[Vision2020] INK on Steed

[Tom Hansen]

Walter Steed, Gresham Bouma, and hat racks are the very reasons why name tags were created . . . so you can distinguish any one from the other two.

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"If not us, who?
If not now, when?"

- Unknown



On Mar 17, 2012, at 12:47, "Bill London" <london at moscow.com> wrote:

> INK column from weekend Daily News.....More evidence of the local Republican Party turning tea party...BL
> 
> ------------------  
> A disturbing experience at a Latah GOP meeting
> 
> By Vera White | Posted: Saturday, March 17, 2012 1:00 am
> 
> The INKster appears to have become a sounding board of late for people disillusioned with Latah County's GOP and more specifically chairman Walter Steed. The latest is 26-year-old Henry Johnston of Moscow, who called last week to share his experiences when he announced he was considering a run as a Republican for the Idaho House of Representatives to replace retiring Tom Trail, who recently filed to run for Latah County Commissioner.
> 
> "I want to talk to you about the unwelcoming state of the Latah County Republican Party," Johnston said when he called.
> 
> Those are always intriguing words to the Democratic-leaning INKster, so Johnston immediately had her attention.
> 
> "In the course of making my decision, I visited the central committee meeting two weeks ago to feel out support," he continued. "After announcing to the group that a run for the House was on my radar screen, though not yet confirmed, pending a couple of other ducks that needed to be lined up, I was approached."
> 
> According to Johnston, an officer of the Latah Republicans told him he better be prepared to defend himself.
> 
> "I thought he was referring to the columns I've written where I've taken the party to task," Johnston continued. "But then he repeated himself and I wasn't sure how to take that."
> 
> Just to be on the safe side, Johnston emailed Steed the next day about the incident.
> 
> "His only reply was that he 'wouldn't think him (the officer) dangerous,' " Johnston said.
> 
> Steed no longer returns the INKster's calls for comment.
> 
> After a couple of lengthy phone conversations with Johnston, there is no doubt in the INKster's mind that Johnston is a credentialed Republican. He worked on a number of campaigns while in high school and was recognized by the Bonner County GOP for his contributions. He is a customer relations manager for Wysup Chrysler Jeep Dodge in Pullman and for 18 months wrote a column for the Moscow-Pullman Daily News. He is openly gay and has lived with his partner, Alex Irwin, for six years.
> 
> "That I'm a moderate makes them far more uncomfortable than me being gay," Johnston said. "The 'old guard' of the GOP never really cared I was gay but it sure seems to be a sticking point for these new tea party nuts who have taken over. I didn't back out of the race because I felt threatened, because I'm not scared of these nuts. Ultimately, I didn't run because my current employment situation prevented it. But I haven't ruled out a run in the next couple of election cycles."
> 
> Johnston feels his party has left him behind, standing in the middle of the road while they took a hard right on many issues.
> 
> "I don't think the entire party has gone that far to the right, I just think that moderate Republicans like me and those I hang out with have been railroaded out of the party to the point that it is difficult, if not impossible, for us to be elected in the new closed primary and/or function at the central committee/state party level because the right wing nuts label us as RINOs and send us packing," Johnston concluded. "I didn't run because I was threatened but it made me rethink aligning myself with Latah County's GOP. I'm a registered Republican and shouldn't have to pass a litmus test to prove otherwise."
> 
> For those wondering, RINO means Republican In Name Only.
> 
> A frequent poster to Vision 2020 had a one-liner this week about Idaho Congressman Raul Labrador the INKster just had to pass on: "I wish he would change his last name. He is by innuendo giving a wonderful breed of dogs a bad name."
> 
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