One thing Butch Otter has is fast reflexes. When it looked like Idaho's anti-gay marriage law was going to be overturned last year, his hired attorney was fast on the draw and had an appeal filed in less than 24 hours.

The appeal's reasoning was laughably ludicrous; it claimed that allowing gay couples to marry would cause a rise in unwed pregnancy due to the collapse of all moral values.

In other words, gays getting married in unions that cannot produce children means heterosexual will suddenly go crazy making illegitimate kids. Go figure.

But State Attorney General Wasden was just as fast as Butch's guy when the 9th Circuit decision come down. Wasden made an appeal to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy to issue an emergency stay so Idaho "could consider it's options". Kennedy granted the stay.

This has thrown Idaho into legal limbo. In the past, emergency stays have been reviewed by the entire Supreme Court before the stay is lifted, and if this happens, the Idaho anti-gay laws will remain in place for some time to come.

But the SCOTUS announcement that it will not visit the issue as part of it's docket might mean the other Justices won't conduct their traditional revue. It's possible they are unwilling to be forced into another decision that they have already decided by one conservative member of the court.

Wasden has no options to consider. There is no differences between a marriage license for gays; it's the same license everyone gets.

The Circuit court can allow 7 days to implement it's decision, but it mandated marriage licenses must be issued immediately. If the SCOTUS Justices don't review the stay in a full session, 7 days is all Idaho will get. That's the only option there is.

This move is Butch's last attempt, and he's hoping it will be enough to carry him to victory in November, but it may not be enough.

Butch's 8 years in office, with his affinity for helping his Good Ol' Boys out at the expense of the rest of us, his disastrous policies, and his reluctance to go into Boise and go to work in his office are all hurting him badly now.

His hand-picked candidates of the past have caused massive damage to Idaho's education system, and while Idaho has lots of jobs available, our minimum wage is so low a full-time worker can't keep a family afloat. Getting ahead is an impossibility.

The calamity of the states' Republican convention in June showed the state GOP is still split in half, and there are no signs of this split closing at all in this election. Half of the state's Republicans, the southern half, supported the establishment's candidates, while the northern half supported the Tea Party candidates. The south contains most of Idaho's population. As a result, the convention stalemated early, and

adjourned with nothing at all being settled.

For the first time in 24 years, Idaho Democrats have a real fighter leading their party. A.J. Balukoff has been punching Otter hard ever since his nomination, and Balukoff is spotless. He's also willing to spend as much of his personal money as he needs to match the Republican machine's advertising. Balukoff is increasingly being seen as a good alternative.

The conservatives here are now beginning to think having a Democratic governor may not be such a bad idea; Cecil Andrus' leadership with a conservative state legislature is still well remembered, and Andrus is as popular as ever. Losing the Governorship is a big blow, but one increasingly more dissatisfied Republicans see as the only way to break the conservative deadlock.

Butch's last ditch stand will not last. Same sex marriage will happen in Idaho, and it's coming soon. All the millions of wasted dollars in useless appeals is now being seen as a waste of our public money for the first time. Idaho hates to pay taxes, and it hates to see their taxes being wasted stupidly just as much.

After more than 2 decades of single-party rule, Idaho has gone rotten at the stump in many offices. It's going to take more time for Idaho Democrats to repair the damage, but if Butch goes, it's a strong start.