Idaho Republican Party Central Committee member Mike Oliver set the tone for the Liberty Roundup on Saturday as he spoke about his feelings on the current state of the federal government.
"Can you get righteousness from a heathen? Can you get morals from a prostitute?" he asked rhetorically. "Then how can we expect to get liberty from a socialist and free markets from a fascist or private property from a communist?"
Oliver emceed the event, which brought to Potlatch several conservative candidates for Idaho's state and congressional offices, campaigning for the 2010 midterm elections.
The event, sponsored by the political action committee Idaho Citizens for Fiscal and Social Responsibility, took place in the Potlatch High School gymnasium in front of a crowd of roughly 50 people.
Candidates speaking included 1st Congressional District Republican hopefuls Allan Salzberg and Ken Roberts, along with Republican gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell.
"I know we're going to have a barbecue after the event, but who wants to have some roasted politician?" Oliver joked.
Rammell was the headline speaker among the candidates.
Acknowledging anti-wolf sentiment in the crowd, Rammell made an intense entrance to the gym, carrying a wolf pelt over his shoulder as he walked toward the podium while a Charlie Daniels song played from the speaker system.
Rammell's often remarked about wolves, saying he would instruct the Idaho Fish and Game to stand down from protecting wolves if he was elected. He also focused on his desire to fight the federal government to get federally held lands in Idaho back in the hands of the state.
"I don't want to go to arms with these guys (the federal government), but we will go all the way," he said. "We're going to take on these guys."
Roberts, who is a District 8 State Representative from Donnelly, also worked to prove his conservative credentials to the crowd. He said the Republican Party had lost its conservative roots and needs to be fixed.
"It's OK for the party to have to redefine what we stand for," he said. "It's moved. We have to come back."
Payette author William Grigg - a former senior editor of The New American magazine and author of "Freedom on the Altar: The UN's Crusade Against God and Family" and "Global Gun Grab: The United Nations Campaign to Disarm Americans" - also spoke.
Sagle, Idaho resident, Bill Denman said he, like many, was impressed with what he heard at the event.
"I wanted to know what they think the proper role of government is," he said. "To me its to protect life, liberty and property, period. That's it. You go beyond that and you've got plunder instead of protection."