Idaho Democrats can do better

"I feel like I’m in Russia," one Idaho voter told the Boise newspaper on Election Day, equating Republican domination of state politics with one-party Communist rule in the Kremlin.

Surely an overstatement. But a graphic perspective to the lopsided party representation in state government.

Yet, why blame Republicans for being the party of choice on Election Day for most Idahoans?

The imbalance of power is a tribute to the appeal of the Republican Party’s candidates and its agenda, and the Democratic Party’s lackluster ability to win the hearts and minds of Idaho voters.

Democrats in Idaho simply need to do better, just as Democrats nationally need to do better.

The state’s Democrats may just have gotten a break they need – in a remarkable coincidence, two of the minority party’s best and brightest performers, both from the Ketchum area, have been elected by their peers to the top leadership posts of Democratic party in the state Legislature.

Rep. Wendy Jaquet and Sen. Clint Stennett will now hold center stage as legislators spin new programs – and both will be the principal voices of the Democratic Party when media report legislative activities.

This is no small or unimportant role: how Jaquet and Stennett articulate their opposition to, or support of, legislation will put a face on the Democratic Party that is either appealing or a turnoff.

Jaquet and Stennett and their colleagues need also to be innovative, attuned to the rapidly changing Idaho culture and the demands of a state whose growth is fueled by newcomers of diverse and competing interests.

Republicans, however, shouldn’t necessarily take comfort in their sheer numbers. One need only look to Washington and the GOP-dominated Senate and House, and the chaos that reigns there, brought on by the arrogance of numbers and presumed unchallenged power.

The once-most lionized of the batch, Newt Gingrich, is gone, dethroned and dispatched into obscurity for blunders brought on by his sense of imperious infallibility.

So, as Idaho Democrats try to rebuild the party into fighting trim and a chance to at least even the odds in the Legislature, they should keep in mind the Washington model: Overconfident Republicans who believed they could do no wrong, but blundered so badly a leader needed to be purged. Their hopes of impeaching Clinton have all but been dashed because of public sentiment.

The best-run state governments are those where both major parties have rough equivalence. In such circumstances, coalitions involving both Democrats and Republicans who disagree with their leaders can be formed to stop steamroller politics.

And equivalent numbers from both parties provide an infusion of disparate ideas that benefit everyone in the state.

Murphy is the retired publisher of the Arizona Republic and a former radio commentator.