Susan Cuff (RE: Gookin takes on Regan) "I think what you're seeing here is the same evolution that Ron Rankin experienced. Old-timers will recall that, way back in the day, Rankin was a total outsider, an idealogue and he tilted at an awful lot of windmills.What Rankin was not, however, was stupid. He was extremely intelligent, as I suspect Dan Gookin is, although I don't know him personally. When Rankin was finally elected county commissioner and suddenly became an "insider," he discovered that issues were not as black and white as he once thought and that his job was serving the people, not a strict ideology. He became a very respected commissioner who did good work. You may be seeing is a similar political evolution of Dan Gookin."

DFO: Susan is a former Coeur d'Alene Press reporter. She and I both had the duty -- and fun -- of covering the late Ron Rankin in his hey day, as the tilter of windmills, as he roamed Idaho in his old Cadillac, only to see him settle down and do a good job as county commissioner for two terms.

Question: Do you think Susan is right? Is Gookin starting to serve the entire town rather than just the segment that was largely behind the failed recall effort of a few years back? Inquiring minds want to know.

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