Idaho House Speaker Scott Bedke didn't have enough House Republicans to approve a state-based health insurance exchange two years ago. So he formed a coalition with the House Democrats. It worked. The measure passed. But it ignited what Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden dubbed "a fight, really, for the heart and soul of the Republican Party." Up and down the 2014 GOP primary ballot, hard-core conservatives challenged mainstream conservatives. The mainstream won. Gov. C.L (Butch) Otter beat back a challenge from former Sen. Russ Fulcher, R-Meridian. With a handful of exceptions in the Panhandle and eastern Idaho, the lawmakers who backed the exchange prevailed. Opposition to Bedke -- who won his tenuous hold on leadership by becoming the first speaker to oust his predecessor, then-Rep. and now Secretary of State Lawerence (Boss) Denney -- evaporated. So why has Bedke apparently signed the articles of surrender?/Marty Trillhaase, Lewiston Tribune. More here.