inside My Turn: Patrick, Press biased; support KCRCC

Mike Patrick, Editor of the Press, is using his influence to campaign for the incumbents and career politicians. The closer we get to the election, the more all pretense of informing voters has been cast off in favor of an all out effort to influence the election.

He may be saying, “Let actual information be your guiding light,” but the path he wants us to follow to the CEQEC leads to a list of candidates opposite those recommended by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee (KCRCC). The CEQEC, we are told, is a conservative, nonpartisan organization that advocates ensuring power and influence reside with the voters. Translated, this means the CEQEC was created to ensure that power remains with the career politicians of Kootenai County, who are all either RINOs or Democrats.

Don’t let fear and anger define the Nov. 2nd local election, we are cautioned, because the insurgence against public education is coming from “newcomers to our area who have been inhaling mind-numbing exhaust from social media engines.” To read an objective opinion about ID public education and parents' response to it locally, you will have to go elsewhere. I suggest Kaitlyn Shepherd’s piece published in the Idaho Freedom Foundation’s Oct. 11 edition.

I’ve been a Republican for 30 years, always voting a straight ticket. It hasn’t worked out so well. Our politics nationally have become one big cesspool of power hungry players who self enrich. The longer they are in office, the more powerful they become, the bigger government grows, and the more the people are burdened by excessive regulations and higher taxes. The KCRCC’s new approach to selecting candidates in our local elections is a glimmer of hope. Perhaps the party I am married to will begin to reflect the values it was built on, returning power to the people who live here by wrestling it away from the RINOs and democrats who have a stranglehold on our community.

The KCRCC, for those who don’t know, is made up of 70 elected committee members from every neighborhood in Kootenai County. These literally ARE your friends, neighbors, coworkers and fellow worshipers. They have volunteered to personally find and support candidates who will reflect the values that we, as republicans, hold dear. These candidates are not necessarily the incumbents or the career politicians. This is progress.

Mike Patrick once explained that the CDA Press does not have a written code of ethics. Instead their ethical litmus test is, “Is this the right thing to do for the community …”

It saddens me that our local newspaper is no longer being guided by this moral compass. We are assured that by following the advice of the CEQEC, and voting for RINO’s and career politicians, we are somehow making an informed choice.

Please, voters, read the answers given by ALL the candidates to questions that are relevant and important to us as citizens AND parents in Kootenai County. You will find these answers on watchmenministrynorthidaho.com/kootenai-county-november-2021-voter-guides//and idahofreedom.org/school-candidate/

Anne Patterson is a Coeur d'Alene resident.