Guest Opinion, Election 2008
Idaho Republicans Respond to Election News
By Norm Semanko, 11-07-08
Norm Semanko
Don’t call it a comeback.
After several newspaper reports about his death had been published, Mark Twain famously said “Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.” Remember what the media said about the Idaho Republican Party this past summer? They said we were in “disarray” and hopelessly divided. They labeled us as out of touch. And they tried to overwhelm us with negative press coverage. Above all, they said Idaho Republicans had lost their edge and couldn’t win. Funny thing is they forgot to check-in with the voters.
All the while, Idaho Republicans stuck to their traditional values: limited government, less spending, lower taxes and a basic respect for private property, personal liberty and the sanctity of life—as well as a strong commitment to national security and our troops.
Nothing fancy. Nothing difficult to understand. Just time-honored, Constitutional principles that have kept our nation strong – and a lot of hard work out on the campaign trail. We believed in Idaho voters, instead of browbeating them or suggesting they were backward or behind the times, as some liberals did.
After a long, difficult campaign season, the win-loss record is certainly gratifying, especially given the media’s gloom-and-doom predictions following the GOP State Convention in June. Turns out that competition is good. It actually strengthened our party. Rather than resting on our laurels, Idaho Republicans dared to be better. And it paid off this fall.
Bucking the national swoon over Barack Obama, Idahoans gave John McCain and Idaho native Sarah Palin a huge 26-point margin of victory in Idaho. Also, the Idaho GOP actually gained a state legislative seat this year – a vast improvement over the seven legislative seats lost to Democrats just two years ago.
The House totals are now 52 Republicans and 18 Democrats. In the Senate, the margin remains 28-7 in favor of Republicans. While we were unable to maintain an all-GOP Congressional delegation – the direct result of Congressman Bill Sali being heavily outspent by national Democrats and their liberal out-of-state allies – Jim Risch ran a nearly flawless campaign to become our next U.S. Senator and join Senator Mike Crapo in representing Idaho.
And don’t forget the overwhelming re-election of Mike Simpson to Congress.
Aside from losing more ground in the State Legislature, Idaho Democrats also lost out in the courthouses. Most notably, the Democrats’ much-trumpeted plan to take over the Ada County Courthouse was thwarted. Republican Sharon Ullman defeated incumbent Paul Woods, while incumbent Republican Rick Yzagguire easily fended off a challenge from David Langhorst, giving Ada County an all-Republican Commission.
Ada County voters knew where to go to keep their property taxes down, and traditional stronghold counties like Canyon, Kootenai and Bonneville all stayed in the hands of Republicans. Even more important than wins and losses, however, the Idaho Republican Party increased its strength and vitality, adapting to the needs and demands of the future. Change was the clarion call of this year’s elections. Leading the way, Idaho’s GOP was up to the challenge and all of Idaho will be the better for it.
Norm Semanko is the Chairman of the Idaho Republican Party.
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Regardless, the Idaho GOP did manage to avoid the meltdown that the national GOP experienced on Tuesday, and even managed to improve their positions in local and statewide offices. This continues to be a difficult state for Democrats to make inroads, but we do need to keep fighting for our principles and supporting quality candidates. If we are right, then eventually the citizens of this state will come around and that deep-red color will turn slightly purple.
Idaho clung to benighted remnants of a nineteenth century polity just as did so much of neo-frontier America.
Russia, China--much of Asia--are anticipating the eclipse of the American Century--as nearly half of Americans long impotently for a return to colonialism...
Your refusal to admit that Bill Sali lost because he was an ineffective bomb-thrower makes the rest of your analysis suspect. Sen. Obama outspent Sen. McCain, yet McCain easily won Idaho, including the 1st district. C'mon, just admit it... Bill Sali was out of step with his constituents (who frequently pass school bonds, with concomitant tax increases, by substantial supermajorities), and a majority of them recognized that Bill Sali just didn't have the right temperment to represent them in Congress. Your failure to admit this simple fact makes it much less likely that anyone will take anything you say seriously ever again.
One observes that Congressman Bill Sali was elected in the first place by heavily outspending with the help of national Republicans and their conservative out-of-state allies such as the Club for Growth.
You say your Republican cronies are champions of "limited government, less spending, and lower taxes." As compared with WHO? The Republicans have been in power in Idaho since before paper was invented (grin), and our taxes aren't particularly low, or our government particularly small. Looks like a bunch of RINOs from this observer's seat! With RINO King Risch leading the charge! (He ran on his record of lower taxes for hardworking Idahoans... good one! It was a joke, right?)
Regarding Sali's loss, I say bubblehead hit the nail on the head. I believe Sali's philosophy is largely in step with his constituents, but his rock-the-boat style rubbed people the wrong way. (Compare him with the quiet, thoughtful effectiveness of Mike Crapo.) Maybe he can get some "choreography" lessons in his free time and come back. I'm sure Minnick is aware he'll have to appeal to some conservative constituents if he wants more than 2 years.
Don't relax, Norm.
Teton County elected an all Democratic County Commission for the first time in my memory, so it's not all bad news for the Democrats.
And furthermore, doesn't the sanctity of life mean that the GOP alpha males would willingly shoulder the financial burden of all the unwanted children born to the female unliberated (enslaved)bodies? Otherwise, wouldn't these selfsame sanctimonious males not value the sanctity of the life of the born children?
Indeed.
Don't you realize that one party rule is only bad when it is Democrats in control? Things are just fine when the GOP has complete control of all branches of government! Or so Karl Rove would have everyone believe.
I'm not sure how the casual observer could come to that conclusion, given that an incumbent Republican Congressman was rejected, and Boise and Garden City legislators retained their seats despite a big push by the Republican Party.
1) Sali lost an EXTREMELY close race despite being outspent three or four to one. For those of us in the private sector, we are fully aware as to the advantages one gets as a result of huge promotion dollar discrepancies.
2) You are correct, Sharon, about Boise and Garden City Democratic legislators retaining their seats. However, consider the fact that the Republican majority added a seat to their majority because of a gain in Idaho Fallls, as well as two wins by Republican candidates over their Democratic counterparts in the Ada County Commision races.
Thank you for your comments, Sharon. I look forward to continuing our dialogue.
2) Well, if we're going to go to the county level, my understanding is that Teton County elected a full slate of Democratic county commissioners, and that's just what I heard off the top of my head; I haven't fully researched statewide Democratic gains at the county level.
I'm like you, in the Teton County sense -- I simply don't know. I'm only familiar with the situation here in Ada County, where one or both of the Republican victories (Yzaguirre, Ullman) were surprises to some degree.
Look forward to your (and others') reply!
Minnick's victory in ID-01 was primarily attributable to the weakness of the incumbent. Mind you, this district may end up being the most Republican district in the country that is represented by a Democrat, according to Cook's PVI ratings (it was R+19 heading into Tuesday). That in itself speaks volumes concerning how big this win was for Idaho Democrats. As I stated, any REASONABLE conservative Republican incumbent would have easily won on Tuesday. Since Bill Sali lost, you can make the requisite inferences :-).
So it would be more appropriate to compare Idaho Republican performance in the legislative races to that of earlier Presidential election years, and in that regard one might want to note that the single seat pick-up was the worst performance in twenty years.