An X account (Old State Saloon) asked followers to name accounts that Idahoans should follow, and what unfolded is a perfect lesson in Idaho politics.
(If you want a short four‑minute recap of this article, you can watch it here.)
(If you want a short four‑minute recap of this article, you can watch it here.)
One commenter jumped into the thread and listed several members of the Gang of 8 (G8), the hardline GOP lawmakers at the Idaho Capitol who have been repeatedly attacked by the establishment over the last year.
That’s when an individual named Lauren Walker chimed in, saying no one should follow them because their bills will fail.
As if the measure of a good lawmaker is how many bills you pass, but I digress.
What Walker does point out, though, is something I’ve been saying for years: if you’re a lawmaker who stands on principle and refuses to cave to establishment leadership, money, and power, your job is going to be much harder. She didn’t say it that way, of course, but that’s exactly the point she made, whether she realized it or not.
It’s very difficult to be a nail in a sea of hammers.
When leadership tells you that if you don’t play their game and follow their rules, your “bills won’t get heard,” that’s not an empty threat. And on top of that, you’ll be under constant attack from establishment‑aligned lobbyists who will pour thousands into campaigns against you.
That’s the dilemma for anyone elected to public office: Will you stand up for what you campaigned on, or will you cave and become part of the machine?
Lauren believes you should sell out for access, money, power, donuts, or whatever else you’re offered. She has flip‑flopped so much in her short time in Idaho politics, you’d think she was Mitt Romney’s daughter. (Read about access politics here.)
The fact that Lauren thinks the G8 should abandon their principles just to get bills passed is a sad indictment of how far our state still has to go to get real conservatives into office. If Idaho were truly conservative right now, this conversation wouldn’t even be happening.
We need people like those in the G8 to keep moving the Overton window to the right. We don’t need them drifting to the middle to appease people who didn’t vote them into office.
Idaho needs a lot more of the G8, not fewer.
Idaho GOP Chairwoman Dorothy Moon told a group of Idahoans she didn’t want the G8 to become the “G10” in a leaked audio recording last year. I disagree.
I want all 105 lawmakers to fight for the hard‑right positions just like the G8, and hopefully, Idaho will elect more of them in the May primary.
Raul Labrador eats donuts with Moyle.