Conservative Middle
“You only catch flak when you are over the target” comes from the WWII bomber crews who would attract anti-aircraft fire as they approached their destination. In modern terms it describes that if a group or organization is being attached it is because they are effective in their mission. Why bother going after something that’s harmless?
Idaho’s grassroots conservative Republicans are often attacked from the left. The usual players include Republicans In Name Only (RINOs), Democrats who affiliate Republican to influence Republican Primaries, Democrats who admit to being Democrats, most media editorial boards and a smattering of extremist organizations like Reclaim Idaho, who spearheaded the disastrous Prop 1 campaign. These are all, to varying degrees, left of the conservative mainstream voter, but they are vocal so they seem larger than their actual size.
The attacks are similar to those launched at the Trump Administration. They usually have similar themes and language that has been the staple for decades. However, what was once shocking and effective has now dulled to predictable, trite and boring. If everyone they don’t like is a racist or a transphobe or a fascist, or a whatever, and after a while those labels lose their meaning and impact.
Something has changed. There are fresh attacks, but this time from the extreme right. Solid conservative Republicans are being attacked for failing some nebulous purity test.
In 2024 Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) with their affiliate organs went after the highly rated District 30 conservative legislator, Julianne Young with a completely false mailer. Young lost by two votes to a not nearly as conservative challenger. There was no honest policy debate, just and attack designed to shock the voter with hyperbolic rhetoric.
Brian Almon has an excellent summary in his Gem State Chronicle substack feed YAL’s War on Idaho Conservatives. Here is a portion:
“YAL, AAF, MLW, what is all this? These groups operate under different names and tax codes, but they’re all part of the same national operation.
Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) is a 501c4 political advocacy organization
American Action Fund (AAF) is a special project of YAL
Make Liberty Win (MLW) is a political action committee
On paper, they’re separate. In reality, they share staff, strategy, and funding.
How much funding?
According to FEC filings, Young Americans for Liberty funneled nearly $8 million into the Make Liberty Win PAC from 2023 to 2024. Much of it is labeled “Carey contributions”, a term that allows hybrid PACs to raise unlimited funds from nonprofits and spend them on “independent expenditures” like attack ads and mailers supporting or opposing candidates or measures.
That’s how they operate: use the nonprofit to recruit and radicalize, then deploy the PAC to destroy. In the 2024 primary alone, MLW spent more than $700,000 in Idaho via independent expenditures. Topping the list was Rep. Mike Moyle, against whom MLW spent over $112,000 in an unsuccessful attempt to unseat the Speaker of the House. They spent another $107,000 against Chuck Winder, then the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and were successful in that endeavor.”
YAL is based in Austin Texas. Wait, what? Why is a Texas based organization actively working in Idaho? Good question.
Their latest play is to attack the Republican Party and Chairman Dorothy Moon directly because the party isn’t doing YAL’s bidding. What specifically? Not eliminating the grocery tax and not fighting against a 22% Legislator pay adjustment. The grocery tax is a complex issue where a compromise tax credit was reached. The 22% pay adjustment sounds like a lot until you consider that their pay would go up by about $5,000 a year from just under $20,000 to $25,000, per year. This increase would cost every Idaho voter about $0.50 which isn’t nearly as offensive sounding as 22%.
YAL uses shock politics where outrage tops substance and anger beats policy. We know this because AFTER the attack the Idaho director of YAL sent out a questionnaire asking Idahoans to list what issues are important to them. Now they ask, after the attack. Their Ready-Fire-Aim approach is testament to their true agenda. Take down whoever is in power, notch the win and use it to raise funds. Rinse and repeat.
If asked to classify YAL’s positions, I would say they are closest to Libertarian; the common thread is that all government is bad. I don’t mean to insult Libertarians as I have many libertarian friends and I have found that Libertarians make excellent neighbors. A society composed entirely of Libertarians would operate efficiently with a minimum of “government.” Unfortunately, Libertarianism is ill equipped to deal with the miscreants that are inevitable in human society. This is why we need government, to protect the rights of citizens from those that don’t respect our rights.
Conservative Republicans find themselves in the middle, being attacked from both the left and the right. Consider that the middle is where reasonable people want to be, away from the irrational extremes.
YAL attacks provide the existence proof that Conservative Republicans are the grassroots mainstream of political policy, right in the middle, on target and catching flak from both sides. Conservative Republicans want just enough government to protect our rights, which is the true purpose of government, while not so much that we become slaves to socialism. Conservative Republicans know the way.
It’s just common sense.
July 17th, 2025