If he throws his arms around Sali - as 2nd District GOP Rep. Mike Simpson literally did in 2006 - it could be decisive. Otter can help Sali retire a $135,000 debt and keep pace with Minnick, who out-raised Sali two-to-one in the first quarter.
Or Otter could decide his schedule is just too tight to help the congressman who defied him, leaving Sali reliant on out-of-state money and following the beat of his different drummer on the campaign trail. [...]
"It was a slap in the face to the governor," said a GOP lawmaker who spoke to me on condition I not use his name.
When asked about getting even, Otter replied: "Wait and see."
Sali has strained some other relationships at home, too. From Real Clear Politics:
The incumbent faces more pressing problems for the current campaign. Sali's consultant, an Idaho-based firm called Spartac LLC, is the candidate's long-time friend, but he says he won't do any more work for the incumbent unless he's paid first, the Spokane Spokesman-Review reported last month. Sali still owes Spartac $76,000, and has total debts of $135,000, according to FEC reports.
It's no secret that Sali has had trouble fundraising, which is why he was added to John Boehner's ROMP program earlier in the year. But if Sali is going to rely on PACs and his fellow members to bail his ass out against well-funded Democrat Walt Minnick, should he really be insulting one third of the House GOP caucus? From the Politico:
Rep. Bill Sali (R-Idaho), addressing a gathering at the Shake the Nation rally in Idaho on May 16, told those assembled that he goes "to work in a place that, well, it's quite a mess: your nation's capital."
"I tell people," he said, " 'As bad as you ever thought it was, just know it's a lot worse.' In spite of that, I work with a group of probably around 130 people that are very good folks, people that I look up to, that I respect a great deal, people who would be quite comfortable sitting in these pews on a Sunday. I hope you're encouraged by that."
What does Sali think of the other 69 of his Republican colleagues? Are they godless heathens?
You've got to hand it to Bill Sali -- he sure knows how to make politics in Idaho interesting.
The race to fill Republican Butch Otter's open seat in Idaho's first district was one of my favorite stories to write about last year. In what is now a campfire legend, Bill "Brain Fade" Sali rode a wave of bad press for his asinine antics and bad reputation in the Idaho state legislature to a spectacularly dismal 49-46 victory over Democrat Larry Grant last November. (And when Bush carries your district with 68% of the vote, no self-respecting Republican candidate has any business performing that badly.)
However, aside from being the handmaiden of his campaign benefactors, the economic regressives at the Club For Growth, Sali has kept a mostly low profile in the House this year. So one might expect that Sali's high negatives have softened over the past eight months, right? Well, maybe not, if you believe the latest polling.
Via The Hill and New West comes news of a new poll conducted by Greg Smith and Associates showing Sali with some serious baggage ("voters", July 11-13):
Bill Sali (R-inc.)
Favorable: 29
Unfavorable: 46
No Opinion: 13
Unaware: 12
MoE: ±5.3%
Just dismal. And how does Larry Grant fare, the rematch candidate who commissioned the poll?
Larry Grant (D)
Favorable: 28
Unfavorable: 13
No Opinion: 29
Unaware: 30
MoE: ±5.3%
So, despite losing a close race and feeling the full fury of the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Club For Growth (who spent $483,000 and $441,000 smearing Grant's name, respectively, in the closing weeks of the campaign), Grant walks away with only a 13% disapproval rating, while 59% of the district's voters either do not recognize his name or have no opinion of him either way. Losing a House race, it would seem, does not earn one a great deal of meaningful name recognition.
While Sali has not shaken off his negatives, it is difficult not to mention that this district had little problem re-electing the late Congresswoman Helen Chenoweth despite her own psychedelically nutty reputation. It seems that Sali still has yet to endear himself in the same way, though.
PS: You might remember the Boise-based Smith & Associates firm as the curators of a startling poll last fall showing Sali's support evaporating while the rest of his Republican colleagues were in solid shape.
What is it with Bill Sali?
