In 1996 Washington had a far-right Christian run for governor on the Republican ticket. They were soundly defeated. At the time, I was still solidly Republican. I celebrated in 1994 when the Republicans reclaimed the U.S. House of Representatives and felt then (and still do) that Bill Clinton was unfit to be president.
But in 1996 I could not vote for one as extremely out of touch as Ellen Craswell and, for the first time in my life, voted for a Democrat for a state office. It is evident that 1996 was not an anomaly, merely a test to see what voters could stomach.
Now Washington has “Ellen’s kids,” including Jaime Herrera Beutler, her mentor, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and various other far-right politicians at the state and federal levels carrying out “mother” Craswell’s wishes while sometimes trying to not appear so extreme. Yet, at their core, they have the same mission to emasculate government and support the scorched-earth agenda of religious extremists that Craswell proudly carried the banner for.
I am now an independent, but not finding any Republican unbeholden to the religious right’s agenda is obligating me to vote Democrat until Republicans make a serious and major course change.
