[Vision2020] Idaho GOP's civil war begins in earnest

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today's (January 11, 2013) Lewiston Tribune.

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Idaho GOP's civil war begins in earnest
If you entertained any quaint notions about the 2014 Idaho legislative session sticking to the people's business, you might as well abandon them. It will be a sideshow to the main event, the Republican primary election set for May 20.
Exhibit A - Sen. Russ Fulcher, the Meridian Republican who has challenged Gov. C.L. (Butch) Otter's quest for a third term, has no intention of relinquishing his front-row seat as the GOP caucus chairman. No rule says he must, because no rule exists. This situation hasn't occurred before. It's been nearly a half-century since a sitting legislator challenged a governor from his own party.
"Is it going to be awkward?" Fulcher told the Spokesman-Review's Betsy Russell. "Yeah. Is it going to be uncomfortable? Yeah. You know what? That's life."
GOP legislative leadership regularly shares strategy and information with the governor. Otter was gracious in agreeing to continue meeting with the group, Fulcher included. But House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, conceded the obvious.
"You won't want somebody taking notes to play 'gotcha' later on," he told Russell. "And that's a two-way street - that game could also apply to the governor."
If there was any notion of Fulcher playing polite, it quickly evaporated. Shortly after Otter concluded his State of the State address, Fulcher released his response. It came so quickly it fueled rumors that Fulcher swiped an embargoed copy of Otter's speech to prepare his own rebuttal. Not true. Fulcher's statement, produced well in advance, merely anticipated what Otter would say. In the process, he got the jump on Democratic hopeful A.J. Balukoff, whose own statement barely got noticed Wednesday.
Why don't Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, and Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, crack the whip?
Probably for the same reason they failed to discipline Sen. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, for breaking the unwritten rules by funneling campaign money to candidates challenging incumbent GOP senators in the 2012 primary. Their hold on a Senate GOP caucus divided between establishment and Tea Party factions isn't all that secure.
Exhibit B - The Idaho Republican Party Central Committee. Meeting in Boise this weekend, it named Fulcher its "outstanding state legislator."
Outstanding?
Is Fulcher's imprint on some landmark legislative initiative?
Did he spearhead a comprehensive investigation?
What has he done to warrant such an honor?
Nothing - other than to challenge the incumbent Republican governor.
Otter lost control of the GOP leadership six years ago when it booted his choice for chairman, Kirk Sullivan, and then, over his objections, pursued a closed primary election.
But now the party leadership is playing favorites and naming Fulcher its outstanding legislator of the year is a thinly veiled endorsement.
That's just one week and one gubernatorial speech. Still ahead are fights about budgets, taxes, education policy and the perennial social issues. In each case, count on one constant: The Republican Party is in the midst of a civil war. Be careful. If that war consumes the Legislature, you're likely to wind up as collateral damage. - M.T.
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As Idaho's under-bugeted education system suffers . . .

As Idaho's Medicaid program slowly degenerates . . .

As the level of compensation to Idaho's state employees sinks to the bottom . . .

As the people of Idaho look toward its state's GOP party, whose membership comprise an unfathomable majority of the state legislature, for assistance and direction, the Idaho GOP's immediate response is to . . .

"Send In the Clowns"
http://www.tomandrodna.com/Songs/Send_In_the_Clowns.mp3

Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"There's room at the top they are telling you still.
But first you must learn to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill."

- John Lennon
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