It is our duty to vote but more than that, it is our duty to ensure we do more than pick a candidate that is 'electable.'

As delegates get ready to go to assemblies tonight and in the coming days, the debate over which candidate is best is at a fevered pitch.  One of the most common refrains we hear is about ‘electability’ – how we need to choose X candidate because they are the one most likely to succeed in November. 

When you hear that, think about this:  Where has picking ‘electable’ candidates gotten us? 

We have a corrupt government at all levels.  We have elected officials that forget who exactly they represent.  Worst of all, we put them there, all because they had ‘electability.’ 

Other times, we have picked a candidate for these reasons and because party officials believed X candidate was the best choice, only to see them crash and burn in the general election. 

In 2004 the party pressured us to choose Pete Coors telling us that he would have ‘widespread appeal among voters’ – a longer way of saying ‘electability.’  On election night in 2004 we watched Coors get defeated handily by Ken Salazar.  But hey, Coors was ‘electable’ right?

In the primaries leading up to the last Presidential Election there were many choices.  Among them were some true conservatives and true leaders that could articulate our message to the American people.  But no, we chose John McCain.  “He is a moderate and will appeal to the electorate everywhere” we were told. 

We all know the outcome of that.  How is that hopey-changey thing working out for you? 

Money is of course a big factor and we are told that only X candidate can bring in the money needed for the big race.  This is another complete and utter fallacy.  Once the field is narrowed, the one who is standing will have no shortage of money – that is a fact. 

In reality, it is those frontrunners and the ones with the big bucks already rolling in that we should be leery of.  In fact, we should run from them.  Those same big dollar candidates are the ones we have sent to Washington D.C. for years – the very same ones that are now corrupt and have gotten the nation into the mess it is in now. 

‘Electability’ is not what generated the results of this past Tuesday’s primaries in other states.  Voters are sick and tired of choosing between the lesser of two evils and being virtually forced to choose X candidate because they are ‘electable’ or have money. 

We have compromised our values in years past by picking candidates because they have the biggest name, they have the money, they are ‘electable.’  It has mattered little that they did not share our values, beliefs and ideals. 

Oh sure, they run around touting their so-called conservative credentials but we knew the truth.  We turned a blind eye, plugged our nose and put a mark in the box that sent the ‘electable’ candidate forward.

Enough is enough.  Now is the time to make a statement to be heard across this nation and in every race from county commissioner to the state legislature to the House of Representatives and the United States Senate. 

Forget a candidate’s ‘electability’ but remember how it has failed us. 

Vote who you know in your heart is the best man or woman for the job.  To do anything else continues us on the same path, doomed for failure and disappointment and is disrespectful to what our Founding Fathers envisioned.

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