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I've become a Republican [1]
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Date: 2025-06-04
I am from the great State of Idaho—born, raised, and educated. I grew up in Boise and the majestic outdoors. I like to hike, hunt, and fish. I love to read, learn, and watch sports. My best friends in high school were a collection of amazing people from myriad walks of life—Atheist, Muslim, Hindu, Catholic, Mormon, gay, poor, rich, broken homes, nuclear families, you name it. My political beliefs would be described as liberal, progressive, and even socialist from time to time. I have a first edition of The Logic of Scientific Discovery and Das Kapital where most people keep their Bible at home. I wasn’t old enough to vote in the 2000 election but I would have voted for Nader. I voted for Kerry, Obama, Clinton, Biden, and Harris. And I just joined the Republican Party.
Cue the scroll down to the comments section to receive the usual “HOW DARE YOU?!?!” without reading the rest of the diary…
I’m joining the Republican Party for a couple reasons. First, it is the only viable route to effectuate political change in Idaho. Second, the Republican Party needs to change from within. Third, The current iteration of Republican leaders don’t deserve to have the Party of Lincoln.
Let’s talk about Idaho politics. It is absolutely DOMINATED by the Republican Party. Of course, Idaho is not the only state in which this the case. It is rural, conservative, religious, and growing rapidly because of (among other things) an influx conservative immigrants from the rest of the country. Go to a Walmart parking lot and you’ll probably see all 50 state license plates—yes, even Hawaii. Idaho conservatives like to watch Fox News, listen to talk radio, and scroll through their Facebook feeds. We’re not going to change very many minds about which party to vote for. “Democrat” is just a synonym for Satanist, Stalinist, Fascist, etc.
As a side note, it is amazing to me how effective the conservative media machine has conquered most of these people’s political sensibilities. Arguably our greatest statesman was none other than Senator Frank Church—a Democrat. There was a glimmer of hope for Democrats in Idaho because we sent a Democrat—Walt Minnick--to the US Congress as recently as the election of 2008. But things have changed.
Idaho now has a closed primary election. No longer can people switch parties at will at the ballot box to vote for their preferred candidates who go on to run for the general election. The primary election is where Idaho decisions get made. Somewhere around 75% of Idaho districts are completely dominated by the Republican candidate. The Democrat has no chance of winning. Democrats have about 10% of districts in hand (mostly Boise and Sun Valley area). And the rest are partially competitive like the Boise suburbs and college towns.
Simply put, being a Democrat in 75% of the state affords one ZERO influence in local politics. But these districts primary elections are competitive. Relatively few people turnout for primary elections and the small margin means the difference between sending a sensible-moderate or an ultra-right-wing Republican to the general. I’m becoming a Republican so I can vote in the primary election to help the sensible moderate go to the Statehouse where they are much less likely to pass through MAGA bills and ALEC-written madness.
Believe it or not, there are many Idaho Republicans who don’t believe in passing those laws. I have personally interacted with a number of good Idaho Republican senators and representatives who take pride in blocking MAGA voucher bills, MAGA library censorship, MAGA attacks on LGBTQ+ youth, etc. Unfortunately, when these Republicans don’t tow the party line, they get primaried in the next election and thrown out of office (by small margins) in favor of the MAGA. This needs to stop. Good Democrats in these district can save these moderates by switching parties to vote in the primary election.
I know what you’re thinking.
“I would NEVER vote for a Republican who also supports Trump!”
“I would NEVER support a candidate who wasn’t 100% aligned with my stance on Gaza!”
“These people are EVIL for not supporting Black Lives Matters!”
“I would NEVER compromise my values and vote for a Republican! My compass points TRUE NORTH!”
I get it. I’ve thought about it. And I’m still becoming a Republican. Here’s an amazing quote from the movie Lincoln. I wish the real Abraham Lincoln said this somewhere. Maybe someone can correct me.
“A compass, I learned while I was surveying, it’ll point you true north from where you’re standing but it’s got no advice about the swamps, deserts and chasms that you’ll encounter along the way. If in pursuit of your destination you plunge ahead heedless of obstacles, and achieve nothing more than to sink in a swamp…what’s the use of knowing true north?” --Definitely the real Lincoln
Democrats fall for this all the time. Think about the people who voted for Ralph Nader instead of Al Gore in 2000 in Florida because they were guided by their moral compass without regard to the swamps in the way. I’m sure you have and am looking forward to the clever response in the comment section. Needless to say, the election of George W. Bush was a cataclysmic event that caused countless suffering upon this world. True North doesn’t work all the time. Sometimes you have to move to the right in order to make progress.
In Idaho, “True North” means electing rabid MAGA ultra-conservatives who have proudly cut funding for special education, cut Medicaid, cut university education, censored literature at libraries, pass voucher bills, freeze minimum wage increases, complicated health care for minors, passed draconian abortion bills, increased fines for marijuana possession, criminalized homelessness, defunded early childhood programs, school lunches, outlawed gender-affirming care, brought back the firing squad, destroy the state budget, facilitate the proliferation of assault weapons, call for their version of Christianity as a state religion...the list goes on.
One bad apple spoils the bunch! So let me be THEIR bad apple. I joined the Republican Party because not only do I want better candidates to win the primary elections, but I also want to subvert that party from within. Being a Democrat in this state is the political equivalent of “thoughts and prayers” when it comes to who is going to make decisions in this state. No more. Some of these primary elections are decided by a few SCORES of votes (you see how I used a Lincoln reference to the number 20 as a score...I’m so clever!). I would much rather send the pro-education, libertarian-leaning/non-theocrat, environmentally-conscious, fiscally responsible Republican to the statehouse who isn’t interested in towing the MAGA line. I’ve spoke to them in their offices about the latest ALEC bill calling for schools to allow anyone to carry guns that some crackpot MAGA introduced. They laugh and say, “that bill’s going nowhere so as long as I’m in that committee.” That guy is going to face a primary this year in his district against a well-funded MAGA acolyte who just moved in from Bakersfield—a true believer. I AM THE ONE WHO IS STANDING IN THEIR WAY. And anyone else who helps to support the better candidate—especially those Democrats who are willing to switch parties to do so.
We need to take the Party of Lincoln, the Party of Emancipation, the Party of the Union, back!
Eight score and two years ago Lincoln envisaged the Battle of Gettysburg as a great sacrifice to preserve the United States as a bastion of liberty and democracy—one that the rest of the world can look for inspiration. But his speech accomplished much more than he realized. We are now in a great struggle over the trajectory of our nation. We can choose to be partisans, purists, idealists—uncompromising and unbending in our beliefs steadfast towards true north. But we must not forget WHY we sojourn towards progress. We believe in freedom, we believe in fairness, we believe in justice, we believe in science. We must take those opportunities to join with those who know the obstacles in our way. It is when we not only take the hand of those reaching out to us for help, but also reach out for help ourselves that we can move forward toward one nation, in divisible, with liberty and justice for all.
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