By Hook or Crook
Daily Digest 5/15/26
By hook or by crook
Political campaigns are high-stakes affairs. Candidates often pull out all the stops in hopes of winning election, and sometimes that means underhanded tricks. Consider how Barack Obama began his political career:
In 1996, a young community organizer in Chicago named Barack Obama filed to run for the Illinois State Legislature. His team challenged the signatures on the nomination petitions of all four of his opponents, including incumbent Alice Palmer, and convinced a judge to disqualify them from the ballot. He then won unopposed.
In 2004, Obama ran for a vacant U.S. Senate seat against Republican Jack Ryan. Once again, his team pulled out all the stops. Obama convinced a judge to unseal Ryan’s divorce records, revealing embarrassing details about his breakup with ex-wife and actress Jeri Ryan of Star Trek: Voyager fame. Ryan dropped out, and Obama once again won essentially unopposed. Republican Alan Keyes quickly moved to Illinois and was nominated in Ryan’s place, but won only 27% of the vote.
Why fight fair if fighting dirty makes it easier to win?
A couple of candidates in Ada County are doing everything they can to win their races. Will voters reward underhandedness?
Dorothy Moon says go vote
Idaho GOP chairwoman Dorothy Moon used her weekly column to urge Idahoans to vote next Tuesday:
Don’t sit this one out. Next week, you will choose who represents us in Congress, in the Senate, and in the House of Representatives. These men and women make decisions every day that impact our entire country. You will also choose who represents us in the Statehouse. Over the past few years, Republican lawmakers in Idaho have led on medical freedom, school choice, tax cuts, right-sizing the state budget, rooting out DEI in public colleges, and protecting women’s spaces from men playing dress-up.
Let’s keep that momentum growing. Not only must we elect Republicans, we must elect the right kind of Republicans—those who are honest with voters and who stand for the enduring values that made America and Idaho great in the first place. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many mailers, television commercials, or text messages you receive. The power to decide who represents you in government belongs to you, the citizen voter of Idaho.
A whole bunch of press releases
I just caught up on six more press releases this afternoon, half of which came from Congressman Simpson:
I recently saw a critic complaining on social media about me posting press releases from politicians he didn’t like. He implied it proved I was supporting those figures and what they’re saying. That’s absurd, of course. No matter whether you like people like Gov. Little, Congressman Simpson, Sen. Crapo, etc. or not, they are in office, and their decisions affect our lives. It behooves us to pay attention to what they’re saying and doing, even if it’s just to properly articulate arguments against them.
As usual, stay tuned for more. Remember to make a plan to vote, whether by mail, early, or on Election Day on May 19. Early voting is going on most everywhere now, and ends this Friday.
Thanks as always to sponsors Lynn Bradescu’s Boise Realty, Money Metals, and the iLuvIdaho Voter Guide. Please reach out if you have a small business and want to partner with the Gem State Chronicle.