They Say Idaho is a "Red" State. But Are We Really?

I started my chairmanship of the Idaho Republican Party by reminding our party members of the central message in Lincoln’s “Lyceum Address.” In a contentious and morally-troubled time, Lincoln took great pains to remind his fellow citizens that the alternative to a “love of law and order” was the wild and unruly passions of mob rule. Only by cultivating “a reverence for the constitution and laws” could Americans evade the trap of wild and unruly passions.

We live in a similarly difficult time, where many of our fellow citizens are increasingly cynical about the health of our republic and the durability of our constitution. Challenges to the building block of our civilization, the family, are proliferating. And so many of our institutions seem incapable of addressing the challenges we confront.

We are told that Idaho is a “red” state; what that means for the working men and women that call Idaho home is less clear. A “red” state should be a place where families are supported and strengthened; where entrepreneurship and small businesses can thrive; and where citizens can live safe from persecution and free from violence.

The Idaho Republican Party offers a platform of sound policies that fights to make the “red” state vision a reality. Our party platform works to increase prosperity for all of Idaho’s people. But our party is also dedicated to a set of principles — or as our founding fathers called it, moral “propositions” — including, individual liberty; equality before the law; government of limited and enumerated powers; and a commitment to religious liberty and freedom of conscience.

These principles are essential to keeping Idaho free of the dysfunction and the pathologies that have come to define so many of the places where Leftist ideology dominates. Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles aren’t just failed cities where crime and a growing gap between the mega rich and ordinary Americans define everyday life. These cities are proof of what happens when Leftist ideology is implemented. From needle exchanges to homeless encampments to sanctuary city policy, Democrat ideas make for dangerous streets and unlivable neighborhoods. Our Idaho Republican Party principles are a guide — a compass — to help our state and our people navigate beyond the failures of California or Oregon.