Yesterday we noted that the city of Boise (not the environs in Ada County) went heavily “blue” on Tuesday, voting strongly for Democratic legislators and similarly elsewhere on the ballot.

Among other things, Boise city voters rejected (47.3%-52.7%) the initiative aimed at moving the Ten Commandments monument back to one of the city parks from its much more visible current location on church grounds across State Street from the state capitol building. Our sense of this is that voters probably were less concerned where the monument was located than they were in putting to rest such a purely symbolic issue that has taken up a lot of attention, time and effort that might have been devoted to more practical pursuits.

There are, of course, other ways of looking at it. Bryan Fischer of the Idaho Values Alliance, which championed the initiative – taking it to the state supreme court at one point – and fought the battle before that, has a rather different one, though factoring in the same political shifted we noted here.

Fischer’s view: “Today is a sobering day for the pro-faith community of Boise. Not only did the city turn its back on God and his abiding standards, it also sent 12 secularists to the state legislature. Of the four main districts which lie wholly within the city limits (Districts 16-19), not a single seat is now held by a conservative.

“The reins of Boise city government are also in the hands of confirmed liberals. A kind of moral and spiritual darkness has descended on this city, and its effects will be felt for years to come.”