{"id":12070,"date":"2012-10-17T06:30:47","date_gmt":"2012-10-17T12:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/?p=12070"},"modified":"2012-10-19T17:59:36","modified_gmt":"2012-10-19T23:59:36","slug":"from-idahos-liberal-stronghold-come-diverse-views-of-november-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2012\/10\/17\/from-idahos-liberal-stronghold-come-diverse-views-of-november-election\/","title":{"rendered":"From Idaho&#8217;s Liberal Stronghold Come Diverse Views Of November Election"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-12070 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2012\/10\/17\/from-idahos-liberal-stronghold-come-diverse-views-of-november-election\/betty-murphy\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/10\/Betty-Murphy-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-12075\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/10\/Betty-Murphy-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/10\/Betty-Murphy-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/10\/Betty-Murphy-60x60.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-12075'>\n\t\t\t\tBetty Murphy staffed the Democratic office in downtown Hailey last week.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2012\/10\/17\/from-idahos-liberal-stronghold-come-diverse-views-of-november-election\/couple-debate-watching\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/10\/Couple-debate-watching-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-12076\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/10\/Couple-debate-watching-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/10\/Couple-debate-watching-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/10\/Couple-debate-watching-60x60.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-12076'>\n\t\t\t\tHelen Stone and Ben Schepps of Hailey watched Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan face off.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2012\/10\/17\/from-idahos-liberal-stronghold-come-diverse-views-of-november-election\/dems-hq\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/10\/Dems-HQ-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-12077\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/10\/Dems-HQ-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/10\/Dems-HQ-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/10\/Dems-HQ-60x60.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-12077'>\n\t\t\t\tBlaine County Democrats register voters and distribute signs and literature from their small office in Hailey.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2012\/10\/17\/from-idahos-liberal-stronghold-come-diverse-views-of-november-election\/suzan-stommel\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/10\/Suzan-Stommel-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-12078\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/10\/Suzan-Stommel-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/10\/Suzan-Stommel-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/10\/Suzan-Stommel-60x60.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-12078'>\n\t\t\t\tSuzan Stommel is a co-founder of Blaine County Republican Women.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2012\/10\/17\/from-idahos-liberal-stronghold-come-diverse-views-of-november-election\/vonnie-olsen\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/10\/Vonnie-Olsen-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-12079\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/10\/Vonnie-Olsen-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/10\/Vonnie-Olsen-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/10\/Vonnie-Olsen-60x60.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-12079'>\n\t\t\t\tVonnie Olsen has called the small Blaine County town of Carey home for nearly 50 years.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl>\n\t\t\t<br style='clear: both' \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>There aren\u2019t many places in deep red Idaho where you\u2019re likely to hear the kind of proud introduction Gini Ballou offered up not long after we met.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I\u2019m Gini Ballou,&#8221; she said.\u00a0 &#8220;My mother stopped to vote for John F. Kennedy on her way to the hospital to have me.\u00a0 And the greatest gift I ever got for my birthday was the \u201908 election, when I was given President Obama on my birthday.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0 <!--more--><br \/>\nBallou is a mother of four, a bartender, an entrepreneur, and \u2013 last but not least &#8212; chair of the Blaine County Democrats.\u00a0 Last week, as the vice-presidential debate came to a close, she and the rest of the small group that had gathered for a watch party at county Democratic headquarters pulled their chairs into a circle.\u00a0 They were fired up and ready for discussion.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It\u2019s the hypocrisy of the whole abortion question!&#8221; registered nurse Patti Dorr exclaimed, sounding exasperated.<\/p>\n<p>Dorr moved to Hailey from Nevada almost 25 years ago.\u00a0 She used to vote Republican, but George W. Bush changed that.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;For them to say that they don\u2019t want government taking care of the food, or the water, but, by golly, they want the government to tell you if you\u2019re to reproduce or not \u2013 they\u2019re hypocrites!&#8221; she continued.<\/p>\n<p>That hottest of hot-button issues may have drawn the sharpest words, but Blaine County Democrats have a lot on their minds: education, Social Security, health care, climate change, poverty. \u00a0\u201cFeed the hungry, heal the sick,\u201d one person declared.\u00a0 Others nodded.\u00a0 They know their opinions are a world apart from those held by many Idahoans \u2013 but so be it, they said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was a point of pride when the national map was published, and there was a little blue Blaine County surrounded by a red sea of regional opposites!&#8221; exclaimed Ben Schepps.<\/p>\n<p>He was talking about a map showing how counties voted in 2008.\u00a0 In the middle of Idaho sits Blaine County, true blue.\u00a0 &#8220;I loved that map!&#8221; Dorr said.\u00a0 &#8220;It was in USA Today the day after the election!&#8221;\u00a0 She let out a delighted laugh.<\/p>\n<p>Voters like Dorr and Schepp and Ballou are in Blaine County\u2019s Democratic majority, but they admit that local Republicans are more organized than they\u2019ve been in years.\u00a0 That\u2019s thanks in part to one woman: Suzan Stommel.<\/p>\n<p>She and her husband run an equipment financing business in Ketchum.\u00a0 Right now, their office is partly given over to the election.\u00a0 Stacks of Romney-Ryan signs lean against walls.\u00a0 There are bumper stickers for sale by the front door.\u00a0 Stommel is a co-founder and past-president of Blaine County Republican Women.\u00a0 &#8220;So, what does Blaine County Republicanism look like?&#8221; I ask.<\/p>\n<p>She thinks it over.\u00a0 &#8220;We have <em>very<\/em> conservative Republicans here, and then we have some more socially liberal Republicans,&#8221; she says.<\/p>\n<p>She puts herself in the first category: very conservative.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Right now people are being groomed to believe that government can just take care of them,&#8221; she says.<\/p>\n<p>Stommel\u2019s politics inform her views on all kinds of issues, but for her, this point is key.\u00a0 &#8220;We\u2019re Americans.\u00a0 We are tough.\u00a0 You know?&#8221; she asks.\u00a0 &#8220;There\u2019s got to be a swing the other way.\u00a0 And right now it\u2019s swinging way too far to the entitlement mentality.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Blaine County\u2019s Democratic and Republican faithful have no trouble speaking their minds, but the view from southern Blaine County, past Picabo Hill, is a little different.\u00a0 There, Vonnie Olsen stands in her perfectly preserved 1950s kitchen, washing dishes and looking out the window to admire an early fall morning.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I can look outside and still see up Wood River and the quakies as they turn color,&#8221; she says.\u00a0 &#8220;I enjoy this every single day.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Olsen is a city council member in Carey, population 600.\u00a0 She\u2019s lived here for almost 50 years.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;People can tell you that for as long as they can remember, we\u2019ve been the ugly stepchild,&#8221; Olsen explains, smiling a little at the characterization.\u00a0 &#8220;The upper end of the county has been very, very liberal, and this side has been very conservative.\u00a0 But, you know, I truly believe that there is a little of everything in all of Blaine County,&#8221; she says.<\/p>\n<p>Olsen doesn\u2019t like to talk about her politics, but she will say she\u2019s decided to vote for Romney.\u00a0 She believes government spending has to be contained.\u00a0 But she\u2019s also worried about the country\u2019s deep partisan divides.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Politics can get in the way of progress,&#8221; she says.\u00a0 &#8220;And I think that\u2019s happened so much!\u00a0 People get so involved in wanting to be right wing, left wing \u2013 they forget that it\u2019s all people!\u00a0 And that\u2019s what\u2019s happened with our Congress.\u00a0 We can\u2019t get anything done, because we\u2019re in such a stalemate.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Here in Blaine County, Olsen says, things get done when people do their best to overlook political differences and work toward common goals.\u00a0 If only it could be as simple in Washington, she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There aren\u2019t many places in deep red Idaho where you\u2019re likely to hear the kind of proud introduction Gini Ballou offered up not long after we met. &#8220;I\u2019m Gini Ballou,&#8221; she said.\u00a0 &#8220;My mother stopped to vote for John F. Kennedy on her way to the hospital to have me.\u00a0 And the greatest gift I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":12075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[138],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12070"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}