Steve Symms, senator who was voice of conservative ire, dies at 86

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Washington Post

Steve Symms, senator who was voice of conservative ire, dies at 86
In 1988, the Idaho lawmaker upended the presidential campaign with false claims that the wife of Democrat Michael Dukakis had once burned an American flag.



From left, Republican Sens. Steve Symms (Idaho), Malcolm Wallop (Wyo.), Charles Percy (Ill.) and Chuck Grassley (Iowa) on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 30, 1981. (John Duricka/Associated Press)

By Brian Murphy
August 10, 2024 at 7:35 p.m. EDT

Steve Symms, a former Republican lawmaker from Idaho who made staunch conservative views his political brand and rattled the 1988 presidential campaign by falsely claiming that the wife of Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis once burned an American flag, died Aug. 8 at his home in Leesburg, Va. He was 86. … The death was announced by the office of Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R). No other details were given.

Mr. Symms came to Congress in 1973 as a House member and soon established himself as a loyalist — and something of a showman — among GOP factions that found federal agencies a favorite target of scorn.

His campaign slogans riffed off his background as an apple farmer: “Take a bite out of big government!” In a stunt to support privatization of the Postal Service, he once sent two letters to Harpers Ferry, W.Va., about 60 miles from Washington. One letter was carried by a rider on horseback; the other was dropped in a mailbox. The outcome was preordained: the horse got there first.

{snip}

By Brian Murphy
Brian Murphy joined The Washington Post after more than 20 years as a foreign correspondent and bureau chief for the Associated Press in Europe and the Middle East. Murphy has reported from more than 50 countries and has written four books. Twitter

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/08/10/steve-symms-senate-dukakis-dies/

[gopiscrap]

1. Symms was a total piece of shit

may he rot in hell

[rsdsharp]

3. And, of course, Grassley is right there with him.

[Midnight Writer]

2. Wonder how much he paid the horseman to carry that letter 60 miles?

I reckon he paid the Postal Service about a nickel for that same trip.

[SarcasticSatyr]

4. An absolute scumbag . . .

He voted against the Americans with disabilities act ...

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

5. I had never heard of Symms until tonight.

His Wiki article was definitely not flattering. Apparently, six senators voted against the ADA and Symms was one of them.

After reading the Wiki article, I think his vote was out of spite. His wife Fran suffered greatly from arthritis so she rarely accompanied him to public functions. Symms had a reputation of being a party animal and a philanderer and his wife finally had enough and initiated divorce proceedings against him. Their divorce was finalized in 1990- the same year he voted against the ADA.

The fallout from the divorce convinced him not to seek re-election as his poll numbers tumbled downward. He then became a lobbyist. As for his horse stunt, if I were the PMG I would have went to him and challenged him with two more letters addressed to Hawaii. And I would have told him “let’s see how long it takes your fucking horse to deliver this one”.

All in all, Symms came across as a complete lout. The world is better off without him as far as I am concerned.

[Talitha]

6. Seeing Grassley that young is a trip!

[Arne]

7. Do they know the thumbs up means up your butt?

[twodogsbarking]

9. That is why they are smiling.

[twodogsbarking]

8. Hide your children.

[2naSalit]

10. And the world...

Becomes a better place now that he is no longer wasting good air.

[Conjuay]

11. This proves republicans used the "'thumbs up"

Gesture as 'f#ck you' for years. It wasn't trump that started it.