Why There's a Civil War in Idaho -- Inside the GOP

[brooklynite]

Politico

“There’s a civil war in the Idaho Republican Party,” said Idaho Democratic Party chair Fred Cornforth, who recently resigned due to a cancer diagnosis. “There are really three or four parties” under the uneasy Republican umbrella, he explained. “There are the populists — the ones making the most noise — and libertarians, moderates who’ve shifted right of center, meaning they aren’t really moderates any more, and Republicans who don’t recognize their party anymore and will drift over to voting Dem.”

Michelle Ballon, of Caldwell, Idaho, holds up a sign and joins protesters outside the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, Sept. 13, 2021.

Chuck Malloy, a veteran Republican adviser-turned-columnist, streamlines that list. “I’ve been saying for a long time Idaho is a two-party state,” he told me. “The Republican Party and the More Republican Party.”

Republican chair Luna dismisses the term “civil war” but acknowledges that, after more than two decades of Republican dominance, dissatisfaction is rising within the ranks. “This will be a primary like we’ve never seen in Idaho,” he said.

Two of the heaviest hitters in the Republican primary races — Gov. Little and estranged Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, who’s challenging him for the top job — weren’t at the candidate forum in Star. Little hasn’t yet declared his candidacy for reelection, though he’s raking in campaign contributions, and McGeachin’s spokesperson told me she was “traveling around the state.” Nor was the other nationally prominent figure in the governor’s race, Ammon Bundy, the sagebrush rebel and serial occupier of government facilities. That’s because “he was not a registered Republican” when invitations were issued, a host told me. He still isn’t.

Republicans in Disarray?

Left-Wing Rag?

[Torchlight]

1. Guess every for-profit media outlet needs to cover itself

with plausible deniability from time to time. Better for the shareholders that way.

[brooklynite]

2. Politico is a centrist publication based on the LWV analysis...

https://my.lwv.org/california/torrance-area/article/how-reliable-your-news-source-understanding-media-bias-2022

?itok=dtYwlD-a

[Torchlight]

3. Great response to a question I didn't ask and I point I didn't make.

[brooklynite]

4. "plausible deniability"

You seem to think Politico needs to "cover" its right-wing bias as opposed to simply reporting about politics on both side. Feel free to correct my interpretation of your analysis.

[Torchlight]

7. "So, by posting a comment on a political blog, I'm taking Politco down?"

Feel free to hold yourself to your own standards.

(if that came across as childish and without merit, it was.)

[brooklynite]

8. I never said you were taking Politico down...

You're entitled to your opinion of their editorial policy. I'm interpreting what that opinion was. As I've said before, people here leap to the "right wing rag" assessment every time Political publishes something they don't like, and remain silent every time Politico publishes something they do.

[Torchlight]

10. For-profit media plays both sides. By design. Plausible deniability.

As I've said before, I don't hold to them as sacred cows, simply as companies obligated to their shareholders.






(And as a head's up: interpreting things honestly is a great thing. Consistently misinterpreting things dishonestly just advertises character.)

[brooklynite]

11. And perhaps their shareholder want to make money by reporting on politics...

...which is what Politico does.

[Torchlight]

12. 'Perhaps' is as unsupported a word as 'if'

Perhaps media companies assert their their "reporting on politics..." are unbiased, fair and blanched. Which is what for-profit media does. Much as they often move goalposts from misinterpreting what I've said to arguing a completely new goalpost.

Would be surprising if they didn't assert that, regardless of accuracy.

[The Magistrate]

5. Anything Ranking CNN With Jacobin, Sir, Is A Joke In Poor Taste

[The Magistrate]

6. Always Happens In A One-Party City Or State, Sir

The party divides into factions, which soon become essentially differing parties. The breakdown may be by view or race, but is certain to occur.

[cbabe]

9. Never underestimate the power of the carrot and

marshmallow jello at the Sunday church potluck.

Small town social circles full of gossip and secrets leading to jealousies, resentments, alliances, factions.