The ‘Rudy’ of Princeton plays along

Sid Smith, a 1996 graduate of Coeur d’Alene High, is a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Larry Craig. He’s the son of Randy and Ruth Smith, of Coeur d’Alene, and son-in-law of Coeur d’Alene’s Dr. Dave Chambers and his wife, Bev.

DFO: What does your job entail?

Sid Smith: I’m Larry Craig’s press secretary. Dan Whiting and I both can be called spokesmen for Larry Craig. Dan focuses on national media, such as Washington Post and the Miami Herald. I focus on state media contacts. I’m the face of Larry Craig in Idaho.

DFO: Did you expect to be doing this kind of job when you graduated from Coeur d’Alene High 11 years ago?

SS: I definitely didn’t. I thought I might be involved in politics in some way, but I didn’t really have a plan laid out for what I wanted to do in college and beyond.

DFO: What’s your wife, Stacy (a former CHS soccer star), doing now?

SS: She’s a sixth-grade teacher at Eagle Middle School. She coaches JV soccer at Bishop Kelly and other sports at Eagle Middle School. (Ironically, Stacy is coaching at the school that beat her Viking soccer team for the state championship.)

DFO: Will Craig run again?

SS: He hasn’t decided yet. He’ll make that call fairly soon, within a month or so.

DFO: You told me that you’ve seen Larry LaRocco (the announced Democratic candidate for Craig’s U.S. Senate seat) performing his public relations strategy of working in different blue-collar jobs around the state. Where was that?

SS: I saw him at the Boise Hawks game. He was working as a peanut vendor/groundskeeper/contest participant.

DFO: Did you buy any peanuts from him?

SS: I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

DFO: What’s the toughest issue you’ve dealt with as Craig’s spokesman?

SS: Without question, immigration. It’s not sound-bite friendly.

DFO: It’s time for my word-association game.

SS: (Butch Otter) Tough cowboy; (Bill Sali) Growing; (George Bush) Rudderless; (Hillary Clinton) Dangerous; and (Larry LaRocco) Dedicated.

DFO: Do you prefer living in Washington, D.C., Boise or Coeur d’Alene?

SS: That’s easy – Coeur d’Alene, then Boise, then D.C.

DFO: What’s Larry Craig like when the cameras aren’t rolling?

SS: He’s really a pretty funny guy. He’s not cracking up the group with jokes. But he has a quirky sense of humor. He likes to rib people in a good-natured way.

DFO: Are you worried that Craig won’t seek re-election?

SS: Sure, from a personal standpoint. My job goes away if he decides not to run.

DFO: What’s something that few know about you?

SS: I was a college athlete at Princeton. I certainly don’t look the part. To quote from the movie, “Rudy,” I’m 5-foot-nothing, 100-and-nothing. I’m 5-8, 170 pounds. I played in a (college football league) with a 165-pound weight limit. I also played with the regular Princeton team for a year.

DFO: So you don’t think “politics” is a dirty word?

SS: No, but it can easily be turned into that. The most disappointing thing to me about working in this field has been the way people will weave rumors or spread rumors, make an illogical leap if it’ll serve them. The willingness to tear people down personally rather than on the issues is discouraging. I can see why people get disillusioned and leave after a while.

DFO: Are your personal politics as conservative as Larry Craig’s?

SS: I might be a little more conservative.

DFO: Who’s the most important person you’ve met?

SS: I’ve shaken hands with Dick Cheney. I have a picture to prove it.

DFO: Obviously, you never went hunting with him?

SS: (laughs)