Howard letter: Republican Party

It’s no secret that the Republican Party controls the vast majority of Idaho politics. Idaho is so predominantly “red” that those running for public office now take for granted that if you choose to run as a Democrat, more often than not, you choose to lose. By attaching yourself to the GOP, an Idaho political candidate can oftentimes seize public office simply by virtue of that basic, but calculated affiliation ... whether the most capable candidate or not.

Call it irony; call it poetic justice ... some just call it hilarious ... because now the GOP is shackled to an unwanted political outsider who’s running for the highest public office in these United States ... under the Republican banner. At a time in history when the national Republican Party is completely void of direction or representative leadership, this billionaire bully is poised to seize the Republican presidential nomination ... against the GOP’s best efforts to stop him.

The party that continues to dominate and foist its agenda on Idaho is now itself being forcefully dominated … by “Donald the dominator.” (You heard it here first.)

Whenever a single political entity dominates simply by virtue of whom they are, the odds of gaining genuine representative leadership and balanced governance are dicey at best.

This story was originally published May 23, 2016 at 11:38 PM with the headline "Howard letter: Republican Party."