Idaho’s super-dominant Republican Party was widely expected to swing back toward the middle this year, after tea party activists peppered the party platform two years ago with planks urging abolishment of the Federal Reserve, eliminating direct election of U.S. senators and pushing Idahoans to stockpile gold - and then forced all state GOP candidates to pledge allegiance to the platform or specify publicly where they disagreed. But after last weekend’s Idaho GOP convention, very little changed. ... The relatively few changes to the platform included hardening the party’s anti-abortion stance; removing a clause expressing support for the Idaho Human Rights Commission; and calling for “total abolition” of inheritance taxes. “I don’t think the party moved further right or came back any to the middle,” said state Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, (pictured) who chaired the resolutions committee at the convention. “I think maybe we have a good direction going forward right now”/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

Question: Do you approve/disapprove action by the Idaho Republican Party to keep its Tea Party planks?