Raul Labrador: How Firm a Foundation?

UPDATE: In late March, 1st Congressional District Candidate Raul Labrador, then an underdog contender against National Republican Congressional Committee-favored candidate Vaughn Ward, told a group of conservative activists that Republican leaders in Washington were responsible for the rise of the Democratic congressional majority, and mentioned House Republican Leader John Boehner by name, Politico reports.

"The problem is that John Boehner and the establishment in Washington D.C. failed us a few years back. That's why we have Obama and a Democratic Congress right now," Labrador said to applause. "If they would have stood up on principles from the beginning, we wouldn't have Obama in the White House right now."

A Democratic source provided POLITICO with an audio recording of Labrador's remarks, which came during a question-and-answer session with the Treasure Valley Pachyderms, a local GOP club.

But Washington, DC is not like good ole Idaho, and Labrador is now attempting to soften his anti-insider stance.

It will be interesting to see how the candidate, who built his house on being extremist and divisive, wades through these treacherous waters on the big stage.

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Did you watch the Republican delegation on the night Obama won?

Several Idaho Republicans won that night too.

And the big boys, Otter, Risch, Simpson etc. all exchanged various rounds of "thank yous" and gave gratitude to colleagues.

But one name was noticeably absent from the thank you list: that of Bill Sali, who helped engineer the defeat of Otter's chairman, Kirk Sullivan.

1st Congressional District candidate Raul Labrador, Sali's heir apparent, also helped topple Otter's man.

So political observers are wondering, will their be payback?

During a call for unity in his address at the Idaho Republican convention, Otter "gave a nod to Rep. Mike Simpson and Sen. Mike Crapo, who are both facing re-election, and thanked them for their service in Washington, D.C. during his speech," Fox12 Idaho reports.

"But he left out a specific mention of state Rep. Raul Labrador, who is in Idaho's toughest political fight this year against U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick, the state's lone Democrat in Congress."

Otter said afterward that the absence of an endorsement in his speech was no reflection of his advocacy for Labrador and pledged to campaign for the U.S. House hopeful.

Really?

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