Slate's Bruce Reed informs of a stunning development in my former home state of Idaho:

State Sen. [and District 1 congressional candidate] Bill Sali, whom fellow Republicans describe with two words—"fricking" and "idiot"—has 39 percent; Democratic businessman Larry Grant is at 37 percent. In 2004, the district voted 68 percent for Bush.

The same poll also shows the Republican candidate for governor, retiring Rep. Butch Otter, in a dead heat with Democrat Jerry Brady, who lost by 15 points when he ran for governor in 2002. Otter and Brady are in a statistical tie in a state where one county voted for Bush 9-1.

Idaho is the second most solidly Republican state in the country, right after Utah. Bush nearly got 70% of the vote in the state in both 2000 and 2004 and in both elections the Democratic nominee won only a single county. According to a (Democratic) state rep I talked to, over 2/3 of the legislature is Republican. Republicans hold all but one statewide office and (at least right now) both senate and congressional seats.

And somehow even here Republicans have managed to screw it up. Stunning.

On a sidenote, Idaho has been mentioned as a state that is increasingly competitive because Republicans have abandoned their libertarian roots. It's worth noting that Butch Otter, the candidate struggling to become governor, was one of very few Republicans to vote against the Patriot Act.