Democrats Look On Bright Side Many Idahoans Are ‘Stealth’ Democrats, Party Leaders Say

Idaho’s beleaguered Democratic Party isn’t as bad off as it looks, the party’s new leadership said Friday.

“There are people all around the state that may not say, hey, I’m a Democrat, but they believe in the same thing that the Democratic Party believes in,” said Karen White, the state party’s new executive director.

A.K. Lienhart-Minnick, the new state party chairman, said, “On the good solid issues like education and quality of life and those types of things, the Democrats are right in line with the rest of the state. It’s just a matter of message.”

The party’s message hasn’t gone far in recent years, with Republicans winning every seat in Idaho’s congressional delegation, all statewide offices except state controller and 85 percent of the seats in the Legislature.

Said White, “1996 was not the best successful year for Democrats. However, the Idaho Democratic Party did some things that it’s never done before. We raised unprecedented amounts of money, we had people on the ground all over the state … we had county organizations engaged at a level that they had not been engaged at before. We didn’t win this time, but we may win two, four, six years down the road.”

“I think it’s a process,” White said.

Andrew Arulanandam, executive director of the state Republican Party, said the last three elections show Idaho has “swung overwhelmingly Republican.”

“In Idaho, people subscribe to the Republican philosophy of less government, less taxes, less regulation and an emphasis on family principles,” he said. “That’s been our mantra for success, and it’s proven by the last three elections.”

White served as campaign manager for Walt Minnick’s unsuccessful challenge of U.S. Sen. Larry Craig last fall, and Lienhart-Minnick, a well-known former television anchor-woman in Boise, is Minnick’s wife.

The two said Minnick, a millionaire former wood products executive, will be an active supporter of the party, but has no plans to run for office again.

Said Lienhart-Minnick, “He’s probably going to do more parenting.” The Minnicks have a young son.

“I think he’s going to help us raise money, I think he’s going to help us get our message out there,” said White.

Minnick’s involvement in the party will be enhanced because of the roles of the two women, White said. But she said rumors that he will subsidize her salary as the party’s executive director aren’t true.

When White was Minnick’s campaign manager, she made $9,000 a month and was one of the top-paid campaign consultants in the nation. She moved to Boise this week from Denver.

Her salary at the party will mean a pay cut of at least 50 percent, White said, but it will be higher than previous executive director Cathy Fuller’s pay of $29,000 a year. The exact figure is still being negotiated.

White and Lienhart-Minnick’s comments came during the taping of KTVB-TV’s “Viewpoint” public affairs program.

Though she wouldn’t divulge names, Lienhart-Minnick said nearly a half-dozen Democrats are looking into running against state schools Superintendent Anne Fox, and others are mulling runs for governor and the Senate.

She expects her party to capitalize on reaction to the Legislature’s limiting the citizen initiative process and passing telephone deregulation legislation that could bring higher phone rates.

“They’re already making some steps that I think are going to backfire on them in future years, and I think we’re going to be ready to tell the story.” , DataTimes