March 21, 2008

Kent Marmon files for U.S. Senate Seat

CALDWELL — Kent Marmon, 51, officially filed his candidacy today for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated at the end of the year by Senator Larry Craig.

“From the beginning of my campaign last fall, I have expressed displeasure about state party leaders and several high profile elected officials endorsing Jim Risch for the U.S. Senate, and in effect, trying to dictate to the rest of Idaho who the ‘chosen’ candidate will be,” Marmon said.  “I believe the choice of who represents Idaho in the U.S. Senate should be made by the people of Idaho, not by Risch’s fellow political cronies.”

A poll, conducted by ABC in late August when it was believed that Larry Craig was going to resign from the Senate said that 12% of Idahoans polled supported an appointment by Governor Butch Otter of Congressman Mike Simpson, 17% for Larry LaRocco, 33% for Jim Risch, and said that 38% supported someone other than Risch.  Marmon said, “ultimately, 67% said they wanted someone other than the party-anointed Risch.”

An independent poll, conducted by Richard Phenneger in December 2007 showed that 21% of Idahoans polled were happy with Jim Risch and Larry LaRocco being the major candidates for the U.S. Senate, and that the same number believed that state party leadership should pick and endorse candidates before the primary election takes place.  “The fact that the party officials acted so hastily in endorsing Risch before any other candidates announced clearly goes against the wishes of Idahoans,” Marmon said.

Marmon has been campaigning throughout the state as a candidate for the Republican party nomination since September.  Marmon said, “my candidacy has been welcomed by hundreds of people I’ve visited with so far,” but adds, “there has been a reluctance among the party faithful and other elected officials to publicly support my candidacy against Risch in fear of damaging their own political careers.”

Marmon, who says he offers a “real choice” for Idahoans has been campaigning on issues ranging from reducing the size of government to opposing federally funded health care, believes that government spending, growth, taxes, and new programs being proposed are completely out of control.  “We are at a critical crossroads,” Marmon said.  “The recent news that Congress has just passed the largest tax increase in history of some $680 billion that will increase the average Idahoans federal taxes by nearly $2000 proves my point.”

In a campaign newsletter sent out last week, Marmon said, “Jim Risch has been sending out letters and campaigning as the ‘taxpayer’s friend’ for reducing property taxes during his seven month stint as Governor” after Dirk Kempthorne resigned to become Secretary of the Interior in the Bush administration.  “What Jim doesn’t talk about is the 20% increase in sales tax that offset any relief given; that renters saw no decrease in taxes through a reduction in rent, but did see a sales tax increase; and that homeowners not only received a sales tax increase, but potentially paid more state and federal income taxes as the amount of their property tax deduction went down,” Marmon said.  “During that seven months, Risch increased the size of government with two new offices and the creation of an additional bureaucracy, that of Drug Czar.”

Marmon says that those are not the actions of a conservative Republican, and cited Governor Butch Otter’s recent recommendation to the Legislature for an increase to $150 in automobile registration fees for all vehicles, regardless of age “as another example of how Republican leaders have strayed from conservative values.”  He continued, “you can’t raise taxes when an economic downturn is imminent, and you certainly don’t make donations of tax dollars to private, non-profit organizations like Special Olympics of some $3 million, as the Legislature has recently done.”

Marmon’s platform of limited government, protecting Constitutionally-guaranteed rights and freedoms of Americans, putting a stop to the incentives that entice illegal immigrants to cross the borders into our country, balancing the federal budget with spending and income caps, and a pledge to hold each issue to a strict litmus test that asks two questions, “is this a proper function of the federal government as described in our Constitution, and is this something that the people can do for themselves without government involvement?” have caught the attention of the Libertarian Party of Idaho.

Rob Oates, state chairman of the party, and Patty Hautzinger, state party vice chair, both approached Marmon in recent weeks encouraging him to officially announce as the Idaho Libertarian Party candidate for the U.S. Senate.  After Marmon’s acceptance of their offer, Oates said, “Kent Marmon combines a love of liberty with a lifetime of dedication and service to his community, state and country.  Kent will not settle for more of the same and the Libertarian Party of Idaho welcomes him as he provides a real choice in the Senate race.  His knowledge of Idaho’s people and politics will provide Marmon a solid foundation as he represents Idaho and promotes the freedom philosophy in Washington, D.C.”

Patty Hautzinger said, “The Libertarian Party of Idaho welcomes Kent Marmon’s emergence from the Republican ‘closet’ to run for the U.S. senate seat now filled by Larry Craig.”

In accepting the offer, Marmon said, "Idahoans desperately want change.  They don't like the political games and smoke-and-mirror politics of candidates like Jim Risch that have proven time-and-time again that they believe in government solutions to all our problems.  The two major parties are both equally guilty in the creation of an out-of-control federal government, run-away taxation, a $60 trillion national debt, and the mess we are in with an unfunded $50 trillion shortage in the Social Security trust fund."  He continued, "It's time to 'Bring America Back,' and to elect someone that will go to Washington, D.C. and fight for us.  I offer that change they are looking for, and am pleased that the LIbertarian Party has offered me this opportunity."

From the Idaho Statesman - Sunday, April 13, 2008

Focus on the crucial issues -- not just the quirky cast

For the first time since 1998, Idahoans will vote in an open Senate race.  The world, and the state, has changed drastically since then.  Voters' expectations must change accordingly.

Idaho's next Senator will confront questions that couldn't have been foreseen a decade ago -- from the appropriate U.S. pesence in postwar Iraq to the balance between homeland secuirty and civil liberties.  The next Senator will face challenges that seem to have only grown more daunting since 1998, from immigration to health care to entitlements.  The federal deficit is growing -- largley as a result of a five-year war in Iraq, but also due to an economic stimulus package passed this year -- and the economy remains fragile.

The Western agenda, the focus of Larry Craig's 18-year Senate career, is much different today as well.  Craig was a staunch defender of the trinity of Western resource industries -- framing, logging and mining.  But the state's economy has evolved, growing more dependent on high-tech and services, while many newcomers value the state's faderal lands not as a workplace but as a playground.

on national and regional issues, idaho's next Senator will inherit problems made more complex by years of indecision and gridlock.  The immigration battle remains a shooting match on talk radio and in the blogosphere, even though lawmakers such as Craig have tried to talk their colleagues through reasoned comprehensive reform.  Some of idaho's most fragile public lands remain in limbo, because Idaho's senior Senator has chosen to lend no real support to his colleagues' attempts to craft careful, consensus-based wilderness bills.

Coalition-building will be all the more important, and all the more difficult, in the political climate awaiting Idaho's next Senator.  This newcomer will work, with low seniority, in what could remain a closely divided body where bipartisanship has been a scarce commodity.  The next Senator is unlikely to enjoy Craig's advantage of membership in the Senate Appropriations Committee, which afforded him opportunities to earmark federal dollars for pet idaho projects.

The state's next U.S. Senator cannot simply spread a few grants to federal projects or university research, or fire out a few boilerplate press releases about Western resource issues.  The job requires nuance and pragmatism.  And voters need to demand it -- even if it's hard to find.

Owing to Craig's sudden fall from grace, the Idaho Senate race has attracted a quirky cast of 13 candidates.

Several candidates seem to be running, in large part, to protest the GOP establishment's support of Lt. Gov. Jim Risch.  One Republican hopeful, Hal Hames Styles, jr., lives in DesertHot Springs, California.  Two independents seem to be running on narrow agendas.  Rex Rammell still resents then-Gov. Risch's decision to deply game wardens to shoot domestic elk that had escaped from Rammell's private hunting lodge.  Pro-Life 9who ran for governor in 2006 under the name Marvin Richardson) has legally changed his name to reflect his priorities.

Will voters pay much attention?  "I don't think (they) want to hear about elk and abortions," said Boise State University political science professor John Freemuth.

In a small state, with a mere two seats in the 435-member House of Representatives, Idaho's two Senate seats are vitally important.  The next Senator needs to have a full command of today's issues, and the intellect to adapt to the next generation of issues.

Judge the candidates accordingly.

Response:

As you review the candidates and where they stand, you'll find that Kent Marmon continues to study the issues, and addresses many of them on this website.  Most of the other candidates are focusing on one-or-two issues, while Republican  Jim Risch lies about being the "taxpayers' friend" and sees keeping the seat in Republican hands the biggest issue in the campaign.