Idaho Statesman Article
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January 11, 2008:
Syme positions himself as an outsider for U.S. Senate race
He wants to prove that a regular Idahoan can win a seat with grass-roots support.
BY HEATH DRUZIN - hdruzin@idahostatesman.com
Edition Date: 12/28/07
Scott Syme says he is tired of career politicians, and he's trying to prove that a regular Idahoan can win high office.
Kicking off his campaign Thursday in Weiser, the Iraq War veteran joined an increasingly crowded field vying for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat that Larry Craig says he will leave at the end of his term in January 2009.
Lt. Gov. Jim Risch and former Eastern Idaho elk rancher Rex Rammell are also running in the Republican primary. Larry LaRocco is the lone Democrat in the Senate race.
The slogan on Syme's campaign Web site is "Let's take back OUR government from career politicians!" but he says that's not a shot at Risch, the front-runner in the race who has spent nearly four decades in elected office.
"I really have nothing against Jim Risch. I don't even know him," he said. "I suppose the only reason he's the front-runner is because there isn't an alternative."
Syme, 53, says he is that alternative.
While positioning himself as an outsider, Syme refused to say whether he has ever held political office.
"I don't think that's a valid question to me," he said.
Risch said he doesn't fit the label of a career politician, because he's worked in the private sector most of his life as an attorney and rancher while holding mostly part-time government jobs.
He said more choices in the primary are good for voters and won't change the way he campaigns.
"We've got a message that we're going to put out and that's not going to change any," Risch said.
Rammell said he needs to learn more about Syme's politics to know what impact Syme may have on the race.
"The more the merrier," Rammell said.
Syme's longtime friend Scott Short said Syme doesn't have a political background but is in tune with Idaho concerns like agriculture and veterans issues.
"I do think a lot of citizens in Idaho are looking for a fresh face, fresh perspectives that haven't been buried in politics their whole lives," he said.
Syme grew up on a farm in Weiser, graduated from the College of Idaho and is married with four children. He's worked in retail, owned a small business and now works as a real estate broker.
A colonel in the Army Reserves, Syme served in Iraq in 2004 and 2005, working on that country's reconstruction. Syme says his experience in Iraq is what the U.S. needs to reverse what he sees as current mismanagement of the war.
"We need people back there that understand Iraq because that has ramifications to our economy and we have Idaho soldiers that die over there," he said.
America needs to build up the Iraqi economy to the point where U.S. soldiers can leave with a "favorable conclusion," not necessarily a clear-cut victory, Syme said.
"People have to get out of their mind that there is a win here," he said.
Despite Risch's powerful support - nearly every statewide elected official came to his campaign kickoff - Syme feels his grass-roots campaign can succeed.
"That's the key - those are all elected officials," Syme said. "Who decides who gets elected? It's the electorate, not the elected officials."
Heath Druzin: 373-6617
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