I'm a longtime Democrat who lives in a predominately Republican county and have occasionally gone over to the dark side to vote in local GOP primaries or back some local Republicans in general elections.
No more. Why? Follow me to the jump.
My family and I live in a formerly rural county that's rapidly turning suburban. It's still predominantly Republican, but changing. (In this year's primary, total Democratic votes trailed Republican by only 1,100 out of 21,500 cast.)
No Democrat has been elected to county office in living memory. The local Democratic party, while on the upswing, still can't get a full slate of candidates for county office.
I've always voted Democratic in everything from congressional and state elections to national.
But it's a different story locally. The Republican primary essentially serves as the general election and on a couple of occasions I held my nose and took a Republican ballot in the interest of defeating some bad candidates.
In general elections, I've voted for a fair number of local Republicans. I'm met and talked to many, followed their performances and felt my vote was a reward for competent performance, accountability and sensitivity to constituents.
No more. Those local Republicans have forfeited my vote and won't get it back until:
* They insist that the principles of good government they espouse locally are also practiced by their colleagues in Washington.
* Renounce the intolerance, hatred and sleaze on prominent display nationally and notably at recent McCain and Palin rallies, in campaign commercials as well as in below-the-radar e-mail and other Internet efforts.
* Word is sent from the grassroots that it's time the national party returned to sanity.
It's past time that grassroots Republicans -- those who truly believe in those classic conservative principles of small government, fiscal responsibility and privacy -- say that enough is enough.
And until you do, you won't have my respect either.