"I am Voting FOR Democrats".. Oh, "Yes We Did!"

[Major Hogwash]

54. Yes, a lot of them are.

A lot of Libertarians and Independents in Idaho are also upset about it.
There are a lot of people who live here that identify themselves as members of the Libertarian party.
The Governor, who says he is a bona fide Republican nowadays, used to say about himself that he was as much of a Libertarian as a Republican.
That was his subtle way of appealing to the white supremacists that live in Northern Idaho.
He doesn't say that anymore, though.

Last week in the final public debate, both the Independent and the Democratic party candidates were allowed to attend that debate with the Republican Governor.
Back in the early months of the summer, just a few months ago, Governor Otter only agreed to attend one debate, and that one was the only one he would agree to attend to have with the Democratic challenger.
But, there was an Independent candidate who announced late in the season that he was also running for Governor.

So, after the media called the Governor out on it, he gave in and agreed to debate both of them because they are both legally on the ballot this year.
And since Otter insisted -- insisted -- that Harley Brown, the crazy biker dude be allowed to attend the Republican's primary debate, in which he turned it into a 3-ring circus, the media started accusing Otter of being two-faced about not having to debate all of the people who were running for Governor.
So, he finally caved in.

Big mistake.

Otter blew the debate, especially after he said that his involvement with the private prison management company scandal had been handled correctly.
The Independent candidate for Governor, Bujak -- who used to be a Republican -- said that wasn't the problem, it was the fact that the Governor settled with the company out of court even before the investigation was complete.

The Governor responded by claiming that he could always go back and ask for more money in the settlement once the FBI was done investigating the situation.
But, Bujak, the Independent candidate fired back and said that wasn't true at all, and that the Governor knew that, that once the state had settled with the company out of court, they couldn't go back and ask them for any more money.

Governor Otter was so upset that he walked away from his podium, and got in Bujak's face, the Independent candidate's face, and he bleated that he could always go back and ask for more money.
But, Bujak held his ground and said, no, he couldn't.
It was an amazing moment in political debates to witness because it was obvious that Otter had lost his cool, so he was then going to try to intimidate Bujak --- which is what Governor Otter's critic's have said about Otter his whole political career, that he is a bully.

Bujak said that Otter let them off the hook with a paltry settlement, just like the Democratic candidate had said the Governor did.
Finally, after a few tense moments, Governor Otter had to turn around and return to his podium in order to let the debate continue.
The moderator had almost lost control of the debate at that point.

Bujak, the Independent candidate, wasn't initially going to run for Governor this year.
He had no intention of running for that office 2 years ago.
But, late in 2013, Governor Otter's office ordered an investigation in to Bujak's conduct as the Canyon County prosecutor.
That pissed Bujak off.
So, Bujak resigned from his office in order to defend himself.
He won his case in court against all of the state's charges, but it ruined him financially, so he had to declare bankruptcy.

Only after Bujak had successfully defended himself, did he decide to run for Governor.
He could be the spoiler in this year's race.
If he pulls about 10% of the total vote around the state, he will spilt the vote 3 ways, and the Democratic candidate will win the election.