OPINION: Do you identify as a Republican?
If you identify as a Republican, are you aware that the authoritarian faction of the local and state Republican Party has created great instability in our government institutions through this group’s obsession with power? Authoritarian leadership makes for a dysfunctional organization as proven by board majority decisions lately at North Idaho College, the Community Library Network and the newly elected Idaho Republican Party leaders.
When a person establishes membership in and a commitment to an organization, it is reasonable to expect they know what they have pledged loyalty to and are willing to defend. Do you know what the Idaho GOP platform states?
A comparison of the current Idaho GOP platform with the 1984 Ronald Reagan era National Republican Party Platform reveals some very stark differences.
The 1984 national GOP platform begins with a basic premise: “From freedom comes opportunity; from opportunity comes growth; from growth comes progress.”
This statement is the vibrant soul of the American experience, not some abstract notion lacking viable momentum. It is the promise of freedom, and always has been freedom that has built this nation and continues to nurture the American Dream like a beating heart.
In 1984, the National Republican Party declared itself the Party of Hope — for all, not merely for some at the expense of others. Today, contradictions to this GOP tenet, by words and actions, are seen in Idaho’s “official” GOP platform and rules created by the new state party leadership.
All Bible-based religions stress that mercy has a human heart. The 2022 Preamble to the Idaho GOP platform begins by claiming: “WE BELIEVE the strength of our nation lies with our faith and reliance on God our Creator, the individual, and the family; and that each person’s dignity, freedom, ability and responsibility must be honored.” Yet, as one explores further, this most current Idaho GOP platform contradicts this opening belief; the platform also holds other contradictions within its framework and lacks long-standing Republican values.
The divine command is to love one’s neighbor as oneself. Unfortunately, the current Idaho GOP leadership, including Kootenai County’s GOP party chair, Brent Regan, have established a history of making enemies with their neighbors rather than friends. The objective they claim that propels them to defend their neighbors’ rights and freedoms is not evidenced by their actions.
Not every problem or issue cries out for a government solution. Some can be resolved simply by neighborly kindness, consideration and compassion. These characteristics are lacking in Idaho’s current GOP leadership from the state chair down to the local county level.
Dorothy Moon, Regan and their followers, using unscrupulous tactics and cronyism, stack the delegate base at state party conventions where the party platform and party rules are created, voted on and adopted.
While Regan told us last summer that the Idaho Republican Party did not vote to deny women with a life-threatening pregnancy access to an abortion, the platform clearly states otherwise: “We oppose all abortions.” (Article XIV. American Family, Section 3: Right to Life D.). (Maternity mortality rates in the U.S. continue to climb. Twenty-eight developed countries have lower maternity death rates than the U.S.) They also want to deny you the right to vote for your U.S. senators, “…by repealing the 17th amendment.” (Article 1. Responsibility in Government, Section 3. Reform of Congress C.)
The Idaho GOP platform would deny a woman freedom to life-saving medical care, and citizens the right to choose their U.S. senators. The 1984 national GOP platform endorsed freedom for all, and confidence in the individual’s ability to make appropriate decisions that support their personal well-being and in deciding who they want representing them in Congress.
I would encourage all Republicans to read the Idaho 2022 platform and see if you can identify its contradictions and its hypocrisies. Then, having done so, ask yourself are these truly my beliefs? Do I want to give allegiance to this platform as it is written? Or, am I willing to step up and help provide a truer expression of longstanding and long held Republican values?
The future of the GOP is under attack by hijackers who are working overtime to rob you of your freedoms in order to promote their authoritarian brand of power over you.
On the other hand, North Idaho Republicans, a group of more traditional Ronald Reagan Republicans, is dedicated to strengthening our nation’s, our state’s and our local communities’ destiny and cohesiveness for the future of our children.
NIR members will not be deterred by bullying, malice and assaults on our freedoms by those who have hijacked the Republican party with ill-intent. Seen in its candidate recommendations, the KCRCC mistakes hubris in a candidate for competence, while NIR does recognize the difference between hubris and competence in a candidate. The radical faction of the GOP has yet to learn it is not their role to stifle the freedoms of others so they may feel empowered.
NIR believes fundamental to the American way of life is free enterprise. Included are all basic institutions that form the foundation of a nation wholly committed to an individual’s freedom and personal responsibility. These institutions encompass social, political, judicial and religious roles related to the human experience.
Join us in respect for our neighbors and the examples of success born of the Reagan era. Let’s put a halt to this mischaracterization of what being a Republican represents.
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Deborah Rose is a founding member of the North Idaho Republicans, a former Kootenai County Republican Precinct Committee (KCRCC) and a Kootenai County resident.