Clint Didier, country farmboy-turned-NFL player and Super Bowl champion, revved up a crowd of about 250 Tuesday evening.
The east Vancouver gathering was the latest stop on his run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democratic incumbent Patty Murray.
To succeed and to wrest America back from the “tyranny” of the current Congress and the Obama administration will demand all-out effort from his supporters, Didier said.
He spoke directly to his core: Tea Party advocates, We the People activists and other staunch conservatives.
“We are the country. If we unite, there’s nothing that can stop us,” Didier, 51, told the Kessid Center crowd that hooted and gave several standing ovations during his now-standard stump speech. “We’ve got to touch everyone in our inner circle and motivate them.”
Adept at blending quotes and anecdotes from the U.S. Constitution, George Washington, Charlton Heston and William Wallace of “Braveheart” fame, he recounted his first Super Bowl huddle. The Washington Redskins tight end was distracted by the immensity of the moment until a teammate’s shout snapped him back to attention, he said.
“When I get to Washington, D.C., this time, I will not lose my focus,” said Didier, who now grows alfalfa and other crops near his childhood home outside Pasco.
He complained that Dino Rossi, two-time GOP standard-bearer in chasing the Washington governor’s seat, has gone soft.
Rossi backs a moratorium on offshore oil-drilling, would roll back only portions of the federal health care reform law, wouldn’t use abortion as a U.S. Supreme Court litmus test and doesn’t support Arizona’s tough border-control law, he said.
“This government, this regime, is ruling us by fear,” Didier said. “We need to unshackle our industry, as far as drilling for oil and building (more) refineries,” he said.
Acknowledging the Gulf of Mexico oil spill debacle, he added, “We’re America, for crying out loud … If we quit every time we failed as Americans, we wouldn’t have the (space) shuttle now and wagon trains never would have crossed the West.”
Didier’s hard-nosed stance has won over Sharon and Alan Thompson of Camas, members of the Kessid Church who organized the rally Tuesday.
“I like what he stands for and I like his work ethic. And I think it’s time to get someone as fearless as he is to confront what’s going on,” said Sharon Thompson, 62.
Other GOP candidates or members aligned with the Tea Party and We the People movements pumped up the crowd before Didier spoke.
David Hedrick, the former U.S. Marine chasing the 3rd District U.S. House seat of outgoing Rep. Brian Baird, D-Vancouver, held up a copy of the Constitution and declared, “This is the new face of the Republican Party.”
Marc Boldt, Clark County commissioner, stood in for a Hedrick opponent, Jaime Herrera. She once picked berries on his farm and is a true local product, he said.
But Boldt also said that by mid-1994, no Republicans could foresee just how complete their November win that year would be. He now senses a 2010 replay that could sweep Didier into the Senate at Murray’s expense, he said.
“We are here to replace a lady in tennis shoes with a man in cowboy boots,” Boldt said.
‘Not waffling’
Earlier Tuesday, Didier sat down with The Columbian to discuss the primary race, in more depth.
To hear him tell it, he and Rossi have traveled divergent paths since each appeared at the Washington Republican Party’s state convention held in Vancouver last month.
“It was a big springboard,” Didier said. “People realized I’m not in this to be no politician … I’m a statesman. I’m a farmer, I’m what the Founding Fathers wanted. I’m in this to try and preserve (the nation).
“Everywhere I go, everybody’s worried. They’re terribly worried about our country. You can see it in their eyes, the fear and anxiety,” he said.
Didier has won the endorsements of Tea Party stalwarts Sarah Palin and Ron Paul and the blessing of conservative talkmeister Rush Limbaugh.
He cites a recent straw poll that shows him and Rossi running neck-and-neck, with Murray ahead of both. But the numbers also show him with far greater support from Democrats and independents than Rossi, he said.
That gives him a shot to survive the top two primary election Aug. 17, he said.
“My message is resonating … It’s just getting back to following and honoring the Constitution. And not waffling on any issue,” Didier said. “People ask me a question, I’m going to give them an answer. I’m not going to sit there and waffle and pander for votes. It’s too late for that.”
In contrast, Rossi has barely shown a pulse, he asserts. His rival has ducked debates, skipped many grass-roots events and entered the race only when nudged, he said.
“All the establishment are the ones who talked him into running. You look into his eyes, you hear his message, is he determined?” Didier said. “Does he have passion? Is he really fearful for this country?”
He said Rossi has largely ignored Tea Partiers and their allies. “I’ll tell you what, as important as this election is, he needs everybody he can get. This is the turning point for America. Do we stay on this course for socialism, or do we turn back to the Constitution?
“There’s a sense of urgency running through my veins.”
Didier ran down a list of hot-button issues, with little sign of back-pedaling.
oOn climate change: “This global warming is a joke.” He disparaged climate research that shows rising temperature and carbon levels. He said “Hanford scientists” he’s spoken to see a cooling trend instead; meanwhile, fish biologists are flummoxed by a huge run of sockeye salmon up the Columbia River this summer. More overblown fears, he said.
A carbon lid or tax is silly “when I know it’s one of the sole necessities of my plants. We need more of it, to tell the truth,” he said, describing a downturn in his alfalfa crop.
o On eliminating farm subsidies and regulation: “We want competitive markets, but we can’t, under the suppression of our own government.” He concedes he accepted federal farm subsidies previously, but explained: “I was only playing by the rules. Now, I want to go change the rules.”
o On Afghanistan/Iraq: “What I don’t see over there is a clear-cut plan for victory, or success, and exit,” he said. It’s foolish to announce a withdrawal date, but even more so to enter an undeclared war, he said. “How are we in America going to be a police force for the world, when we’re bankrupt?”
o The unemployment rate in Washington: It’s “about as close to 20 percent as you can get” and will top that mark by November, he said. The culprit? Onerous regulation. Hence, his call to abolish the departments of energy and education, the Federal Reserve, public broadcasting, for starters. “We have nothing to blame this on but this overzealous control of this government, our state government, and the extinguishment of the American spirit.”
o On purported Internal Revenue Service guns purchase: “We’ve got the documentation on that. The IRS has bought 3,000 military-grade shotguns. It may not be in the health care (bill), but it’s got something to do with the IRS enforcing the health care bill and making sure everyone participates,” he said. “We’re waiting for folks to come after me again and (then we’ll) say, ‘Here it is.’”
