You know, people are always asking me how to tell a real Republican from a fake one, or how to identify a true conservative. Are there Democrats masquerading as Republicans? Libertarians? As chair of the party, I can’t unilaterally declare who is or isn’t a “real Republican”—that’s ultimately up to the voters—but I can tell you what to look for.
The Republican Party was founded in a little schoolhouse in Wisconsin in 1854 by men and women who believed slavery was evil and incompatible with the truths laid out in our founding documents: that all people are created equal and possess the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
In the nearly two centuries since, Republicans have built a philosophy centered on limited government, low taxes, individual liberty, and the enduring importance of faith, family, and freedom. In Idaho, that philosophy is reflected in the Idaho GOP Platform, which every federal, statewide, and legislative candidate was invited to affirm, or at least explain where they disagree.
So how do you know who deserves your vote in the Republican primary?
In Idaho, nearly everyone claims to be conservative. Almost every Republican candidate says they’re pro-life. But what does that actually mean? Is that candidate working to weaken Idaho’s abortion ban? Do they support the initiative to legalize abortion? Do they hide behind left-wing euphemisms like “women’s healthcare” or “reproductive health”?
The same goes for the Second Amendment. Plenty of candidates talk tough about gun rights. But do they support red flag laws that allow firearms to be confiscated without due process? Do they echo left-wing talking points like “common sense background checks”?
And every Idaho Republican says they support small government, low taxes, and reduced spending. But pay attention. Did your candidate boast of voting against tax cuts? Do they support expanding the welfare state—taking from those who work to give to those who don’t? Do they act as though your paycheck belongs to the government first, and you should be grateful to keep part of it?
Listen carefully to the words candidates use. Do they sound like Republicans or Democrats? Do they sound like people you’d meet on a Magic Valley farm, a North Idaho construction site, or in a diner in Salmon, Challis, or Preston? Or do they sound more like the editorial board of a Boise newspaper?
Finally, watch how they treat people. When families flee states like Washington, Oregon, California, and Colorado—escaping high taxes, overregulation, and woke politics—does your candidate welcome them? Or dismiss them as “cowbirds” and outsiders?
Your vote is your tool to build a government that represents your values and preserves the principles upon which the Republican Party was founded. Early and absentee voting is already underway. Vote today, or make a plan to vote on May 19. The future of Idaho—and America—depends on it.
(4) comments
Republicans say their platform is pro-life. Yet they promote the death penalty in some perverse contradiction to their own values. They believe in war and will promote any excuse to wage it. They believe the American military is free to kill and maime any persons they so desire and none have protection of the law. They will never admit the truth that America is an authoritarian State at odds with the civilized world and dominated by an hypocrisy that makes some bold claim the ",Jesus is on our side." such unmitigated hypocrisy.
Wake up America. The Balance of power no longer exists. There are no checks and balances. Trump is an autocrat and a dictator who puts himself above the law, insults and denigrates are most sacred institutions. monopolizes every area of American incentive and freedom in of the worst--College and NFL sports. Since when is an elcted Civil servant free to name buildings after himself, to coin money with his name on it, This is no longer a country Of the People By the people and For the People. It is a country that feeds on politcal power and money and is bent on world economic domination, nothing but a new form of NAZISM and the promotion of Extreme Right Wing persecution bent on the destruction of the planet and the subjugation of resource rich third world countries.
Ranger, you're starting your argument with a false comparison. You say, "Republicans say their platform is pro-life. Yet they promote the death penalty in some perverse contradiction to their own values." "Pro-life" refers to abortion, the taking of an innocent life prior to birth." The death penalty has nothing to do with that, since it is applied to murderers. Conversely, how can someone be "pro-choice" and against the death penalty?
The Republican Party was founded in a little schoolhouse in Wisconsin in 1854 by men and women who believed slavery was evil and incompatible with the truths laid out in our founding documents: that all people are created equal and possess the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
Republicans are actually quite humorous if not sad in their political beliefs.
Thomas jefferson was a Republican-Democrat. A strange fish in the political world. But party names were often random and changed quite quickly.
So then shall we say Abraham Lincoln was a Conservative. Hardly he was a Liberal and a Progressive. And the Republican Party was the Liberal and Progressive Party opposed to things like a billionaire class and the rich controlling politics. Theodore Roosevelt was one of the last Republicans. he was the great trust buster.
The Conservative party in 1860 fired on Fort Sumter and declared war for the sole purpose of the preservation of slavery.
Those same states that declared war against a unified U.S. are now RED States and the party of Power is the Republican Party.
The 1948 democratic convention saw the shift become a reality when the Democrats introduced the first civil rights Bill. Two States left the democratic party-Alabama and Mississippi-those same states lead by tennessee are now bereaking up democratic presincts in hopes of maintain9ing a Republican Conservative majority.
Those issues that the Republican party now stands to uphold are # 1 Right to Work States which is virtually anti union and anti minimum wage. The minimum wage in idaho has remained 7.25 for 3 decades due to Conservative Republican rule. federal law is ignored and an 8 hour day is no longer the law and overtime mandatory for anything over 8 hours.
The whole system is designed to undermine labor and promote the slave wage state.
the Klu Klux Klan is a Christian organization that is anti immigrant anti semitic and anti Catholic. Their slogans feed on hate. Freedom is just another word for the rich are the only real Americans in republican slogans. They are predominately witch burners looking for scapegoats. Their Christianity is often just a mask for White Supremist slogans which simply means the Pledge of Alligance is a fraud. "One Nation under God" is really a joke as they continue looking for things to steal and third world countries to rob. Venzuela and Iranian oil sugar plantations in Cuba. all at the price of genocide as they cloak themselves in phony slogans which underlies little more than bigotry and hate.
Ask a Republican why he is MAGA. Mainly because it sounds so good and loyal and just so John Wayne. Because lying propagandist will tell their deaf dumb and sorely stupid constiuency that they are the Party of Lincoln. No true the name sticks. But in ethics and American values they are the party of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson. These are the men who orchestratedn mainly by Southern conscription the deat of 350,000 Confederate and 500,000 Union loyalists. Ane these crazies of MAGA want to construct statues to men who profited from slavery, stole the labor of other humans, and murdered a million or more Americans.
This is what it means to be a Republican. Their sins are deep and endless and continue unabated to implement world chaos war to enrich not Americans as a people but the few like the Planter Class of the South.
Oh sure, I bet people are forming a double line so they can ask Moon how to tell a real republican. More of her baloney.
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