Little Big Tent

By Brent Regan

“Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember — the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you.” –  Zig Ziglar

Critics of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee (KCRCC) claim that efforts to vet candidates, make recommendations, and uphold the principles in the Republican Party Platform are destructive to the party and will drive away members. They say the Republican Party needs to be a “big tent” that accepts all viewpoints, and that any effort to expose Democrats posing as Republican candidates is a purity test that must be abolished.

Let’s filter out the sophistry and unpack these claims.

Is there a purity test for voters? Yes, but it only involves having the ability to check a box on a form. If you can’t check the box, you can’t affiliate as a Republican. Candidates are another matter. The party has a responsibility to ensure that a candidate who claims to be a Republican is actually a Republican as measured by our party’s Platform. Vetting helps accomplish that.

“Big Tent” critics argue that current Republican leaders are a small bunch of extremists with minority views who need to be replaced with “moderates” like them. This ignores the fact that the party is built from the precinct level, with each precinct electing its own member. Grassroots conservatives have held the majority for ten years, so they are the majority view. “Extreme” is a relative term where two points far apart look extreme to each other. What the critics are really saying is that their viewpoints are extreme compared to the majority.

How has the Republican Party done since grassroots conservatives took the majority of the KCRCC? The critics would have you believe it was on the verge of collapse. Let’s look at the numbers.

In 2016, Kootenai County had 76,681 registered voters. Ten years later that number had grown by 33,718 to 110,399,  a 44% increase. Republicans went from 40,065 (52% of voters) to 74,213, an 85% increase. Today, Republicans make up 67% of the total. In the last ten years, 94% of all new Kootenai County voters registered as Republican, and the Republican Party grew twice as fast as the overall number of registered voters.

Politics is a numbers game. You would have to be delusional to call those statistics “failure” — especially when Democrat Party membership in the county shrank from 9.8% of the electorate to 8.8% in the same period.

The North Idaho Republicans (NIR) were voted out of power a decade ago, but now they want back in control. What kind of changes would they bring to the tent?

Proposition 1, the Ranked-Choice Voting initiative, was defeated 70% to 30% last November. Almost every Republican opposed it, and the Republican Party took an aggressive stance against it. Yet nearly half of the current North Idaho “Republican” endorsed Precinct Committeeman candidates publicly signed the notarized petition to put Prop 1 on the ballot. NIR-endorsed candidates also include supporters of the abortion initiative that would restore late-term abortions to Idaho. One NIR candidate, famous for leaving the Republican Party and supporting Joe Biden, now claims to be a “lifelong Republican.” Yet another NIR candidate held up a “Fake Republican” sign at an NIR press conference. When they tell you who they are, believe them.

Do you want a Republican Party that will lead Idaho down the blue path of states like Alaska and Colorado? If not, go to KootenaiFreedomCaucus.org to find quality grassroots conservative Precinct Committeemen candidates who will work to keep Idaho red.

It’s just common sense.