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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huckleberries Online

Red: How Transplants Took Control

Red Cedar (RE: Stage Left: Newbies don't understand): Then came the "Californians" -- the wave of conservative refugees from the big cities that had been taken over by stridently-leftist Democrats. These people, as near as I can tell, came to Idaho and Western Montana not just with money (usually from selling their houses) but with a cowboy-movie fantasy that they were going to find a refuge amongst like-minded folks. The worst of them were the racists who thought that because everyone around them was white, they all wanted a white homeland -- they mistook the traditional North Idaho rural tolerance of weirdos for overt support of their ideology. Most weren't nearly that bad, but many of the ones I met surely were more religious, more concerned about "moral" issues, and more suspicious of government than the locals. Much more here.

Question: How much does the strength of Evangelical churches in the area contribute to the strength of the dominant Tea-publican wing of the GOP in North Idaho?



D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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