Trump object of praise, prayer at local Lincoln Day festivities
CRAIG NORTHRUP/Press U.S. Representative Russ Fulcher speaks at Saturday’s Lincoln Day Dinner at The Coeur d’Alene Resort. poke of both America’s successes during the Trump Administration and what he considers the Democrats’ socialist agenda. “These are not your grandparents’ Democrats that I serve with,” he warned. “...When we’re in committee hearings — when we’re behind closed doors — we often don’t just talk about difference[s] in tax rates. Often times, they’ll want to bring up the debate of why the private sector is …
Brent Regan, chair of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee, jokes about at Saturday's Lincoln Day Dinner how he once bet a yearly subscription with a reporter at the Coeur d'Alene Press that Donald Trump would politically survive all four years of his presidential term. "'Okay,'" Regan recalled, "'but what does the winner get?'" The reporter covering the evening festivities was removed from the room later that evening. (CRAIG NORTHRUP/Press)
U.S. Senator Jim Risch, who returned from Washington, D.C. this week after casting a vote to acquit President Trump, looks over the evening's program during Saturday night's Lincoln Day Dinner. (CRAIG NORTHRUP/Press)
COEUR d’ALENE — A choir of famous and familiar voices sang in celebration of conservative values Saturday night at the annual Republican Party-sponsored Lincoln Day Dinner at the Coeur d’Alene Resort.
“This is my first year [attending], if you can believe it,” Cindy Palmer said as the crowd gathered in the minutes before the opening speech began. “I’m here because of [President Donald] Trump. I watched his [State of the Union] speech. It was one of the best speeches I’ve heard, and I’ve been watching his speeches all along. I think that inspired me to come, and I think the economy is another reason.”
Palmer added that President Trump is also inspiring a resurgence in political motivation.
“I think another thing is that he’s not a cookie cutter politician,” she said. “He’s like nothing we’ve ever seen before. I think our country needed that. God was with our country when George Washington started this ... Their soldiers who were fighting for our union: They didn’t have shoes, some of them. They didn’t have coats. But they kept fighting. They kept on going. That’s what we need in this country. We need that spirit again.”
“Four years ago,” Kootenai County Republican Central Committee chair Brent Regan said in his opening statements, “I was at this podium, and I proclaimed that making America great again begins in Idaho. Was I right, or what?”
The audience answered with thunderous applause.
In one of the more touching moments of the evening, Pastor Tim Remington, who was recently appointed to represent District 2 in the Idaho Legislature, received a standing ovation before he led the invocation in his prayers for the country and for President Trump.
“I think God uses who God wants to use,” Remington told the crowd. “I think this is God’s economy, and I think this is what God is doing to try to preserve America. We have done so much for the world, and I just pray all of us recognize, as long as we put God first, God will take care of America.”
A silent auction and raffle allowed bidders to support Republican causes and candidates through gifts that ranged from patriotic (a wood-carved sculpture of Idaho) to ironic (a two-word satirical book called “Why Socialism Works”) to fully cocked and ready to rock (a pistol, a rifle and a shotgun). An ecstatic Tonya Rutan took home the Mossburg shotgun.
“Tonya, you can’t have it now,” Regan warned playfully as she danced in delight toward the table to accept her prize. “We really have to do a background check.”
Even amid the conservative celebration, speakers and organizers playfully recognized the times were changing. Mike Towan, who led the replacement proceedings in January that eventually led to Remington’s appointment, allowed for wiggle room in a party known for resisting change.
“[One of the items] we have for bid is a Taurus GS2 9mm with a purple frame for you ladies,” he said before stopping himself abruptly to a roll of laughter. “Or guys, if you want it.”
The audience listened throughout the evening as a line of legislators on both the local stage and in the national spotlight talked about both the Republican Party’s accomplishments and the challenges ahead. State Sen. Mary Souza and Rep. Ron Mendive, for example, announced that centralized education standards once known as Common Core were removed from the committee agenda last week, getting cheerful applause from the audience.
Congressman Russ Fulcher talked about the political divisions between Republicans and Democrats and how they reached a tipping point during the impeachment trial.
“This whole situation with impeachment,” he said, “had absolutely nothing to do with a Ukrainian phone call. It had nothing to do with election influence. It had nothing to do with tax returns or whatever else was thrown at this president ... It had everything to do with draining the swamp.”
Bill Whittle was scheduled to keynote the event. The Coeur d’Alene Press was forced to leave before Whittle spoke.