<strong><span class="subhead">Save the salmon</span></strong></p><p>The dam-breaching debate has hit a standstill in the Northwest, partly because Idaho politicians have been unwilling to support a step that may give Idaho salmon their best and only shot at recovery. Instead, Idaho politicians have parroted the downstream company line, defending the dams.</p><p>The debate has to change sometime, and is a breakthrough in Idaho&#8217;s 2nd Congressional District. Democratic candidate David Sneddon says he supports breaching the eastern Washington dams, saying a free-flowing river system is &#8220;necessary&#8221; to help Idaho salmon migrate to the Pacific Ocean and back.</p><p>Kevin Richert, <a href="http://voices.idahostatesman.com/richert">http://voices.idahostatesman.com/richert</a></p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Michelle Obama</span></strong></p><p>Michelle Obama enjoyed a long grace period from the national media. A smart, engaged woman who has formidable accomplishments of her own wholly aside from those of her husband &#8212; what&#8217;s not to like?</p><p>Well, being an outspoken black woman is always a position fraught with peril, and Michelle does not have her husband&#8217;s naturally conciliatory personality.</p><p>And with a pair of articles out trying to paint her with a tar brush, I think we safely say that conservatives think Michelle Obama may be a point of vulnerability for the Obama campaign.</p><p>David Schraub, <a href="http://dsadevil.blogspot.com/">http://dsadevil.blogspot.com/</a>