Why doesn't Minnick say he's Democrat?

Walt Minnick, incredibly, ran his entire 2008 campaign for Idaho’s first congressional district without ever mentioning on TV, print, or radio ads that he was a Democrat. Well, it is 2010 and deja vu! No mention of party again.

At a late summer town hall meeting in Sandpoint last year, Minnick was asked to name a major policy of the Democrat party such as Obamacare, Cap and Tax, the stimulus bill, or Second Amendment rights that made him proud to be a Democrat. After stumbling for words, he finally recognized an Idaho hot button and blurted out “they better not try to take my guns!” Though he did not recognize the irony that it is always the Democrats in Congress who threaten the Second Amendment, Minnick ultimately declared “I am proud to be a Democrat.”

Proud to be a Democrat Walt Minnick can’t bring himself to use the word, campaigning on an apparent slogan of I am not really a Democrat but I am proud to be one. Huh?

I am reminded of the old 1970s song about the maiden who nursed back to health a viper, but was fatally bitten for her efforts; the reptile stating “you knew durn well I was a snake when you took me in.”

In this case, Minnick has put on what appears to be a fine Republican coat, but beneath he is proud of what he is, and what he is, is poisonous in the end.

TERRY LAMB

Sagle