Independents, come join the fun

If it seems like your friendly hometown newspaper is putting the political full court press on you, there’s a simple explanation.

We are. We want you to learn all you can about the candidates. We want you to vote.

As Jim Pierce noted in an excellent My Turn column published Friday, independents are going to be relegated to the cheap seats throughout the primary election season if they don’t affiliate (register) with one of the dominant parties. And in Idaho, there’s a strong argument for independents to register Republican. That’s because Republicans are overwhelmingly successful in getting elected, and if you don’t believe that, look at your Kootenai County government elected officials and your state legislators from Kootenai County. Every single one of them is a Republican. Therefore, the choice for many of us is, what kind of Republican do we want to represent us?

The disparity within the party is huge. On April 15, when our voters’ guide is published, you’ll see the big gap between some candidates, even those belonging to the same party. That way you can determine who best represents what you’re looking for in county and state leaders. But again, if you’re unaffiliated and remain that way, you don’t get to vote in either the presidential primary on Tuesday or the local primary elections on May 17.

If you’re an independent voter, we encourage you — no, we implore you — to show up at your polling place this Tuesday and register Republican. You’ll have your chance to cast a ballot for the Republican presidential candidate you like most or dislike least, and you’ll also automatically be registered to vote in the May 17 Republican primary when many of Kootenai County’s elected officials will be informally crowned.

Need more motivation? Then just remember only a few years ago, any registered voter in Idaho could choose a Republican or Democratic primary ballot on election day. Republican officials who wanted desperately to winnow out mainstream candidates — reasonable conservatives willing to work hard for all of their constituents — changed the rules, and guess what? Voter participation has declined, just as they had hoped, and reasonable conservatives in office have lost ground.

Let’s reverse that trend. Let’s ensure the voice of the majority is heard loud and clear.