Balance is beautiful

There's a good reason some elections are nonpartisan. A new group in North Idaho recognizes that rationale and promises to help the best candidates get elected.

Balance North Idaho, a new political action committee, hopes to tip the teeter-totter back toward the qualities or attributes of individual candidates in nonpartisan elections. By stark contrast, the Kootenai County Reagan Republicans have sworn such allegiance to their party that they've embarked on a quest to fill every elected office with one of their own - from city councils to unpaid but important trustee positions on the boards of local school districts, North Idaho College and even Kootenai Health.

While we disagree with KCRR's determination to hold party affiliation above personal qualification in nonpartisan elections, we can't help but admire their resolve. We've never seen a political group work harder than this one, and their organizational prowess has made them a big player on the local elections stage.

Enter Balance North Idaho, stage left. BNI is a possible antidote to the poison of rampant partisanship in Kootenai County elections. We say "possible" because, if Balance North Idaho ends up endorsing and supporting strictly a Democratic slate in nonpartisan elections, it won't be furthering its stated purpose of backing the best candidates regardless of political affiliation. It would therefore provide perceived balance only by lending its entire weight to the side of the teeter-totter opposite KCRR.

In any election, not just nonpartisan polls, we urge voters to reject any faction's efforts to promote their slate of candidates based on the candidates' political party. Learning that a candidate is a Republican, a Democrat, a Libertarian or any other party has little or no actual value. How involved and active has the candidate been in the community at large and the specific entity in question? What education and experience does the candidate have that would make her or him more effective in the office being sought? What's the candidate's track record in working with others to accomplish a group's goals? Questions like these will lead to an informed and empowered electorate. Questions like "What's your political party?" will lead to more of the blind partisanship that is undermining our nation.