MIDVALE — Gov. Butch Otter spent six hours Tuesday fending off accusations he's abandoned rural Idaho and surrendered state sovereignty to the U.S. government.

Doris Baker told Otter that she saw him on TV vetoing bills last week and found him wanting.

"If I had been your mother, I would have come up there and spanked your little butt," said the retiree from Indian Valley. "You say that you're for the people of this state, then you better start showing it and don't let the Forest Service and these environmental groups tell us what to do."

Otter escaped Boise on the Legislature's 107th day for the friendly confines of Washington County, where he got 64 percent of the vote in 2006 - 11 points above his statewide mark. But he found no respite from a session of grief at his 26th Capitol for a Day event.

Instead, he spent the day defending his reputation as a champion of states' rights: "I take a back seat to no one in my efforts in resisting the constant encroachment of the federal government over our resources."

Read the complete story at idahostatesman.com