Idaho
Steve Symms, senator who was voice of conservative ire, dies at 86
The staunch conservative senator from Idaho rattled the 1988 presidential campaign by falsely claiming that the wife of Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis once burned an American flag.
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.
The death was announced by the office of Idaho G... [5590 chars]