The executive director of Idaho’s Democratic party, Sally Boynton-Brown, crossed a line last week, in her long-shot pursuit to win the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee, that can only described as disgusting and a further embarrassment to Idaho’s already tattered and torn image.
If the State chairman of Idaho’s Democrats, former State Senator Bert Marley from Pocatello, does not convene the party’s executive committee by phone, and promptly fire the misguided executive director an already decimated Idaho political party may find itself on the border of extinction.
Some would argue that Idaho’s Democrats are already an endangered species and ought to file for a listing with the Environmental Protection Agency before it becomes extinct. Under Boynton-Brown’s “leadership†Idaho’s Democratic party has put forth nothing that even remotely demonstrates the tide may be turning. Democrats hold no statewide office and haven’t elected a true Democrat to Congress in years (Some may say “not so†and cite Walt Minnick, but others know he was a Republican wolf in sheep’s clothing.)
Instead of heading to D.C. to talk to people about how once upon a time Democrats held their own in the west; perhaps, history could be a guide and the formula for that success could be shared and with conviction presented to the members of the DNC who vote in less than a month.
She could have touted the Cecil Andrus’ mantra: “First, you have to make a living. Then you have to have a living worthwhile.†In other words keep the economy growing and keep it strong so that there’s a place for our young people to work (and often work off a huge debt) after they graduate. Note that saying has no gender bias, nor racial bias to it.
This is the formula followed successfully by Andrus, Idaho’s only governor elected four times, and his successor, John V. Evans, elected twice. The formula was also the winning pitch for other western governors: Scott Matheson of Utah, Mike O’Callaghan of Nevada, Ted Schwinden of Montana, Mike Sullivan of Wyoming, to name just a few.
Instead of standing on a stage, prancing around like some gospel preacher and spouting gibberish such as “my job is to shut other white people down†and make them listen to minorities, all of whom are oppressed by whites in the current culture.
This is not the politics of inclusion, this is exclusion. Boynton-Brown should be reinforcing the message of former Vice President Joe Biden, who wisely talks about attracting back the working middle class white male, the so-called Reagan Democrat, back into the Democratic coalition.
As Andrus used to say,you don’t win by subtracting voters, you win by attracting two-fers - i.e., a Republican vote for him was one less for the R and one new one for the D - a two-fer.
The conclusion of Boynton-Brown’s pathetic, pandering and patronizing plea was especially puzzling. She seemed to be saying that because she’s a white living in Idaho it is hard for her to relate to minorities because there are so few.
So in a groveling, patronizing way she was saying teach this whitie how to understand minorities and movements like Black Lives Matter. Teach me how to feel your pain. Teach me how to listen to your cri de coeur.
This inability to find minorities to relate to has to have the 16% of the Idaho electorate that is Hispanic scratching its head, not to mention the Indian country population or the African American.
Once again Idaho hits the national news and becomes a joke for YouTube viewers. We’ve managed to beat back the white supremacist tag, the preppers and American Redoubt survivalist tag, the posse comitatus tag to cite a few of the false perceptions.
Even if the few remaining Democrats fire Boynton-Brown as quickly as possible, it most assuredly will not enable us to beat the “just stupid†tag. Cry, beloved Idaho. Cry.
