Allred, Otter join to promote civil discourse program

Former political rivals Keith Allred and C.L. “Butch” Otter will join forces on Friday to discuss a new program aimed at finding positive common ground across partisan lines.

Allred is the executive director of the National Institute for Civil Discourse and the creator of the CommonSense American program, which aims to bring together people from across political parties to find common ground on various issues and then advocate for those positions to the government. In 2010, Allred unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat for governor against then-incumbent Otter, a Republican.

Allred told the Idaho Press he asked Otter to help promote the CommonSense American program because while they disagree on some policy issues, they are “shoulder to shoulder” when it comes to what makes the United States republic work.

Allred and Otter, along with Olympic gold medalist Kristin Armstrong, will discuss the new program at a free event at Boise State University this Friday.