Hail Hale
I attended an open forum this week on political issues facing Idaho. I was offered the opportunity to invite people who would want to be well informed and perhaps frightened by the vision and actions of the ultra conservative groups in our state. The idea was to motivate moderate thinking Republicans to get involved in saving Idaho. It was not just Republicans in the room but since a large majority of Idahoan’s claim that party affiliation, they must join the battle. The first slide in the information deck, cited the Buffalo Springfield epic protest song. Released in l967 the song was written by Stephen Stills as the LA riots were reaching a crescendo. “There’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear…. I think it’s time we stop, children, what’s that sound? Everybody look what’s going down…..”
So what is going down. Many Idahoan are pushing back against those who have entered politics with an agenda. These right wing conservatives are not there to serve the people but to take control. Much of the funding for these groups comes from out of state. They start at the grass roots by electing “agenda” candidates to school Boards, City Councils, and ultimately the legislature. There is a plan to continue to erode the funding and support for public education. If you elect enough folks who favor vouchers, not funding needed facilities, putting librarians in harms way, not accepting Federal summer lunch program funds, eliminating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training and worrying more about which bathrooms are utilized than in assuring a work force for tomorrow; things have changed in a very fundamental way.
The meeting was focused on groups who are working to achieve common sense solutions for our State. Reclaim Idaho was responsible for the Medicaid expansion initiative that was approved a few years ago. Our legislature could not get this done but 61% of voters said yes and the health impact for Idaho families is dramatic.
This year the same not for profit group is gathering signatures to put another initiative on the November ballot. The will of the people who dictate Idaho as an open primary State. Today there are 270,000 independent voters who do not get to vote in the primary process. The result is that most often the winner of the Republican primary is elected to office. Too many low voter turnout elections are captured by these agenda candidates. Add the independents and Democrats to the primary voting and it will deepen the races. The second part of the initiative will be ranked voting in the general election. There would be four people running for each office with our electorate voting for their favorite and prioritizing the others. If a candidate gets 50% of the vote they win. The agenda driven folks don’t like this idea—but it needs to happen in Idaho.
I will leave it here for now but stay tuned for more information on Taking Back Idaho and Defend and Protect.
A unifying message from our meeting was for each of us to get fully informed and involved. Reach out to your business colleagues, fellow parishioners, friends, and family to help them understand “what is happening here” and to help us. The message is a salute to John Hale who organized us and moderated the meeting. Hail Hail the gang is not all here yet.
Hank and the Basque dancers represent an amazing culture in our State. It would be excellent if we could get our Legislative leadership to just say it, “Idaho is too great for Hate.” I will tell you about the ReDoubt movement in Northern Idaho next week, it will chill you to the bone.
Enjoy the Masters and for you religious folks, Amen corner is all about overcoming challenges. Mike