Republican U.S. Senate candidate Clint Didier did an interview on local NPR station KUOW today - hitting an audience that surely isn't his usual demographic.

Didier, the former Washington Redskins tight end and Pasco alfalfa farmer, is running as
the Sarah Palin-endorsed, tea-party-courting underdog to the Republican frontrunner Dino Rossi.

I didn't catch the whole interview, but one snippet jumped out.

When asked about how his own acceptance of hundreds of thousands of dollars in farm subsidies squares with his general contempt for the federal government, Didier said he will no longer accept the federal subsidies and said they should be eliminated (coupled to an end with federal interference in commodity prices.)

Didier said he won't even apply for the disaster assistance he may be eligible for due to nasty spring weather that wrecked the first cutting of alfalfa crops.

Gov. Chris Gregoire requested the agricultural disaster aid for 29 counties this month in an application to the USDA.

You can listen to Didier's entire interview at the KUOW web site. (Do a search in the archives for "Didier.")

In Bellingham this evening, Didier will appear at a tea party-sponsored candidate forum.

Bellingham businessman Paul Akers, another Republican Senate candidate, also plans to attend, as do lesser known candidates Skip Mercer and Bob Burr. But the two leading candidates, Republican Dino Rossi and Democratic incumbent Sen. Patty Murray, won't be there.

U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, the Democratic incumbent for the 2nd Congressional District, will also participate in the forum, according to Sam Taylor of the Bellingham Herald. Several of Larsen's rivals, including Republican John Koster, will be there, too.

I plan to be at the forum and may send out some live tweets if it gets hot. (You can follow me here.)