Party platforms tell us what is coming. They outline priorities that guide and shape a party’s legislative priorities for the next few years.
Paraphrasing a quote from the gospel of Matthew: “By their words you will know them.”
Most voters never read a campaign brochure, let alone a party platform. That is a shame. Platforms are debated, amended, and adopted by each party’s most committed members, in the party’s own words. They will tell you what the people we send to Boise will be asked to prioritize more honestly than any campaign ad.
Here is my challenge: Read the platforms for both major parties. The Idaho Republican Party platform, adopted this June, is posted at idgop.org. The Idaho Democratic Party platform is at idahodems.org. Ask one question of each: What does this document ask the Legislature to do?
The Democratic platform asks the legislature to fully fund public schools and keep public dollars in public classrooms. To lower the cost of living and protect earned benefits. To expand access to health care and stop the exodus of doctors from our state. To protect the ballot box, and to conserve the water, land, and public access that make Idaho a wonderful place to live. Addressing these issues will not be easy, but they are worthy of action.
The Republican platform asserts that Idaho may disregard federal law or federal courts. It recommends that the legislature and governor “nullify any and all existing and future unconstitutional federal mandates, federal court opinions, and laws.” In the same paragraph, it demands Idaho “continue to request funding and assistance from the Federal Government.” The platform also seeks to abolish the federal income tax, cancel a woman’s ability to manage her own reproductive health, and eliminate voters’ right to directly elect their U.S. senators.
Talk about backward thinking. Nullification was settled against the states before the Civil War, and the Supreme Court closed the question in 1958 in Cooper v. Aaron, where the Court addressed the Little Rock, Arkansas, school desegregation crisis following Brown v. Board of Education. The 17th Amendment was ratified in 1913. Welcome to the world according to the Idaho GOP. Set your clock back one hundred years.
Every minute wasted on ridiculous rollbacks of civil rights and refighting culture wars is time not spent instructing our children in working and effective schools, creating affordable housing solutions, and developing quality and affordable health care.
These party platforms matter. They set the agenda before a single bill is drafted. The platform sets the stage on which legislative members perform. The Idaho GOP has ruled in Boise for three decades. Their vision for Idaho is clear, and it faces backward.
We need policymakers that are future-oriented, one that asks what comes next. A party that wants to solve problems, not force people to live in a pale imitation of a misremembered past.
By their words you will know them. Read the documents. Decide what future you want Idaho to pursue.
Todd DeVries works in the mental health field. He is the state committeeman for the Bonneville County Democratic Central Committee.