When a Republican tidal wave rolls across the country, there isn't much a major Democratic candidate can do about it, Attorney General Larry EchoHawk says.
His yearlong campaign for Idaho governor, a race in which the polls indicated he was leading all the way, ended in a 35,000-vote defeat - eight percentage points - to Gov.-elect Phil Batt.In retrospect, EchoHawk says there was no single issue or event that led to his defeat.
"In a closer race, you could speculate that this issue or that issue might have made a difference," EchoHawk said. "Given the margin of victory, that kind of analysis doesn't have any merit.
"I don't think we would have done things differently," he said. "We ran a strong campaign and we got hit by a tidal wave that swept across America."
EchoHawk had a lot of company. State Auditor J.D. Williams was the only Democrat to win state office, and legislative Democrats dwindled to near-record lows.
Batt, he said, "got a much bigger boost out of the trend that was manifested nationwide in favor of Republican candidates, much more so than any issue in the campaign . . . It was what happened in America on Tuesday, Nov. 8."
The early polls gave EchoHawk a lead of 30-plus points. But significantly, his 46-47 percent support among those surveyed never changed through the campaign. Batt, meanwhile, picked up virtually all the undecided votes.
EchoHawk could sense the campaign was slipping away in the final days but was surprised by the margin.
"The pollsters ought to go back to school," he said. "I made the comment just before the election that I thought it would be close, but I think everybody was surprised by the margin of victory Batt had."
EchoHawk, a member of the Pawnee Indian Tribe, was hoping to become the first American Indian elected governor. He said he didn't think race was a factor, although he was surprised to run so badly in Nez Perce County, where anti-Indian sentiment sometimes runs high.
"I was surprised that we did not win Nez Perce, Clearwater and Lewis counties. Perhaps it (race) was a factor, but not to the extent of making a difference of 35,000 votes," EchoHawk said.
He ends a four-year term as attorney general in January. He will then teach a class at the Brigham Young University's law school.
Republican U.S. Sen. Larry Craig is up for re-election in 1996. EchoHawk said challenging Craig remains a possibility.
The Democrat acknowledges that he might have been better off politically had he supported the proposed Idaho Training Range backed by Gov. Cecil Andrus. But he refused to take a stand until the Air Force issued a final environmental impact report, something delayed to the point that Andrus says the project is dead.
"I had a commitment that I had to keep," EchoHawk said. He said he told Andrus that as a member of the State Land Board he would not make a decision on the training range until the final environmental study was out.
He won't apologize for the attack ads he aired against Batt in the campaign's final days - personal attacks Batt insisted were filled with falseholds and half-truths.
"I always told the truth," EchoHawk maintained.
"Although they may have been negative in tone, in comparison to what I was facing, it was a very small negative message but it was based on facts and truth.
"I don't think anybody looked at an ad that I put out and said that was a blatant distortion or misrepresentation," EchoHawk said, claiming the opposition couldn't say the same.