OPINION: Today, Lincoln would be a Democrat
Evan Koch
This past Saturday, Democrats and Republicans gathered, at separate locations, to celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s birthday and to claim his legacy.
The speakers who addressed each gathering made clear that both parties want to improve what is happening in America today. They both saw threats to their constituents' way of life. But that is where the similarities ended.
The Republicans complained about imaginary or trumped up issues (pun intended).
They condemned efforts to build better, stronger and happier workplaces, calling them “woke.”
They claimed, without evidence, that the Justice Department is “corrupt,” presumably because their favorite candidate for president is under several criminal indictments.
They falsely blamed the Biden administration for decades of underfunding the Border Patrol. This despite the GOP abandoning recent bipartisan legislation that met all their demands for border security and immigration issues.
And they repeated the lie that communism “is real, it’s here.”
The Democrats' keynote speaker, Jess Piper, was equally concerned. She brought warnings from her home state of Missouri and had startling practical examples to support those concerns.
She condemned the Missouri law that provides easy access to the firearms that were used just one week ago in the mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl celebration parade. Increasing access to firearms leads to more shootings, not fewer. Idaho legislators are ignoring nationwide examples as they push forward a bill that encourages people to concealed carry in our elementary schools.
Jess Piper pointed out that school vouchers in her state treat children like a tradable commodity so that private schools can profit from public dollars. The Idaho legislature recently introduced yet another vouchers bill that would funnel money away from public schools.
And perhaps most pointedly, Jess Piper spoke to the women in Idaho about birthing babies and raising children without the right to reproductive health services and free public education.
“We believe in a livable wage, we believe in bodily autonomy, we believe in preschool, public school, we believe in universal pre-K, we believe in universal health care … We’re not pro-birth, we are pro-life. When they are here, we will take care of them and move on as a community.”
How might Abraham Lincoln view these different points of view?
Lincoln sought to preserve the Union, not to destroy it.
Lincoln sought to support and expand human rights.
And Lincoln sought respect for the Constitution and the rule of law, not disdain for them.
The Republican Party may have stood for these principles 160 years ago in Lincoln’s day. But they are only embodied by the Democratic Party today. Today, the Confederate flag flies alongside Trump 2024 banners throughout North Idaho.
Abraham Lincoln, whose birthday was February 12th and who was commemorated by Presidents’ Day, may have been a Republican 160 years ago. But if he were alive today, Lincoln would not qualify as a “rated or vetted” KCRCC Republican. Lincoln would not even qualify as a Republican In Name Only.
Today, Abraham Lincoln would be a Democrat.
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Evan Koch is chairman of the Kootenai County Democratic Central Committee.