The Last Days of Idaho’s Branch Glennedians

And now they do opposition research on me.  I came home from Vigil on Saturday night and had a message from a friend in Idaho Falls.  She explained the Branch Glennedians were digging up old posts of mine from the past dozen years.  That was with a little more than 72 hours before the votes will be counted.  I’m not on the ballot.  And they’re wasting time on an old guy with a bad ticker and a microphone?  A couple of years ago, in the waning weeks of a campaign, Linda Hartgen sent me well wishes and prayers.  That’s class.  The Gang of Nate has none.  They’re a screaming lot of banshees who squandered promise on playing the role of victim.

As for things I’ve said in the past, I sometimes change my mind.  I learn more about something, or there’s an event in life that clarifies purpose.  When I leave for work on weekday mornings, I can take a left or right turn on Canyon Crest.  Either one leads to my destination.  On Wednesday, I expect I’ll choose one and prepare to talk about the results.  For others, the sun will rise on that day, and they’ll see a dead-end.

No Prediction Market Works Here

The outcome is based on turnout.  You hear that a lot.  Because it’s true.  The banshees may be in the minority, but they’re loud and angry, and they’re motivated.  I’ve said repeatedly in recent months that their opponents on the ballot were considered safe choices, but I can’t say they’re inspirational.  They may be banking on voters being exhausted by the circus, but voters need to turn out.  It’s a primary, and while it’s more important than the General Election in a one-party state, there’s usually low interest.  We don’t have polling, and as a result rely on anecdotal evidence.  I don’t get any sense at all about the direction.

This is a huge change from 40 years ago, when I lived in a small city where even council elections were a big draw.  A lot of voters had patronage jobs (it was eventually unsustainable).  I was covering a political event where the local Democrat Party Chieftain said the people in attendance had a patronage job, or wanted one!  It’s a far cry from what we saw during the 2024 Idaho Republican Presidential Caucus.  We talked it up on-air for months, and turnout was still small.

The Fault, Dear Brutus...

I don’t blame voters.  They keep hearing from politicians who promise a new dawn, and for most people, they continue to feel left behind.  The Gang of Nate promised a new direction, and all we got was something akin to the brawls that used to plague the Taiwanese Parliament.  Entertainment, not enlightenment.  Or the gang members play Tetris on their phones (true story) during debate, because they’ve already had instructions on how to vote from the Freedom Foundation.  Yes, those pesky newcomers and their independent voices.

Here’s one last mention of anecdotal evidence.  I asked the boss if he had any complaints about me lately, and he said none.  We may have had a record set for political advertising.  As some gang associates were calling for a KLIX boycott, their champions were dumping thousands of dollars on campaign commercials.  I talked to an advertiser a couple of months ago and asked how his business was going.  He told me that after decades of selling his product, he had his best quarter ever after running a campaign on my program.  Last week, I spoke with another client who told me he’s ecstatic with the response.

I heard something from my associate pastor a while back.  100 years from now, nobody is going to remember us.  There may be a weathered headstone, a name in a family bible, and some fading pictures.  If you want to make a difference in life, do it somewhere other than politics.  A civilization probably only gets one Lincoln.  He’s surely not on my ballot.