Good news from our local school board election

[jmowreader]

I live in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where conservative insanity runs deep. On Tuesday, we had a school board election.

In Cd'A our main right-wing political club is the Reagan Republicans. They have decided that all elections are partisan elections, including nonpartisan ones like the school board, hospital board and city council. So they endorsed a slate of candidates who put "Republican" on their yard signs. There was also a Libertarian candidate who the RRs wouldn't endorse because he hates the RRs more than he hates the government.

There was another group called Balance North Idaho, who investigated qualifications before endorsing candidates. In the five races on Tuesday's ballot, only one candidate was endorsed by both groups, and he lost.

The results: The Libertarian guy, who campaigned his ass off, lost by the biggest margin. The more he campaigned the worse he got. All the Reagan Republican endorsees lost. All the Balance candidates won. But the biggest winner of the night was a doctor running for a seat on the hospital board...he wasn't endorsed, barely advertised, didn't knock on doors himself...his patients got together and knocked on doors without being asked because they like him. And he is a good doctor.

The RRs will try the same shit in the November election. I don't know if the "partisaning" tactic will work then (there is a park construction project a lot of people are pissed about) but I'll let you know.

[Laelth]

1. Our Republican General Assembly in GA just made our local elections non-partisan.

One can't win a county-wide election here in Bibb County, Georgia, unless one runs as a Democrat. So, naturally, the state legislature passed a law making our elections non-partisan. We are furious, and are currently asking the Justice Department to rule that the new law (making our elections non-partisan) is a violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

We'll see how it turns out, but my preference is for partisan elections (for all offices, especially the school board).

Good luck with your elections, and I am thrilled to hear that your RRs were roundly defeated. There is hope for this country yet.

-Laelth

[jmowreader]

2. There was a RR postmortem yesterday that was hysterical

Before we go on...in Idaho a nonpartisan board replaces departing members by appointment valid until the next election. Thanks to the RRs, all the elected members quit and were replaced by RRs. Their only accomplishments are ending the International Baccalaureate program and running off the superintendent, who took a pay cut to go to a school district in a liberal part of Oregon.

Yesterday there was a RR postmortem at which the real problem was revealed: they didn't count on people talking to their neighbors about things like the fact the most odious member of the school board is a homeschool parent who is an officer in and one of the founders of an organization formed to promote removing your children from public schools. Even here in hard-right land that pissed people off.

The best part: the woman who stomped him into the ground has been on the RR's shit list forever.

Almost as good: the guy who beat the libertarian troll is treasurer of the county Democratic party.

[Laelth]

3. Very cool.

As the old saying goes, all politics are local, and you are paying close attention.

Cheers!

-Laelth