Do your Republican candidates believe in the Republican Party platform, or do they use the party to get them elected? Truth is, there are two distinct groups in the Republican Party, and you can tell who belongs in which by their contributions, by the grouping of their signs, and by who is invited to speak at certain events.

If we all agree to the Idaho Republican Party preamble & platform, why is the Idaho Republican party so divided? There are 15 “We Believe” statements in the preamble of the Republican Party platform I would like to share with you. The “We believe” statement (written and published by the Republican Party) will be in black, and my opinion will be in pink.

We are Republicans because…

  1. We believe the strength of our nation lies with our faith and reliance on God our Creator, the individual, and the family; and that each person’s dignity, freedom, ability, and responsibility must be honored.
    1. If the Republican establishment truly believe this, you would not have seen closed churches, “essential” and “non-essential” businesses, or mask mandates in 2020 in Idaho. Do we believe our strength lies with our faith and reliance on God, or that it lies in the federal government? The answer from our current Republican representatives I see is more often the federal government and less often God.
  2. We believe we are inheritors of a distinct Western Civilization and that our traditional culture safeguards our identity as a free people.
    1. Have we lost our identity? We see woke culture, the devastating lack of instruction of our true history in our schools, liberty-minded Idahoans being bullied into silence and compliance: where is the evidence we believe this claim?
  3. We believe in American Exceptionalism.
    1. If the Idaho Republican party believed in this, we would see more Idahoans fighting to defend this concept. We would defend the idea that America is a uniquely exceptional nation like a heavyweight boxer defending his title.
  4. We believe the United States of America is unlike any other country on earth.
    1. If we believe this, why are so many in our current Republican establishment working to make us like all the other countries who have less freedom than we do?
  5. We believe the United States Constitution is the greatest and most inspired document to govern a nation, and the republican form of government it gives us, (U.S. Const. Art. IV §4), is the best guarantor of freedom in history.
    1. When we look at the currently elected Republicans here in Idaho, it seems like the U.S. & Idaho Constitutions are an after-thought, at best. When was the last time you read the constitution? Maybe you have never read it. How can we defend something we don’t read regularly? How can we believe and defend something we have never read?
  6. We believe in equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, sex, age or disability.
    1. We could also add vaccine status to this. If the Republicans believed this, we would see our elected officials defending our equal rights instead of trying to get us to comply to something that so fundamentally violates our rights.
  7. We believe human life begins at conception and is protected by the unalienable rights endowed by our Creator along with the fundamental right to life and shall not be infringed upon.
    1. Shall not be infringed means just that, no excuses. Listening to the Heart Beat Bill debated on the Senate Floor, Sen Patrick said (and I quote), “I lose either way I vote on the bill because of the division.” If Senator Patrick truly believed in protecting the unalienable rights of the most precious and innocent among us, I believe his statement would have been very different. And if our elected Republicans truly believed this, we would have ended the killing of our unborn in the state of Idaho a long time ago. So many say we have to do this in “baby steps”, or “incrementally”. First, stop saying baby steps – that is morbid. Second, why is something so fundamentally important not defended with our lives? Stop worrying about getting re-elected and start being men and women of valor protecting the most innocent among us.
  8. We believe free enterprise and encouraging individual initiative have brought this Nation opportunity, economic growth and prosperity.
    1. If we believe this, why did we have over 400 agency bills last session interfering with the free market? And why do we have over 200 government agencies on the books when constitutionally we are only to have 20?
  9. We believe government must practice fiscal responsibility, and that taxpayers shall allow the government only the money necessary to provide appropriate functions.
    1. What are the “appropriate functions”? If the Republicans believe this, shouldn’t they encourage citizens to be diligent and question every spending bill they propose? Do you think it was lawful to allow the Governor to use executive orders to keep our legislative branch from doing the job we sent them there to do (to be responsible with our tax money)? Senator Patrick voted in favor of bill 1136 that would have reigned in the Governor’s executive order, then he flipped his vote after the Governor vetoed it. Who or what changed his mind? And if he believed in the above, he wouldn’t have changed his mind. We should have seen all of our elected Republicans at the Capitol last summer (not just a few) to tell the Governor that the duly elected legislature would decide where and how to apply Idaho’s CARES tax dollars, not unelected appointees.
  10. We believe that our Founding Fathers gave us a government that is a servant of the people, not our master. The proper role of government is to provide for the people only those critical functions, which individuals or private organizations cannot perform.
    1. Does the Idaho Republican establishment believe they are servants to the people, or do they believe they serve the Governor? Or the Speaker of the house? Or IACI corporations who contribute to the majority of their campaigns? Again, we may want to research and define “critical functions.”
  11. We believe the most effective, responsible, responsive government is government closest to the people, and the sovereignty of the state must be protected. That government is the best that governs least.
    1. Do you think your currently elected officials are close to their constituents?
      How can an elected official be closest to the people if they are unreachable and unapproachable? Does accountability look like committee chairpersons hiding bills in their drawers? Sen. Patrick hid HB 140 (which passed the house) in his drawer. One man decided for the entire state of Idaho against a bill that would have protected and defended people’s equal rights and opportunities. How is that a representative form of government? Let’s talk state sovereignty – it must be protected from federal and global overreach! If we knew our founding documents and history, we would all know our state sovereignty supersedes federal authority, and must be treated & defended as such.
  12. We believe Idahoans must protect the principles and values that have made us strong.
    1. I would like to change the wording from “Idahoans must protect” to “it is Idahoans DUTY to protect and defend the principles and values….” All Idahoans must protect our principles & values, not just elected officials.
  13. We believe Idahoans value and should preserve our national strength and pride while working to promote peace, freedom, and human rights throughout the world.
    1. Again, I think “should” needs to be replaced with “will” preserve.
  14. We believe the protection of individual rights is upheld when personal responsibility for behavior is exercised.
    1. The more we grow government the more the government will control. They remove personal responsibility, slowly making people and more dependent and less independent. It is not the government’s responsibility to be our conscience! The original intent of government was to protect our individual rights. As an example: we have Republican elected officials now wanting to interfere and govern mental health. Do you trust the government to make these types of decisions for you and your family? Reading all these “we believe” statements from the Republican party, I have to ask, why are the Republicans leading the agenda to remove our independent spirit?
  15. We believe the Republican Party is the best vehicle for translating these ideals into positive and successful principles of government.
    1. Do you believe the Republican party as it exists in Idaho today is the best vehicle for these ideals? Some Republicans would call these ideals “far alt-right fringe ideas.” When we look at the actions of our elected Republicans, I am forced to wonder, “are they defending these beliefs?”

When we go to the polls on May 17th, we must ask ourselves which candidate truly believes in the above-listed statements. We can no longer trust that just because a candidate has an “R” behind their name, they uphold the platform of the Republican party. Sadly, the word conservative means nothing in the context of Idaho politics. It is your duty as a voter to be informed and engaged. No matter what candidates say, you can tell by our actions who we are & what we believe.

 

I am asked the following questions quite often:

  • What experience do you have?
  • What committees have you been involved in?

Maybe we are asking the wrong questions. Perhaps instead we should ask questions like:

  • Do you believe in the 15 statements in the Idaho preamble?
  • And will you stand and defend these statements and the constitution?

Once we are satisfied with the answers to those questions, we need to ask ourselves as members of the Republican Party, are we willing to keep those we elect accountable when their actions betray our constitution and party platform?
We have a Constitutional Republic if WE CAN KEEP IT!
I am asking you to send me to Boise where I will fight for and defend all the values that make Idaho the greatest hope for our children and grandchildren.