If you are a Republican in Franklin County Washington and weren’t at the last central committee meeting, you probably should have been.  Your county party has been officially hijacked!  At the last meeting, word is the overly-zealous-anti-everything-hyped-up-on-teabagging-evangelical-wing-of-marginal-Republicanism voted to “censure” Washington State Representative Maureen Walsh (R-16) over her vote on Washington’s Domestic Partnership bill.  Finally, a press release today attempts to explain:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: CHAIRMAN, TOM CORNELL
May 5th, 2009 PHONE: (509) 545-3195

On April 21, 2009, at the Franklin County Republican Central Committee meeting, the Committee overwhelmingly voted to censure 16th District Legislator, Maureen Walsh, for her sponsorship of the recently passed HB 1727.

[...]

Despite all her rhetoric otherwise, it has become indisputable to the Franklin County Republican Central Committee that Rep. Walsh is actively working to incrementally legalize gay marriages. As early as the 2006 legislative session, Rep. Walsh was working to expand the jurisdiction of the Human Rights Commission to include cases of discrimination because of a person’s sexual orientation with her co-sponsorship or HB 2661.

The Franklin County Republican Platform states:

“Families are the center of our culture and the basic unit of society. Traditional families must be protected and honored. Traditional marriage must remain the only acceptable form of legally protected marriage. Marriage is only between a man and a woman and should not be redefined.”

Ironically, HB 1727 didn’t actually redefine “marriage” per se.  Instead it extended protections and rights to same sex couples carefully sidestepping the definition in a religious context.  But the best part (as it should be) is saved for last:

Representative Walsh has claimed that Republicans favor her agenda of stripping traditional marriage of its meaning and watering down the definition of the words “marriage” and “family”. Thus, we, The Franklin County Republican Central Committee, formally give the Franklin County community and voting constituents of District 16, NOTICE, that Representative Maureen Walsh does not represent the values of the Franklin County Republican Party.

But what really happened at the FCRCC meeting?  Once source tells me it was more like mob rule than a meeting when a group consisting largely of evangelicals led by Nicole Prasch and Brenda High (complete with a area representative from Focus on the Family) pressured for a censure vote (Ok… censure… exactly what does that even accomplish?).

This isn’t good for Franklin County moderate Republicans who like many others, are increasingly coming around to the understanding that civil unions are not the great threat (or the best platform issue) they had been led to believe.  The example of that understanding can be found today with Maine Governor Baldacci when he made the following statement after signing Maine’s civil marraige act into law.

“This new law does not force any religion to recognize a marriage that falls outside of its beliefs. It does not require the church to perform any ceremony with which it disagrees. Instead, it reaffirms the separation of Church and State,” Governor Baldacci said.

“It guarantees that Maine citizens will be treated equally under Maine’s civil marriage laws, and that is the responsibility of government.”

It’s been a long time since I heard a more level headed statement from a Republican than that.  A clear understanding of the “responsibility of government” is something I’ve always appreciated - though it’s been a rarity for many years in the party - about good republican leadership.

You know, sometimes it’s hard for me to be a Democrat.  It really is.  But with an ever shrinking platform based on anti-tax and narrow social issues, how could I ever be a Republican.