Otter, Luna help local GOP honor party greats' legacy

SANDPOINT — The Idaho Republican Party enjoyed an evening of reflection under the cardboard cutout gaze of Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan Friday night.

The dinner and silent auction honoring Lincoln and the 100th birthday of Reagan drew a who’s who of Idaho Republicans to Sandpoint. Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, Lt. Gov. Brad Little, Sen. Mike Crapo, Rep. Raul Labrador, State Superintendent of Education Tom Luna and several local legislators including Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, all attended the event.

After a dinner, many of the public officials took the opportunity to speak about the state of Idaho and the nation.

Otter addressed the crowd first, congratulating them for their efforts in making Idaho a dominantly Republican state.

“We are the reddest of the red states and it’s because of your efforts,” he said. “I want to thank you for those efforts.”

He also spoke at length about the leadership of Reagan, saying that they were continuing the work established by the conservative icon.

“There’s probably not another state in the union that would look as good to Ronald Reagan today as Idaho,” he said.

Little followed Otter, saying that the Washington, D.C., was about to come to a rude awakening.

“The federal government is about to come to realization that they’re broke,” he said. “We need to lead America into the fiscal sanity we’ve been looking for.”

Crapo’s turn at the  microphone followed. He mentioned that he and Sen. Jim Risch. R-Idaho, had been distinguished as two of the most conservative senators in the nation and said they were doing their best to live up to the reputation.

“We are, with the help of the House of Representatives, getting some very aggressive measures pushed forward,” he said.

He also stressed the importance of cutting back government spending.

“We’re increasingly seeing an attitude across the world that wonders when the United States can no longer service its own debt,” he said. “We need to cut $4 trillion over the next 10 years and its going to require a phenomenal amount of effort.”

Crapo introduced Labrador to the crowd, who continued the topics he discussed at the afternoon meeting at Panhandle State Bank. He said while current cutting efforts were helpful, they were still insufficient.

“We have people in Washington, D.C., patting each other on the back like they just did this great thing,” he said, referencing the House’s passage of $60 billion in cuts.

Luna then spoke the difficulty in reforming the education system, mentioning that the right thing to do was often simple but difficult.

“The reform we’ve brought about to our education is simple, but boy, we’re finding out that it’s difficult,” he said.

He said that the most important factor in a child’s education was a quality teacher, and the education reforms made rewarding that quality easier.

“We need a public education system that ensures a great teacher in every classroom, and that’s what Students Come First is all about,” he said.

Finally, local legislators took their turns at the mic. Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, and Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens outlined their support for the strategy of nullification. Keough, Bonner County’s only legislator present, emphasized party unity.

“At the end of the day, we’re all Republicans,” she said. “We’re all after the same thing.”