Idaho Democrats peel off a really strong shot at Idaho Republicans so seldom it’s worth notice when they do. And notwithstanding that the speaker in this case, Boise attorney Grant Burgoyne, is a friend of long standing, it should be noted too because it could carry some resonance.

The target was a proposal adopted last weekend by the Idaho Republican Party, then as the Democrats are now meeting in convention at Idaho Falls. That party chose to adopt a voting system much that like used in Oregon and a number of other states, a party registration system: Voters declare which if any party they declare, and then vote only for those candidates for nomination. Idaho’s current system allows people to enter the voting booth and vote for the candidates of any (single) party they choose.

In years past, Republicans have been wary of such approaches, because Idaho has so many voters who consider themselves independent but ordinarily vote for Republican candidates. If you force them to define themselves more closely, the logic has gone, they might take that independent tag more seriously, and start splitting their votes instead of voting straight Republican. That’s the viewpoint that exudes confidence. The alternative, where the Idaho Republicans went last week, was to worry about Democrats and others crossing over to weaken the Republican position. In truth, there’s seldom been much evidence that’s been a significant factor in Republican primary results. But the Republicans opted for the party-registration approach.

Burgoyne’s riposte: “There are a lot of people in this state that refuse to identify with a specific party. … What the Republicans are really proposing is to take away the rights of people to vote.”

Try coming up with a positive-sounding response to that one.