I ran for governor in 2006. The debates that Idaho public TV and the League of Women Voters put on were first class. The two candidates who qualified and chose to debate on Idaho-wide live television put on a show that the studio crew LOVED.
Being in front of live state-wide TV cameras was definitely intense. Public speaking is challenging for even experienced veterans and I certainly am not that. Nevertheless, my ideas and principles came through. I think they are relevant still today to who I am and what I stand for.
The results were essentially as expected: The Republican won with 237,437 votes, the Democrat garnered 198,845 while the politically-unknown barely-financed working-stiff Libertarian drew 14,550 votes.
While others tell you, “Nobody could have predicted the economic downturn”, you can see in this Idaho state-wide television broadcast that Ted Dunlap is among those who not only could, but did predict it, and knew what steps to take then to minimize the damage.
The “economic downturn” is not done with us yet.