The 2018 elections for municipal, county, and state offices take on added importance given the current circumstance of national politics. Skipping over the hundreds of single offenses made to the office of president by the current occupant, and listing only the broad categories into which those offenses fall, what we regularly see and hear is: overt and intentional racism; poorly disguised white nationalism; deceit and dishonesty as daily tools of governance; corruption and criminality in multiple high places due a broken moral compass and hiring criteria that have nothing to do with job qualification; fiscal irresponsibility; marital infidelity, sexism and ever-present disdain for women; disregard for law and the US constitution; personal self-interest and political party before the good of the country; counterfeit support for the backbone of this country, the American worker; and daily communications that are cruel, vindictive, vile and bullying.

It seems reasonable that any individual running as a Republican in 2018, no matter what or where the office, needs to state directly if they are a supporter of the president of the United States and intend to stand by him in a 2020 election. If the answer is “YES,” then perhaps they ignore, forgive, or otherwise rationalize as necessary the general behaviors and attitudes listed above. Worse, perhaps they support the president, not in spite of who and what he is, but exactly because of who and what he is. In any case, a vote for such a candidate is itself a seal of approval for all that is now in the public record and what is undoubtedly yet to come. Is that a candidate we really want to occupy any elective office in our towns, county, or state?

Stephen Chappuis

Port Townsend