Sore Losers Hurt Democracy
I’ve always viewed Kootenai County Commissioner Bob Macdonald as a nice, easy-going guy who could take or leave politics. I was right on two counts. You won’t find a nicer guy in this town. And he’s easy going. But Bob’s more of a political animal than I ever suspected. After losing his Republican primary in May - his first loss in a dozen years of running for office - he has refused to play his lame-duck role gracefully. First, he tried to run for the state Legislature as a Natural Law Party candidate (explaining that he practices transcendental meditation, after all). But he was rebuffed by the Secretary of State’s office. The state’s sore-loser’s law prevents a losing primary candidate from running in the general election under another party’s banner. Now, Macdonald has announced his campaign for his own seat as a write-in candidate. His chances of winning are slight, of course. But the erstwhile Republican can be a spoiler and help Democrat Chuck Sheroke. Apparently, Macdonald’s handlers fear maverick Republican Ron Rankin more than Democrat Chuck Sheroke in the race of ideologues.
Don’t go away mad, just go away
Macdonald isn’t the only one trying to hold onto shattered dreams. In Shoshone County, Commissioner Gary Waters and sheriff’s candidate Larry Irvine have filed as write-ins after losing close Democratic primaries. Each, like Macdonald, has run into dozens of well-wishers who think they should try again. Talk is cheap, of course. The candidate has to do the expensive, hard work of telling an apathetic public how to vote for him. Some might admire a write-in candidate’s spunk. I don’t. I figure Macdonald, Waters and Irvine had their shot and lost. In two cases, they had the advantage of the incumbency. They should have listened to the voters the first time.
Unfair supermajority rule strikes again
Once again, Idaho’s supermajority rule, which requires two-thirds voter approval to pass school bonds, thwarted the clear will of Post Falls school patrons. Some 63 percent voted for a new high school Tuesday - a landslide majority in most elections. But Post Falls youngsters will continue to attend classes in buildings with cramped classrooms, hallways and cafeterias. Idaho is the only state with a two-thirds rule that doesn’t provide some state funding for school construction projects. One Post Falls tax activist views the supermajority requirement as a godsend. Do you suppose she’d mind if a two-thirds vote was required for passage of the One Percent Initiative? It’s an unfair law.
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