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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Good morning Mr. Lohrmann, I am guessing that what
with this being Idaho and all, this party will soar like Les Nesmans turkeys.
Quoting George Soros won't help much either. On a completely different note,
thanks for the video/audio of Roscoe Holcomb. I enjoyed that very much along
with much of the rest of the material at that site. The "rat stuff" at the end
was a bit of a non sequitur though.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>G. Crabtree</FONT><B>From:</B> <A
title=timlohr@yahoo.com href="mailto:timlohr@yahoo.com">Tim Lohrmann</A> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, December 19, 2005 9:31
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] New Party for
Idaho?</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV id=RTEContent><BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"><A
href="http://www.boiseweekly.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=156348">http://www.boiseweekly.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=156348</A><BR><BR>Posted
on DECEMBER 7, 2005:<BR><BR>THINK THEY'RE ALL MORONS? JOIN THE PARTY<BR>The
United Party lifts off<BR><BR>By Jill Kuraitis<BR><BR>Republicans and
Democrats are as polarized as Shiites and Sunnis. Politicians of both
parties sound like rival mobs of chimpanzees run amuck in their habitat,
throwing poo on each other and romping gleefully away going "Neener,
neener." And--unless you live in a hidey-hole under the stairs, waiting for
the Rapture--you may have noticed that neither party seems to be solving
some of the great crises of our time. <BR><BR>Idaho businessman (and Boise
Weekly founder) Andy Hedden-Nicely noticed. So, with guidance from legendary
Idaho politico Perry Swisher, Hedden-Nicely has founded a new ! political
party called the United Party. "It's for creative, thinking people who see
more value in proposing positive initiatives than in tearing down the other
guy," he wrote in an e-mail. <BR><BR>Here is the UP's description from its
listserv: "The United Party is a new idea to bring together those people who
want to make a difference and who are not interested in the current
political party offerings. The United Party is self-actualized, inclusive
and concerned with real life issues to make our lives better and our future
brighter. We want to re-take the middle ground and support all types of
small businesses including farmers. We are fiscally conservative and believe
that government should only perform those services we cannot do ourselves.
We believe that the best government is the government closest to the people.
We believe in term limits, and we believe in each other. If you are
interested, join us." <BR><BR>For a political platform, that's about as
clear as a Boise inversion! , but Hedden-Nicely says it's all about finding
common issues. "People are reaching out to get involved in something, but
can't attach themselves to either party," he said. "I hope they'll bring
their disgust and frustration to the United Party." <BR><BR>The effort to
find common political ground is a hot subject in political circles after the
vile tone of the 2004 presidential race. New York Times columnist David
Brooks has been adamant that people don't think through political values of
their own, but rather adopt those of their party--out of custom, not
critical thinking. That makes it near impossible to then use reason to sway
voters, and even makes effective governance itself increasingly difficult.
<BR><BR>So how can people stop the national trend of believing in the bad
intentions of "The Other Side?" How will voters abandon the escalating
for-us-or-against-us attitude? Political philanthropist George Soros
maintains we must acknowledge the "radical fallibility" at the cen! ter of
the American political system--we must admit that there is no complete and
permanent answer, not even our own. <BR><BR>"Whaaat?" is the alarmed and
skeptical response experienced by many who consider this for the first time.
But some, like Hedden-Nicely and others who start alternative political
parties, become enthusiastic about the idea of considering policies they may
have once rejected out of custom. <BR><BR>There are now approximately 60
American political parties. The prize for Most Repulsively Weird goes to the
Libertarian National Socialist Green Party, which uses a swastika logo and
is apparently a Nazi, pro-gay, anti-violence, pro-drug, environmentalist
group which denies membership to Jews AND Christians. <BR><BR>Idaho's
third-party roster includes the Libertarian Party (www.LPIdaho.com), the
Constitution Party (www.ConstitutionPartyIdaho.com) the Natural Law Party
(www.natural-law.org) and the Green Party (www.idahogreenparty.org). What
does Hedden-Nicely think ! his new party has to offer that the others do
not? <BR><BR>"Term limits," he answered. "You might remember that term
limits was a part of the Republican 'Contract with America,' that has since
been all but forgotten. The reason? Because now that the R's are in power,
they do not want to give it up. Power is more important to them than their
own ideals. We already term-limit the president because we didn't want a
king, and now we've got an entrenched politburo that is almost impossible to
unseat." <BR><BR>Locally, United Party member Rick Jackson says he just
weary of voting for "the Candidate Less Likely To Screw Up."
<BR><BR>"Republicans help large corporations with tax incentives and
evasions, and the Democrats have their social programs which are misguided
and poorly managed," he said. "Small business carries the weight of the tax
burden while employing the majority of the population, yet remains largely
unrepresented. The United Party wants to change that and do what is in the !
best interest of the people." <BR><BR>Will the Uniteds put up any candidates
in the elections of 2006? Hedden-Nicely recently told the Lewiston Tribune
that they will. He won't say yet whether he will run for office himself, but
at a time when both the president's and Congress' popularity are at frosty
lows, independent candidates may have more appeal than in past cycles. At
the very least, they could make voters think a little harder about their
party-line picks. <BR><BR>What a concept. <BR><BR>To learn more (but not
much more) about the United Party, visit their Web site at
www.unitedparty.net. To contact Hedden-Nicely, e-mail
andy@hedden-nicely.com. <BR><BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR></DIV>
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