On Saturday, March 22, a town hall meeting was held by the Latah County Democrats. The meeting featured guest speakers Richard Stallings and Larry Larocco, two former U.S. Representatives for Idaho.
The purpose of the meeting was to rally Idaho democrats and bring attention to how they can contact their representatives in Washington, D.C. There were approximately two hundred people in attendance, most asking for advice and help under the current presidential administration.
Multiple attendees asked the guests for advice. Attendees were also invited to make a statement to the audience.
“This event was not created to push an opinion, but to listen and give the respect to each other that is deserved,” event organizer Kathy Dawes said. Many people spoke, fostering a broad picture of how Idahoans are currently feeling.
Many people also discussed their disappointment with the Democratic party in the last presidential election. “The democrats lost us America. They lost us America when they did not bring forward a candidate we can support,” one speaker said.
Overall, the guests in attendance were worried about the state of the current presidency, independent of political standing. One guest said, “I have been a lifelong Republican, and I couldn’t vote for either party this election. I couldn’t vote for Trump. What he says is not the Republican party I know. This is not a Republican versus Democrat issue.”
The event also promoted various organizations in which people can spread the word and share their feelings.
One organization was Idaho Women Forward, a nonpartisan organization set up to ensure women’s rights for the future. Another was the University of Idaho Young Democrats, which focuses on helping the Democratic student body have their voices heard.
When asked what his goal was for the event, Richard Stallings said, “My goal tonight was to remind people they are not alone. There are hundreds of thousands of people that probably feel the exact same way the people here do, and I wanted to give ideas on what they could do. We must keep this peaceful, and we have to remind people that they can call, they can send letters, they can do so many things if they are passionate enough.”
Austin Kieckhefer can be reached at arg-news@uidaho.edu.