Congressman Bill Sali And Public Relations

There's an interesting article in today's Idaho Statesman about the problems our Congressman, Bill Sali, has had with his district director. While his staff is making all the right sounds about how the former state senator leaving after only five months is no big deal, it's fairly clear there's something else there. Congressman Sali himself apparently refused to be interviewed for the story; it's not like a Congressman should want to get his views out in the biggest newspaper in his district or anything. (/sarcasm)

Apparently, he and his remaining staff also don't feel the need to respond to questions submitted by constituents. Back in April, Adam challenged Idaho bloggers who don't support Bill Sali's policies to actually ask him to explain some of his seemingly inexplicable votes. I took him up on his challenge, and sent an E-mail to Congressman Sali through his website asking some questions. The website said I'd get a response in 2-6 weeks.

Well, it's been six weeks, and still no response. I guess I shouldn't be surprised; he didn't answer any of my questions during the campaign either, and he seems to be going out of his way to avoid any meaningful interaction with those who may oppose him (like he did during the campaign). I suppose it's time for a Letter to the Editor and see if that breaks anything loose.

Luckily, we in Idaho will have someone else to support for this seat in 2008. Larry Grant, who narrowly lost the 2006 run for this seat, has a website up that offers his views on what he would do differently as our Representative. And he has an option for readers to leave comments! That's something I bet you'll never see on a Bill Sali website.