GOP Lt. Gov. Jim Risch is a dinosaur who writes by hand and uses dictation, doesn't use e-mail, and pays no mind to blogs or online news.
That's an exploitable weakness, says Democrat Larry LaRocco, Risch's likely opponent for the U.S. Senate in 2008.
LaRocco, noting that Barack Obama has raised $30 million on the Web, jokes that he's considering changing his name to LaRoc Obama. "I want to catch the wave," said LaRocco, who got drowned by Risch in the 2006 lieutenant governor's race.
The rematch will be different, says LaRocco, because he's hoping to emulate Democratic Sens. Jon Tester of Montana and Jim Webb of Virginia. Both won upsets in 2006 with substantial aid from Web fund-raising and online news.
The disgrace of Sen. Larry Craig has put the Idaho race on the Web map, says LaRocco, 61, who announced his campaign on his Web site in April. He's using the Democratic ActBlue.com to raise money, posting campaign video on YouTube.com and courting left-wing bloggers like Joan McCarter at DailyKos.com.
Risch has no plans to blog, post to YouTube or even start using personal e-mail. "It's generational, I suppose," said Risch, 64. "When I want to talk to somebody, I pick up the phone."
Risch said he'll build on statewide campaigns of 2002 and 2006 that combined organization in 44 counties, voter ID, direct mail and traditional media to win big victories.
"I have no plans of penetrating the blogosphere," Risch told me. "I understand there's a lot of chatter about them among politicos like us. But the guy walking down the street who's gonna vote, who's neither a Republican or a Democrat, how many political blogs does that guy visit between now and the day he punches that ballot?"
Since his election as Ada County prosecutor in 1970, Risch has won 28 of 30 races. In 2006, he whipped LaRocco by a 58 to 39 percent margin. In 2002, he won 56-40. Risch faces a pesky opponent in the primary, rancher Rex Rammell, but any conventional reading says this is Risch's race to lose.
Still, supporters are hoping for an upgrade to Risch 2.0.
"Gov. Risch is certainly incorrect to dismiss the blogs," said Adam Graham, who runs a prominent Idaho Republican blog, Adamsweb.us. "Unfortunately, he's not alone in the Republican Party, where people don't understand the blogs and their potential."
Graham said he'd be worried if LaRocco got close to Risch, because the Web made a difference in tight contests in Montana and Virginia. That's unlikely, Graham said, but he wishes the GOP would get with the program. "You can't succeed in politics if you're not willing to embrace new technology and find ways to communicate your message."
Idaho Republican Chairman Kirk Sullivan agrees. "I think the blogs are something we have to contend with so I do pay attention," Sullivan told me. "I don't care where they're coming from, left or right, if they are going to have an impact on the Idaho Republican Party I think it's our responsibility to be aware of what they're doing and saying."
A Democratic blogger who worked for LaRocco in 1991 when he was a freshman congressman is responsible for drawing attention to Risch's dark-age view of technology. Joan McCarter, writing as mcjoan on DailyKos, asked both candidates at news conferences Tuesday if they read blogs and online news. "No, and no," replied Risch, drawing laughs from a throng of top Republicans including Sullivan and Gov. Butch Otter, who came to support Risch at his campaign kickoff.
Risch went on to to say he looks at printouts when they're put in front of him, but views blogs as akin to letters to the editor. "Ain't America great?" he said. "The 1st Amendment is a wonderful thing."
LaRocco, however, riffed on about his live blogging sessions, his trip to the DailyKos convention in June and the success of Sens. Tester and Webb. After his news conference he hugged McCarter, who makes no bones about taking sides and calls herself a "citizen pundit."
Risch's friends want him to do more online. "It's another marketing tool in the arsenal," said Scott Phillips, a former executive director at the state GOP who worked on Risch's 2006 campaign. "It fits into the rest of your strategy, direct mail, telephones, television, radio. It can amplify your efforts."
Phillips said fund-raising is promising, noting that it costs about $5 to raise $100 on the Web, compared with as much as $50 per $100 by direct mail.
Brad Hoaglun, another former Risch staffer, said Republicans lag behind Democrats on the Web. But he's confident the Risch campaign will have "an up-to-date smart-looking Web site. He understands the need of using the latest techniques."
Don't expect to see Risch shearing sheep on YouTube like LaRocco. But he is taking steps to build a Web site, and his family is pushing him to get hipper.
Risch now has his own laptop, and his son, Jason, has set it up so Dad can Google and visit favorite sites like National Geographic and Smithsonian.
"I watch Jason and he makes these things sit up and talk," Risch said. "It boggles my mind. But I know enough to use it."
Dan Popkey: 377-6438
