There's more speculation nationally about whether or not the Republicans see Idaho's 1st Congressional District as winnable or not, with the New York Times suggesting in a recent story that they don't, and a CQ Politics story today disputing that. The district, in which freshman Democratic Rep. Walt Minnick is seeking re-election, is one of three - the other two are in Pennsylvania and Ohio - that were highlighted because Democratic incumbents are running in districts that voted for John McCain for president in 2008.

Here's how Minnick's GOP challenger, Raul Labrador, characterized the race to Eye on Boise in a recent interview: "We're going to win. Everywhere I go, I have two or three people who voted for Minnick who say that they made a mistake and that they're not going to make that mistake again. It's happening on almost a daily basis." And here's what Minnick had to say in a recent interview: "I think it's important that we have an opportunity to campaign on the issues, and I'm hopeful that voters of Idaho will conclude based upon my voting record and my background that I better represent their views than does Mr. Labrador."