Let's get back to genuine Idaho politics

Will the real Republicans please stand up?

Sorry, Kootenai County Republican Central Committee. Some of you are and some aren’t. A few really aren’t. You can tell them by the way they demand bizarre loyalty oaths and personally attack actual Idaho Republicans with more vigor and venom than they do Democrats.

Weird, huh?

And who are the actual Republicans? You can easily tell them from the radicals because they’re civil and respectful, inclusive of different perspectives, they advocate for open and transparent government, they’re thoughtful (not obstructionists), and they’re dedicated to conservative principles.

Those five points, as today’s front page article indicates, are the guiding lights of an organization called Idaho Conservatives. We encourage you to find out more about them on their website, idahoconservatives.com, because we find their approach a breath of fresh political air; a breath that, with a little more oomph, might end up dissipating the poison gas emitted by ideological extremists on both sides of the spectrum.

In elections, imagine real Idaho Republicans being taken on by real Idaho Democrats — two groups that are civil and respectful, inclusive of different perspectives, advocate open and transparent government, act thoughtfully rather than through obstruction, and are dedicated to conservative and progressive principles, respectively. Now, wouldn’t that comprise a better political battlefield than the one we have today, where threats and name-calling are the more popular weapons of choice?

There’s a rumbling on the horizon that soon, Idaho Conservatives will see more allies stepping forward. The growing concern is that under extremists’ exertions, the Republican Party could become something that’s so un-Idaho, it’s unrecognizable. And unacceptable.

A general groundswell of support for civil and respectful disagreement would knock some of the crud off Idaho’s political bumpers. In time, it could lead to fewer extremists and more dedicated servants taking leadership roles for the betterment of all Idahoans, rather than the fulfillment of the ideological fantasies of a few.

That day can’t arrive too soon.