[Vision2020] Civil war in Idaho's GOP breaks out again

[Tom Hansen]

I can hardly wait ‘till the movie comes out.

Courtesy of today’s (October 10, 2017) Lewiston Tribune.

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Civil war in Idaho's GOP breaks out again

Watch out, "establishment Republicans." The deal-making, compromises and any general forward movement in government may be over for the near future.

This scenario will likely play out in state politics like never before. Yes, it can get worse, believe it or not - even worse than the dysfunction of the 2017 Idaho legislative session - where routine order was sometimes disrupted by a small group of lawmakers protesting everything from the way bills are passed through committee - or ignored altogether - to the way in which legislators were reprimanded by House leadership for questionable behavior.

The alt-right ultraconservative wing of the Republican party has declared all-out war on the "Republican establishment," and despite the fact that Idaho is already a conservative state, it's not nearly conservative enough for legislators like Priscilla Giddings, R-White Bird.

Giddings was interviewed at the end of September on conservative AM talk radio king Bill Colley's show. With exchanges like this one, you can bet things will get worse before they get better:

Bill Colley: (It seems that) sometimes the Republican establishment does not have the best interests in mind of the people they serve.

Priscilla Giddings: Not just maybe, Bill, it's absolutely. And from an insider's perspective I can confirm

that 100 percent.

You can almost hear House Speaker Scott Bedke's face-palm from across the state.

Soon after this interview, Rep. Mike Kingsley, R-Lewiston, a co-founder of the now apparently defunct Idaho Freedom Caucus, told William Spence of the Lewiston Tribune that the effort to join together a group of conservative House members had stalled.

"The whole reason for the caucus was to bring people in and keep them from destroying the conservative message. ... What (the far-right lawmakers) don't seem to understand is that it takes consensus - that's how politics works."

The interview with Colley was full of hints that the upcoming session will be less about lawmaking and more about a continued mutiny by Giddings and her fellow ultraconservative colleagues.

"Once we reach that tipping point, I think we really can get Idaho back to the fundamentals of what a true Republican stands for," Giddings said.

Nearly a year after the election that shocked the world, the Republican Party continues to battle within itself about what being a Republican means.

The question is, what are they fighting for - and what kind of impact will their activism have on the future of our state?

So settle in. And maybe start practicing some of those stress-relief exercises - deep breathing and whatnot. It's gonna be a long three months.

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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
  
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