I have to comment on John Carlson’s “Winners who lost in 2008.” As a new participant in the Washington State Republican Party, I have been amazed at the ability of party leadership to shrug off massive rejection at the polls with bland remarks such as “We did amazingly well” and “We will sweep back into power when the Democrats fail over the next two years.” These are the aspirations of losers.

If you want to talk about winners who lost in 2008, you must start with Dino Rossi. Dino had more cross-party respect than Governor Gregoire will ever have, yet he lost his race in King County by a margin of 2 to 1. Why did he not win? Well, there was that little campaign contribution accusation, but that alone wasn’t enough to explain his loss.

He lost because the accumulated negative baggage from the “Family Values Wing” of the Republican Party elevates any little misstep (or rumor of misstep) into a tipping point which can overwhelm cross-party and cross-ideological goodwill – even for a candidate as respected and as popular as Dino. I believe that Rob McKenna was just one rumor away from losing “his” race.

John and many other high-profile Republicans espouse that we can keep doing the same things in the future and win – that’s the logic of losers.

The Republican Party needs to shed its religion-inspired policies and focus on their other conservative policies.

Most Americans are not looking for Sunday school lessons from those who would seek to serve as our leaders; we are looking for policies which advocate individual liberty, limited government and which affirm constitutional principles and the rule of law. Most Americans understand that family values come from families, not from political parties.

David Rogers

GOP PCO Precinct BEL 41-2936

Bellevue