The group whose goal it is to elect Republicans to the U.S. House of Representatives has weighed in on Central Washington's 4th Congressional District race.

But Republicans looking for some help in narrowing the field of eight GOP candidates down to one might not find it too helpful. The National Republican Congressional Committee has put four of those candidates "on the radar."

That term apparently is the first step to getting the coveted title of "Young Gun", which means some moneyed members of the caucus like a candidate's prospects enough to start big money flowing. Young Gun was a term coined by a group that included soon-to-be-ex Rep. Eric Cantor, so it may have lost a bit of luster. . .

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The NRCC has blips on its radar for George Cicotte, a Kennewick attorney; Clint Didier, an Eltopia farmer and former NFL player; Janea Holmquist Newbry, a Moses Lake state senator giving up her relatively safe seat to run for Congress, and Dan Newhouse, a former state Agriculture director in Sunnyside.

  Apparently all four impress NRCC Chairman Greg Walden the exact same way, because the four separate e-mails have Walden saying the same thing about each of them:

“I am confident that (full name inserted here)  will be a successful and dedicated member of this program and that (he/she) will continue to work hard to reach the crucial campaign benchmarks. Washington’s hardworking families deserve better than skyrocketing health care costs, financial instability and mountains of debt on their backs. I am certain that (first name inserted here) will be a strong contender this election cycle.” 

Not clear yet whether the NRCC intends to snub the other four Republicans -- Kevin Midbust, Gordon Allen Pross, Gavin Seim and Glen Stockwell -- or Walden is just waiting for some or all of them to generate the confidence he needs to declare them good choices for Washington's hardworking families. 

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