MT: Held Hostage By GOP Fringe

Like a lot of Idahoans, you’re fairly conservative. But you also have one foot in the future. You have kids in school. Maybe you attended some college. You realize Idaho’s natural resource industry base won’t pull the state out of its economic morass. And the right wing’s infatuation with openly - and illegally - defying national laws, targeting abortion rights and manifesting insensitivity to gays gives you heartburn. Too bad for you. Between a moribund Democratic Party and a Republican Party held hostage by its fringe, you’re boxed in. Greg Strimple, the pollster who worked on John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign and now operates in Idaho, teamed up with Gallatin Public Affairs and the Idaho Business Review. According to him, Idaho Republicans and independents are evenly split at 38 percent and 37.5 percent respectively. With 24 percent, Democrats are out of the game. “Democrats, meanwhile, are - there is no nice way to say it — marginalized,” observed Gallatin managing partner and political blogger Marc Johnson/ Marty Trillhaase , Lewiston Tribune. More here .

Question: Do you agree with Marty’s contention that Idaho is locked between a moribund Democratic Party and a Republican Party held hostage by its fringe?