You could argue that the new Idaho Democratic Party chair in another in a line of attorneys who ran unsuccessfully for major office. That much is true.
Keith Roark, an attorney from Hailey, and the party's nominee in 2002 for attorney general, is the new Idaho Democratic chair, just chosen on Friday. We'd suggest only at this point that, having watching him in action during that campaign and on some other occasions, that he's a strong choice. Roark has a powerful presence and there's a good chance he will become a highly visible Idaho figure in a way few other Democratic chairs have.
A quote (via e-mail) from Roark: “I am a realist. The one party system is firmly entrenched in this state and will not be overcome in a single election year. The road ahead is long and hard. We are going to be patient, persistent, and tenacious. We are going to rebuild our party from the ground up. Seizing upon the winds of change that are clearly blowing across this nation, we will build momentum, not just over the coming months but over the coming years. We will build precinct by precinct, county by county, district by district, election by election. I am not naïve enough to believe that, ten years from now, the people of this state will say ‘2008 was the year Idaho Democrats made their comeback.’ But they will say that 2008 was the year the great comeback of the Idaho Democratic Party began.â€