Story Created: Nov 4, 2008 at 3:44 PM MDT
Story Updated: Nov 21, 2008 at 6:03 AM MDT
Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks at a rally at The Crown Center in Fayetteville, N.C., Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008.
Still, not all of Idaho's GOP voters were excited to see a ballot topped by McCain, who won the May primary after he had already wrapped up the Republican nomination. McCain opposes tariffs that help protect Idaho sugar beet farmers, and some Idaho Republicans oppose his moderate views on immigration.
In 2007, Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter said publicly that McCain wasn't his first choice, and the Arizona U.S. senator was criticized repeatedly at the Idaho State Republican Convention in June. The strong presence of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints in Idaho had built support for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Mormon, one of McCain's rivals.
However, McCain chose a running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a Sandpoint native and University of Idaho graduate, whose socially conservative views resonate with many of the state's Republicans.
Obama, whose visit in early February to Boise State University's Taco Bell Arena drew more than 14,000 people, has opened an office in Idaho's capital city and overwhelmingly won the Democratic caucuses on Feb. 5.
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