All politics is local. Idahoans must show up and vote against extremism | Opinion

The former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Tip O’Neil, popularized the phrase “all politics is local” to describe how politicians gain and stay in office. Tip may have mastered the politics of his day, but his “all politics is local” slogan takes on new meaning in our current malaise, as experts, analysts and armchair prognosticators take a stab at predicting what comes next after the Jan. 6 insurrection by armed vigilantes.

In a previous column, I touched on white Christian nationalists and the American Redoubt in Idaho where they gather to build fortresses to prepare for what they term the “Second Civil War.”

Idaho has gained national attention for organized efforts by a growing right wing to unseat locally elected officials who they contend violate their personal and moral codes of conduct. Too often, these self-righteous arbiters of our community standards seek to hold all members of a community to their notions of right and wrong.

North Idaho College recently made national headlines when a right-wing takeover of the college board jeopardized the college’s accreditation. A failed right-wing candidate for Congress in California moved to Meridian and led an effort to abolish the library district. Meridian’s Republican Party wasn’t conservative enough for Conservatives of: Meridian, so this separate political action committee was formed to field and support candidates from the far right.

At the state level, extremists ran off Republican legislators with years of service in their local communities but who didn’t pass muster with extremist Idaho. This last session was a great example of how many legislative efforts were aimed at removing authority from locally elected boards according to the precepts of right-wing Idaho.

So where is the countervailing power to this move to the far right? The answer in Idaho is not so clear and that comes as no shock to those who have followed local elections in America. For as long as I can remember, voters often failed to show up for local elections to which they paid scant attention but always voted in general elections where incessant campaign commercials drove them to the polls.

Low-turnout local elections are low-hanging fruit for right-wing insurgents seeking to seize control of local governments. They target communities caught off guard by the slow but steady trickle of migrants from states they claim are too “woke.” But even with turnout low, over the years it seemed to me that voters who did follow local issues usually managed to make the right call and vote for public officials who understood the community in which they lived and reflected the community standards in place over the years.

That’s how I saw the Boise region when my wife and I arrived here 20 years ago. Local government bodies seemed to reflect the traditional values of the community. But since Donald Trump’s attacks on civic virtue, public discourse at all levels of government has declined. At his rallies, he harangued decent public servants doing their job and encouraged his followers to rebel — often suggesting violence — against elected officials who didn’t square with Trump’s dystopian version of America.

Too often, Trump got his way as his acolytes left his rallies and then disrupted local government meetings time and time again. Their unruly behavior caused local governments to suspend their meetings as happened in Idaho in 2020 at an Central District Health board meeting when protesters showed up to protest COVID health precautions. In that case, the meeting was called off after 15 minutes due to safety concerns over protesters showing up at a board member’s home and scaring her children.

If disruption alone doesn’t work, Trumpian loyalists then run for office and seize control with their extremist agendas. Boise and many local governments in Idaho and beyond have been confronted and challenged by extremists who work quietly but effectively at removing citizens who reflect the majority standards of the community. In their place, they elect practitioners of Trump’s divisive and uncouth brand of politics. They attack duly elected local government officials and attempt to impose their own narrow code of conduct on communities under the guise of freedom.

There is a plain and simple lesson to be learned by anyone who believes in the democratic experiment at that level of government where citizens can have the most direct and positive impact on the quality of representation. It’s time for voices of reason to prevail over the rancorous voices of division in local governments, especially at elections when it is so easy for extremists to capture a seat on a local board which can throw the entire community into a tailspin of controversy and hostility.

In short, it’s time to show up and participate in the civic affairs of our communities. It’s time to get involved in the work of our local governments. It’s about showing up at local elections, by voting and supporting candidates who are committed to carrying on the work of those who have come before us and left a legacy of good government, not extreme government.

It will take an information stream that saturates our communities with the details of when local elections take place and where people vote. Gone are the days when local governments could strategize on how to keep turnout low so the “no” votes wouldn’t show up. Idaho is in transition in this respect, and its local governments can no longer assume only those who believe in quality education and good government will show up.

A perfect example of how difficult it is to follow the byzantine array of local governmental bodies is the Ada Community Library district that operates separately from the Boise and Meridian libraries. There is an election for board members on Tuesday, May 16, and it’s a timely moment for voters to get the details on where to vote and show up at the polls.

Just recently, the Ada Community Library’s board voted to remove from its collection six books that Idaho law would classify as “harmful to minors,” even though libraries are exempt from the law. Board members voted in violation of Idaho’s open meetings law, so here’s an opportunity for voters to find out who is running, what they stand for, and then vote.

It will take Idahoans organized in community associations and civic clubs to spread the word about local elections and the importance of showing up to vote. It’s a message that our businesses — large and small — can share in the media and on their websites so there is no doubt about the commitment our employers who drive the economic engine of the community make to our locally elected officials. It’s a message that parent-teacher associations can share with parents. It’s a message that not-for-profit boards can pass along to those they serve, all in the interest of preserving the Idaho that has worked for generations and will not be captured by extremists.

Tip O’Neal had it right. “All politics is local,” and now it’s within our power to stake our claim to the American democratic experiment that eventually rejects the work of those who operate outside the traditional values of Main Street America. Let’s show up!