I Don't Know What the Path Back to Relevance Is, But I Do Know This Ain't It

From the homepage of the Spokane County GOP:

The time to act is upon us! Stand up for your beliefs, find a candidate who will do the same, ensure they are indeed conservative, and support them. If they fail to stand up for conservative principles, MAKE THEM WALK THE PLANK! If they indicate they are conservative, then vote against conservative principles MAKE THEM WALK THE PLANK! If they are members of the Republican Party, make them follow the planks of the platform, or MAKE THEM WALK THE PLANK!

Read the whole thing; the gist is that if Republican candidates can't follow all the planks of the Republican platform, then they need to get out of the Republican Party. Scozzafava, writ local.

That said, have the Spokane County Republicans taken a look at their party platform lately?

• Republicans believe in demanding the withdrawal of the United States from the United Nations and revoking sovereignty eroding treaties or agreements like NAFTA, Security & Prosperity Partnership (S. P. P.), CAFTA, etc.
  
• Republicans believe in repealing the "Endangered Species Act".
  
• Republicans believe in privatizing social security and eliminating double taxation of benefits.

These are the big three that jump out, and I'd sincerely ask the county GOP--are you really willing to say that a Republican who runs in the 3rd LD can only call themself a Republican if they're willing to stand up and say that we need to pull out of the United Nations, repeal the Endangered Species Act, and privatize Social Security?

The pisser about a litmus test is that, if it's designed too well, no one will pass it.

Read more here, if any.

The Long Term Health of the GOP...

....isn't a topic that I spend a lot of time thinking about, beyond hoping for continued employment for my friend JL and reading the occasional post at Sound Politics, but if it was something that I had a personal interest in this would worry me:

But the most ominous voting trend confronting the GOP is the young voters to whom Obama has laid claim. On the eve of the election, Pew Research Center polling gave Obama a 29 percent advantage among voters born after 1978, the so-called "millennials." Pew's exit polling gave Obama 66 percent of those voters under 30.

This year, 48 million millennials were eligible to vote; in 2012 that number will increase to 64 million; by 2016 to 80 million.

That's the macro trend; the micro here in Washington State could conceivably be even more pronounced, given our tech sector.

The Washington Spectator newsletter is quite good; I'd recommend it to anyone.

Read more here, if any.