The Jim Risch for Senate campaign is pulling out a big-name Republican rainmaker: former House speaker Newt Gingrich.

Too bad the campaign did a shoddy job of briefing Gingrich about the Risch resume.

Democrat Larry LaRocco's campaign leaked the letter Thursday, trying to score points off this section: "The U.S. Senate race in Idaho has become a national priority for the Republican Party as the backstop race we must win to stop the Democrats from controlling 60 votes in Senate and eliminating the power of the filibuster."

Depending on how much donors give, they will received a copy of Gingrich's new novel, a signed copy or a signed and personalized copy.

Or cheapskates can make do with this bit of fiction. Writes Gingrich: "Reforming government spending by cutting income
taxes by over $200 million is one of Jim Risch's hallmark achievements during his tenure as Idaho's 41st Governor."

Risch (Idaho's 31st governor, but who's counting?) actually passed a bill to cut the property tax. And the tax overhaul also came with an increase in the sales tax. The income tax was the only major tax that Risch actually left alone.

And as for the "reform," Risch did cut the unpopular property tax — but by any objective measure, the change represented a tax shift with an increasing burden on the sales tax. Billing it as spending reform is an exaggeration.

Risch Campaign Director Matt Ellsworth acknowledges the income tax cut language is incorrect, but defends the rest of the content. Risch's tax bill, he said, "collected $200 million less in
property taxes. Simply put, that is $200 million left in the pockets of
property owners and left out of the hands of the government to spend."

Not counting, of course, the extra sales tax dollars leaving everyone's pockets.

I'm not terribly worked up over the income tax gaffe — mostly just amused, seeing as how the Risch campaign paid for this letter. I am troubled that this campaign keeps trying to oversell Risch's tax overhaul. There's no excuse for that. If the Risch campaign is going to make this tax bill its centerpiece issue, can't these folks at least get all their facts straight and be upfront about the impact?