Closing Arguments

Breaking down this election to basic principles

This election feels like it has been going on forever. Joe Kent announced his primary campaign for Congress in Washington’s 3rd District way back in February of 2021. Here in Idaho, Ed Humphreys launched his campaign a few months later in May. Now we stand together, eighteen months later, on the eve of the biannual most important election of our lifetimes.

You’ve seen the ads, the mailers, and the signs. Hopefully you have had a chance to meet some of the candidates, shake their hands, and look them in the eyes. If you have not voted already, make sure to take the time to do so tomorrow. It really does matter, even more so locally than at the national level.

Republican candidates at Saturday’s BSU/BYU football game

I drew a little bit of pushback in my recent voter guide for saying “when in doubt, vote Republican” but I stand by that statement. In general, the Republican Party provides the best arena for advancing the cause of liberty. Third parties are great in theory, but in practice they rarely accomplish anything, and more often than not they damage the cause by allowing even worse candidates to win.

Obviously there are some high profile races where independent or third party candidates do have a fighting chance. If you think that the cause of liberty is better served by electing the wild card Ammon Bundy than it is by voting for Governor Brad Little, then by all means cast your vote that way. Same thing for Scott Cleveland’s campaign against Senator Mike Crapo. In neither case is there a threat of a Democrat stealing a split vote, so feel free to vote your conscience.

I know many frustrated conservatives who say there really is no difference between an establishment Republican and their Democrat opponents. Allow me to offer some reasons why this is not usually the case:

There is room for debate within the Republican Party. Questions of taxation, regulation, subsidies for businesses, the role of government in moral and social issues, immigration - all these issues have divided the GOP for the last century. Sometimes we end up with candidates and elected leaders who fall on the wrong side of some of these issues, which can be frustrating. But at least we are having the debate.

The Democrats today have gone completely off the rails. Imagine telling Franklin Roosevelt or John Kennedy that in 2022:

• The Democratic Party supports coercing children to believe they are transgender or nonbinary and then permanently maiming them in the name of that ideology

• That abortion on demand, up to the moment of birth, has become the dominant theme of Democratic candidates

• That civil rights has morphed into a perverted system of discrimination against white Americans that involved teaching children to hate themselves and their heritage

• That Democrats support mask and vaccine mandates, literally wishing death and destruction on anyone who disagrees

• That in the name of protecting democracy their party would engage in the systematic demonization of half the country’s voters, calling them insurrectionists and fascists

JFK would be far too conservative to make it as a Democrat today. He would probably be too conservative for the Republicans, for that matter. His positions provide a great measuring rod for how far our society has fallen in the last sixty years.

Two years of Democratic rule have created a country with nearly double digit inflation, where everything is too expensive for regular families to afford. They have us on the brink of war with a nuclear power in the name of protecting the Biden family’s corrupt slush fund. They continue to find new ways to divide us - left versus right, black versus white, women versus men, rich versus poor. For America to survive, the Democrats must lose, and that process begins on Tuesday.

A new crop of Republicans is on the verge of taking power tomorrow. Blake Masters of Arizona could be a transformational leader of this generation, J.D. Vance of Ohio brings working class experience to the conversation, and Lee Zeldin of New York has a shot at ending one-party rule in that state. Here in Idaho, Raúl Labrador stands on the brink of radically reforming the office of Attorney General, which will pay dividends for years to come.

Obviously the Republican Party is not perfect. But unlike the Democrats, there is a path forward on the right for saving our country. We grow understandably frustrated with the establishment, moderate, in-name-only Republicans who too often occupy positions of power in the party and the government, but they are nearly always the better option than the Democrats.

• Republicans still generally believe in objective truth, while Democrats have no problem believing the most absurd lies

• Republicans generally prefer freedom, while Democrats want a government big enough to give them everything they want

• Republicans generally believe in the dignity of all people, while Democrats divide us by race, sex, and class, and use these divisions to further their own power

Voting Republican on Tuesday is merely the first step. Get involved as a volunteer or a PC - this gives you a voice in the party and an ability to move it in the direction you want. Go down to the Capitol and testify on bills during the session - our legislators need our support when they are doing what’s right and pushback when they go awry. I have been so impressed with how accessible politicians in Idaho are - I am sure most would be happy to sit down with you over a cup of tea.

It’s easy to complain about the sorry state of our representative government, more difficult to actually do something about it. Tomorrow we have an opportunity to send a clear message to our leaders from top to bottom, but the red wave is just the beginning. Let’s get to work!