RISCH: Time for change

Between 83-year-old, multimillionaire incumbent Jim Risch and Todd Achilles, the choice is clear... Risch was elected to the Senate in 2008 and took office in 2009, and since then has amassed an estimated net worth of over $50 million. While that sort of wealth doesn’t disqualify someone from public service, it does beg the question of whether he feels the same pinch at the pump or the grocery checkout that the rest of us do. Since 2009, Idaho, and especially Kootenai County, has changed dramatically: population growth has strained infrastructure, the cost of living seems to keep rising and housing has become completely unaffordable for my generation. All the while, I don’t see the urgency from Risch’s office that this moment (and frankly, the last 10 years) has demanded.

Our senator also serves as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the committee that often decides whether to keep funding wars, whether to keep American troops and allies locked in bloody conflict and, frankly, the one that has allowed decades of sending young Americans into war with no clear mission, no clear endpoint and no real accountability. Achilles, on the other hand, has been on the other side of that as an Army veteran and former tank commander who deployed to the Persian Gulf. He would bring the sort of accountability that is needed not only in Congress, but specifically in our congressional delegation.

Todd Achilles has worn the label of both Democrat and Republican, but he’s running as an independent, and that’s because he’s seen the party machine harm the American people. He’s seen it throw away good legislation simply because it didn’t come from the party in power. He’s seen good people thrown out of their respective parties because they weren’t loyal enough. And he’s seen the parties leave you, me and our neighbors behind.

It’s time for change, which is why Todd Achilles will be getting my vote.

LUKE SHARON

Coeur d’Alene