ID Governor GOP candidates debate: Must see !

[Tender Branson]

Start with the closing remarks first:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQlPcwiruaY#t=3141

[Tender Branson]

"Nanananananaaaa-nuh !"

Great debate.

[Bojack Horseman]

Are you sure this isn't an SNL skit?

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I'm voting for the curmudgeon.

[Badger]

Apparantly this stems from Otter's insistance that if he debate his one legitimate challenger (a state senator) the forum would have to include EVERY candidate. The strategy behind this is rather obvious.

[Indy Texas]

The Idaho Republican gubernatorial primary: where the man named Butch Otter is the most normal person in the race.

[Incipimus iterum]

This debate was a spectacle, besides Otter knew that inviting the others to the debate would help him out in a way

[badgate]

This debate was a spectacle, besides Otter knew that inviting the others to the debate would help him out in a way

Yup, he definitely succeeded in neutering his legitimate challenger.

[Suburbia]

This is crazy. You may have some fringe elements on the left, but on the right, this is more insane.

[nolesfan2011]

the old man reading the bible and talking about earthquakes was great though, I'd vote for him out of trolling

[MurrayBannerman]

This is crazy. You may have some fringe elements on the left, but on the right, this is more insane.

I'm sure if the left did this there would be some overly pierced, purple haired, OWS communist that would come off just as crazy.

[Donnie]

Fantastic debate. Do we have some ID Gov polls conducted after the debate??

[IceSpear]

This is crazy. You may have some fringe elements on the left, but on the right, this is more insane.

I'm sure if the left did this there would be some overly pierced, purple haired, OWS communist that would come off just as crazy.

Maybe at a Green/Socialist/Communist Party debate, not a Democratic one.

[badgate]

This is crazy. You may have some fringe elements on the left, but on the right, this is more insane.

I'm sure if the left did this there would be some overly pierced, purple haired, OWS communist that would come off just as crazy.

Maybe at a Green/Socialist/Communist Party debate, not a Democratic one.

Searching for equivalency in an incompatible reality.

[Deus Naturae]

This is crazy. You may have some fringe elements on the left, but on the right, this is more insane.

I'm sure if the left did this there would be some overly pierced, purple haired, OWS communist that would come off just as crazy.

Maybe at a Green/Socialist/Communist Party debate, not a Democratic one.

Really? If you invited every single candidate, no matter how insignificant, in a Democratic primary in a deep blue (Atlas red) State to a debate, you don't think there would any of those types?

[IceSpear]

This is crazy. You may have some fringe elements on the left, but on the right, this is more insane.

I'm sure if the left did this there would be some overly pierced, purple haired, OWS communist that would come off just as crazy.

Maybe at a Green/Socialist/Communist Party debate, not a Democratic one.

Really? If you invited every single candidate, no matter how insignificant, in a Democratic primary in a deep blue (Atlas red) State to a debate, you don't think there would any of those types?

Yes. Those types of people think all Democrats are evil right-wingers that are identical to Republicans, so why would they run as one?

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

This is crazy. You may have some fringe elements on the left, but on the right, this is more insane.

I'm sure if the left did this there would be some overly pierced, purple haired, OWS communist that would come off just as crazy.

Maybe at a Green/Socialist/Communist Party debate, not a Democratic one.

Really? If you invited every single candidate, no matter how insignificant, in a Democratic primary in a deep blue (Atlas red) State to a debate, you don't think there would any of those types?

Yes. Those types of people think all Democrats are evil right-wingers that are identical to Republicans, so why would they run as one?

There would be at least one. You are making a hilariously broad judgment on this one. For God's sake, just take that guy from the New York City Council that thinks gay marriage is a ploy to oppress black people.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

This debate was a spectacle, besides Otter knew that inviting the others to the debate would help him out in a way

Why would Otter worry about his reelection chances in Idaho?  Is he that unpopular?

[MaxQue]

This debate was a spectacle, besides Otter knew that inviting the others to the debate would help him out in a way

Why would Otter worry about his reelection chances in Idaho?  Is he that unpopular?

He worries about being primaried.

[Indy Texas]

This is crazy. You may have some fringe elements on the left, but on the right, this is more insane.

I'm sure if the left did this there would be some overly pierced, purple haired, OWS communist that would come off just as crazy.

Maybe at a Green/Socialist/Communist Party debate, not a Democratic one.

Really? If you invited every single candidate, no matter how insignificant, in a Democratic primary in a deep blue (Atlas red) State to a debate, you don't think there would any of those types?

Yes. Those types of people think all Democrats are evil right-wingers that are identical to Republicans, so why would they run as one?

There would be at least one. You are making a hilariously broad judgment on this one. For God's sake, just take that guy from the New York City Council that thinks gay marriage is a ploy to oppress black people.

Nope, the Democratic Party doesn't work the same way the Republican Party does in its current incarnation. And there aren't nearly as many purple-haired OWS people in this country as there are conspiracy theory-raving Bible thumpers.

When the Democratic Party dredges up weirdos, they're generally not Far Leftists. Rather, they're eccentrics whose weirdness doesn't fit neatly into a left-right paradigm: think Kesha Rogers (and the LaRouche Movement in general).

[Deus Naturae]

This is crazy. You may have some fringe elements on the left, but on the right, this is more insane.

I'm sure if the left did this there would be some overly pierced, purple haired, OWS communist that would come off just as crazy.

Maybe at a Green/Socialist/Communist Party debate, not a Democratic one.

Really? If you invited every single candidate, no matter how insignificant, in a Democratic primary in a deep blue (Atlas red) State to a debate, you don't think there would any of those types?

Yes. Those types of people think all Democrats are evil right-wingers that are identical to Republicans, so why would they run as one?

There would be at least one. You are making a hilariously broad judgment on this one. For God's sake, just take that guy from the New York City Council that thinks gay marriage is a ploy to oppress black people.

Nope, the Democratic Party doesn't work the same way the Republican Party does in its current incarnation. And there aren't nearly as many purple-haired OWS people in this country as there are conspiracy theory-raving Bible thumpers.

When the Democratic Party dredges up weirdos, they're generally not Far Leftists. Rather, they're eccentrics whose weirdness doesn't fit neatly into a left-right paradigm: think Kesha Rogers (and the LaRouche Movement in general).

To be fair, Harley Brown doesn't really fit neatly into the left-right paradigm either...

[Indy Texas]

This is crazy. You may have some fringe elements on the left, but on the right, this is more insane.

I'm sure if the left did this there would be some overly pierced, purple haired, OWS communist that would come off just as crazy.

Maybe at a Green/Socialist/Communist Party debate, not a Democratic one.

Really? If you invited every single candidate, no matter how insignificant, in a Democratic primary in a deep blue (Atlas red) State to a debate, you don't think there would any of those types?

Yes. Those types of people think all Democrats are evil right-wingers that are identical to Republicans, so why would they run as one?

There would be at least one. You are making a hilariously broad judgment on this one. For God's sake, just take that guy from the New York City Council that thinks gay marriage is a ploy to oppress black people.

Nope, the Democratic Party doesn't work the same way the Republican Party does in its current incarnation. And there aren't nearly as many purple-haired OWS people in this country as there are conspiracy theory-raving Bible thumpers.

When the Democratic Party dredges up weirdos, they're generally not Far Leftists. Rather, they're eccentrics whose weirdness doesn't fit neatly into a left-right paradigm: think Kesha Rogers (and the LaRouche Movement in general).

To be fair, Harley Brown doesn't really fit neatly into the left-right paradigm either...

That statement was primarily in regards to the man whose massive beard (and political platform) was one part Ayatollah and one part Grizzled Mining Prospector.

[tik 🪀✨]

That was wonderful and very refreshing.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

Butch Otter - Blue
Russ Fulcher - Yellow

For anyone interested in the outcome of this disturbing spectacle: Butch Otter won a decisive victory against challenger Russ Fulcher. Although Fulcher appeared to be a sane statesman in comparison to the buffoons on stage with him, he ran on a far-right platform of discontentment suggestive of an underlying mental disorder. Fulcher believes that Idaho should take control of land controlled by the federal government, dismantle Idaho's health insurance exchange and auction off public property according to the dictates of the marketplace.

The fact that Butch Otter was unable to run up huge margins against this lunatic demands a thorough investigation. As the rest of the nation is revolted by the antics of the right-wing of the far-right, Idaho's electorate appears to be treating it with warmth and further interest. Governor Beaver might be a libertarian-flavored, movement conservative who is a product of the Sagebrush Rebellion but he has been in public office for decades and so have his fellow allies in the Republican establishment. Therein lies the disappointment with Idaho's dictatorship of the petit bourgeois, a dictatorship more eager to please staid farmers than retired police offers and accountants from Orange County. Otter held his coalition together by grandstanding with guns, offering gradual tax reduction and re-instating education reforms that savaged the Idaho Education Association. For Mormons and farmers, there was no reason to rock the boat. For those seeking to make their own private Idaho, this was not enough and they voted for Fulcher.

It's important to note that opposition to Otter isn't only rooted in out of state, Goldwater-style radicalism but also a general hatred of the EPA and the federal government that is felt with particular intensity in towns that are effectively tied to the edicts of eastern bureaucrats. You can see this in the resounding rejection of Otter in the north Idaho hinterlands that are quickly becoming a part of the reactionary redoubt. These communities have become stripped of economic value after the decline of logging and mining and they're mad as hell. Kootenai County, Ada County and Canyon County are diaspora dominant and a different explanation is necessary. It's an explanation that's almost impossible to articulate because the phenomenon of conservative migration in the 21st century is truly bizarre. It's not directly traceable to white flight or tax revolt or the rejection of loose post-68 morality. It's more in line with the romanticism present in hippies moving to Boulder or Missoula or Eugene or Vermont in the 70s.

To put it more succinctly, this primary election reveals that two Idahos are in conflict with each other. I expect that future Republican primaries will be fought closely along these social cleavages. Pay close attention and dispose of your preconceived notions of Idaho hicks. The people voting for lunatics aren't backwoodsmen, they're angry suburbanites.