Join the party, vote in your primary

OK GOP, here’s the deal. This is a call to all registered Republicans to come out and vote. Like it or hate, it we have a two-party system, which means we have two competing parties vying for votes. This also means that in order for the system to work well, you have to stop sending us this gang of crazies who stumble through the primaries.

There is a wealth of candidates in this group of loons. In fact, if you look at most GOP lineups, it’s hard to swing a straightjacket without hitting someone who is off his or her meds.

Let’s take Louis Gohmert, Republican representative from — wait for it — Texas. Here’s a guy who spoke out against a hate crimes bill by arguing that it would lead to the legalization of Nazism and necrophilia. Actually, Gohmert, Nazism — or any other outrageous political ideology — is legal here as long as you’re not plotting to overthrow the government. Consider that the next time you’re sipping tea with a few close friends. As for the necrophilia thing, one can only speculate as to why someone would make that connection.

He’s also the genius who told us the government is being infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood. I’m not sure where he gets his “facts,” but I only know of one Muslim in a national office, and that’s Rep. Keith Ellison from Minnesota. And just because Rep. Ellison is Muslim doesn’t mean he is a member of the brotherhood any more than being Catholic makes one a member of the IRA.

Of course, Louie is not alone in his irrational exuberance. There’s Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who has raised the specter of revolution; Rep. Paul Broun, R-Georgia, who insists Obama is poised to declare himself a dictator; Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., who has trotted out the GOP perennial about rape rarely resulting in pregnancy; Republican Congressman Steve King from Iowa, who justified wanting an electrically charged fence on our southern border by comparing illegal immigrants to livestock; Congressman Scott Desjarlais, R-Tenn., who tried to pressure both his wife and mistress into having abortions while at the same time pushing anti-abortion legislation; ex-senator and one-time presidential contender Rick Santorum, who says the idea of separation of church and state makes him want to “throw up;” Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who says he doesn’t loose sleep over the possible execution of innocent prisoners; Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, who just signed a bill that empowers him to personally decide who will and will not receive abortions covered by Medicaid; and candidate for lieutenant governor in Virginia, Republican E.W. Jackson, who thinks yoga leads to demonic possession. I could go on, but I’m getting writer’s cramp.

My longwinded point is the GOP should stop giving us these escapees from a Mack Sennett film festival. There is a pretty simple fix. All you have to do is show up. Few, if any, of the above-mentioned lunatics would hold office if you would just show up and vote in your primaries.

In this next election you are going to be presented with a choice. Sen. Mark Begich is extremely vulnerable. He is a Democrat in a very red state, and he has managed to alienate the base of his party in the recent background check debate. So far, the GOP is challenging with Joe Miller and Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell.

The last time Miller won a senatorial primary, he was defeated in a historic write-in campaign waged by incumbent Lisa Murkowski. She lost the primary because Republican voters stayed home in droves. The right wing fringe of the party elected Miller, who then went on to say he wanted to eliminate of the Department of Education, bring an end to unemployment insurance, end Medicaid and privatize Medicare and Social Security. He even handcuffed an uppity reporter at a press conference. Murkowski went on to beat Miller in the general election with a write-in campaign.

Treadwell, on the other hand, is something of a rarity in Republican ranks. He is a centrist. He has been a board member of the Alaska Science and Technology Foundation, has represented us at the Arctic Council and was with Governor Hickel at the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio. He’s a moderate who understands good government is not about getting your way all the time. In other words, he’s sane.

So here it is Alaska Republicans. Most of you can choose to not participate in the upcoming primary, and you will almost guarantee a Miller victory. That, in turn, will make Mark Begich a lock for the 2014 election, and that’s fine with me. Or, you could participate in the process and, in all likelihood, put a real, live grownup in the race.

Primary elections are not just reserved for super voters. They are supposed to be where the party comes together and agrees upon a candidate. Unfortunately, primaries are too-often attended by voters with a particular political ax to grind. Lately in Republican primaries, that ax is being swung by ideological extremists who view compromise as weakness. It never really dawns on these folks that our government was constructed in a way that elicits compromise. In fact, it was the result of compromise. What the Louie Gohmerts, Rick Santorums and Joe Millers of the world don’t seem to understand is that there is a word for politicians who don’t compromise. They are called dictators, and putting those people in office is just plain crazy.

Chuck Legge is a freelance political cartoonist and community columnist who lives in Sutton.