What price victory? Is having an "R" after your name the only thing that matters?

Mindless, slavish devotion to an ideal.  Is having an "R" after a candidate's name the only qualifier someone on the right requires to be "forced" to vote for someone?

The GOP in this state has, perhaps, the thinest bench since Armenia.  The result is that those claiming some level of allegiance to some nebulous, quasi-Republican label are rarely, if ever, held accountable for that level of adherence to the principles they claim by using that label.

Locally, it's Marc Boldt, who admitted publicly that he hadn't even bothered to read the platform, thus slamming the door in the face of those who were working towards another effort at a charter here in Clark County.  Boldt, who is my brother in law and who I worked for in the legislature through 6 sessions (about 5.5 years) has been, effectively, kicked out of the party for his lock-step voting record with democrat Steve Stuart.

At the national level, it's Mitt Romney.  I actually am surprised that Mitt made it through the process, although I shouldn't be, given his assets.

As I have stated in the past, with Obama, we really didn't know what we were getting, we (meaning the American people, not me, since I didn't vote for him) due to his lack of experience in any elected office and his completely controlled-access background.

But with Romney, we know a lot.  And much of what troubles me is an indisputable record of governance when he was Governor of Massachusetts, a record not that far different then the record of the president we've been scammed with for the last 3.5 years.

And, at the state level, we're likely to be stuck with a string of leftist candidates, both democrat... and "Republican".

I put it within quotes because these candidates philosophies and positions bear, essentially, no resemblance to the platform of the GOP.

They support gay marriage.  They oppose Tim Eyman.  They support the tribes screwing us.  They oppose Scott Walker's effort to bring the PSE's to heel. 

It seems that, whereas the left wants us to sprint off the cliff, these kinds of candidates, who seem to view the platform as a minor inconvienience... IF THEY EVEN READ IT... want us to engage in a more sedate trot off the same cliff.

These candidates, which include Reagan Dunn and RINO Rob McKenna, have slavishly devoted followers over at the so-called "South Sound Ronald Reagan Republican Club" on facebook.

I've been pounding the fact that McKenna is, essentially, on the issues that matter to me, no different then Inslee.  That is, he's a democrat.

Their response?  "Oh, but we have to beat Inslee!"

At what cost?  And if the result is a RINO who would govern much like Inslee... THEN WHY BOTHER?

They have no answer.

What do they do?  They attack me as they whine and snivel that I'm not using my real name to post (You know... Hinton?  Like I've said it a million fricken times?) and then deflect by posting that 11 year old Brancaccio/Mize/Keonninger garbage.

Does any of that even remotely address the issues at hand? 

Nope.  It's classic, usually leftist deflection.

But that brings me to this:  What does holding candidates and incumbents accountable mean?

If you're like a fringe-left democrat newsletter like the Columbian, the GOP (and the GOP only, apparently) has no right to hold one of their leftist alleged Republicans accountable.

So, where's the line?

McKenna and Dunn take major positions that I despise.  In fact, it would seem that the only thing we have in common is that we claim to be Republican.

I believe in most of the platform.  They don't seem to know it exists.

So, what's my duty here?  Is it to vote for candidates ONLY because they have an R after their name regardless of their positions?  Are we supposed to IGNORE those positions and just engage in blind, partisan faith?  Or are we allowed to think for ourselves and refuse to reward fake Republicans with our most precious political asset... our vote?

*I* take the position that if I can't support someone, then I can't support them.  Voting for a faux-Republican just to have someone in there with a label?

No.  I will NOT do that.

So, what do my fellow "Republicans" do when confronted with my reality?

Act like the very leftist scum they claim to despise.  Utilizing Alinsky Rule 5:

RULE 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions. (Pretty crude, rude and mean, huh? They want to create anger and fear.)

Have we, as a party and as a people learned northing?

If there is no real difference between the choices... what do we do?