I just read something very insightful in an article published in the Yakima Herald. In yet another article about GOP internal strife, I read these words:

the state GOP has a policy of not endorsing one Republican over another.

I have been noticing for some time now that the Washington State GOP consistently fails to give it’s approval to any particular “R” candidate, but I had chalked it up to the party’s generally weak and gutless lack of leadership. Perhaps I’m still a bit naive, but I really didn’t realize that the state GOP had an actual policy of not endorsing one “R” candidate over another.

Lack of GOP leadership

In a state with a top-two primary, where anyone can walk in off the street, plunk down their filing fee, have his name placed on the ballot and choose what party initial, if any, he wants placed after his name, the GOP has consciously chosen a policy of complete abdication of leadership, allowing anyone to run under their party banner without being either endorsed or opposed by the party on the basis of minor details like adherence to the party platform.

If this is going to be their policy, then the GOP should change its name to something generic, like “Brand X,” as there’s no way for voters to know what’s inside the package when purchasing an “R” candidate at the polls. This is tantamount to a company developing a brand name, then selling labels bearing its name for anyone, anywhere, to slap on anything and call it official, genuine, certified “Brand X.”

GOP v. GOP in the general

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In the issue at hand, due to Washington’s “top-two” primary system, there are two Congressional candidates that have advanced to the general election, both of whom are running as “Prefers Republican.” In the race for the 4^th Congressional District’s open seat, former NFL tight end turned farmer, Clint Didier, is the TEA Party favorite, endorsed by Ron Paul and known for his boldness in publicly honoring God and contending for strict adherence to the U.S. Constitution. Didier’s opponent, Dan Newhouse, is a “moderate” who was appointed by liberal Democrat governor, Christine Gregoire, to serve as director of the state Department of Agriculture and is endorsed by the outgoing U.S. Rep, Doc Hastings, who garnered a 55% Constitutional rating in the Freedom Index during his last term in office.

Due to the state GOP’s chosen policy of silence and non-leadership, the Republican Party sits idly by giving no indication to party supporters as to which candidate is to be preferred in this race. In fact, it occurs to me that as the Constitution Party state chairman, I’ve just done more to direct Christian and conservative voters to the candidate that best represents their values than has the entire Republican Party. Someone please remind me again, exactly what is it that the GOP is good for?

Until now, I had thought that the GOP’s failure to stand for anything was simply a byproduct of their willingness to compromise principle in the pursuit of political power, I hadn’t realized it was official party policy.

Reprinted from American Perspective

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