I have concerns about Idaho’s Republican Party Platform and how the KCRCC treats members of our community who are not fierce adherents of said platform. See my library for the most current Idaho Republican Party Platform.

Let me reassure everyone that I both believe and support our U.S. Constitution and the Idaho State Constitution. I think we can agree these documents have a few imperfections which we legislatively change by creating amendments from time to time. Strict adherence has never been a requirement of our citizens, but a belief in, and a loyalty to the goodness of our republic has been and should always be an expectation.

Platforms are very different from Constitutions

Constitutions are documents of governance. Platforms are documents of groups of people with certain beliefs. Beliefs change based upon available knowledge and fads of the time. Some members of our society have beliefs they will never change no matter the amount of available knowledge. A great example is those that still believe the Earth is flat. They cannot trust the evidence and it is moot to try to convince them otherwise. It is up to those who do not agree with that point of view to leave that piece alone and yet still include the deniers knowing this argument should not matter for the survival of their group.

We know political party platforms change based upon the desires of a more elite group of representatives. We, the people, elect these representatives but our understanding of the actual workings of the partisan policies they put in place is seriously limited. Our efforts to inform the public of our central committee policies is also seriously limited. To become informed we must choose to actively engage. Only through engagement do we begin to understand how we have given power to our Central Committees to dictate the direction of our parties. Most community members have less of an understanding of the parties’ central committees rules and policies than they do of their legislators. This has much to do with how things are communicated to the communities they represent.

It is my impression that the current KCRCC is uncompromising regarding adherence to the party platform

Idaho Republican legislators have been censored for what the KCRCC views as a betrayal of the platform. Brent Regan has a column in the CDA Press where he repeatedly denigrates those who do not strongly adhere to the current platform, yet have been lifelong Republicans in our community. Current KCRCC members do the same. For those that choose silence, your silence speaks volumes. The KCRCC periodically publishes The People’s Pen where gaslighting and denigration of those who are not part of their flock is the norm.

The KCRCC is not a fraternal organization, but a private party that uses your taxpayer dollars

The KCRCC is disrespectful of long-standing Republicans. Mary Souza was appalled by how she was treated when she came before their rating and vetting committee two years ago. I was a Democrat before I became a Republican, just like Donald Trump, Ronald Reagan and Brandon Durst.  Becoming a Republican made sense. However, I still have Democrat friends and it concerns me that the KCRCC would use something like a party change against me, but not against the men I mentioned above. KCRCC ballots are printed, mailed and tabulated by county officials.

I am a conservative

Fundamentally, I do not believe you give someone something just because they want it (the only person this rule does not apply to is my husband, and for good reason).

I am 100% a believer in community. That is why I have, and still do volunteer. I prefer to volunteer for organizations that also believe in community. There is a big difference in volunteering for community organizations that are not limited to just working with church members of our community.

I believe in civility. My dad is a Freemason, and in 2015 served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Alaska. His platform during his tenure was civility. I stand with my father on this. We need to be respectful of each other. If we are respectful, we can engage the young, the old, and all those in between to aid us in the work we need to do to keep our country and our state great.

Thank you, constituents, for your time and support. We are in this together.