Today, that retort no longer applies because the primary season as a time to segregate good candidates from bad candidates on the Republican side of the ledger has failed us. It has failed us because of the intervention of the establishment Republicans.
Too often today it matters not whether a Republican or a Democrat is sent to Washington because the outcome will be the same. In August I posted this reply:
When it comes to the GOP I am freshly out of loyalty. I look at the field of United States senators who claim affiliation with the Republican Party from safe seats and I ask, what have you done for the conservative cause lately?
What has Lindsey Graham done from his safe seat in South Carolina? He has been more than a nuisance, more than an obstruction, he has been an active agent against conservative principles.
What has Mitch McConnell done? He has colluded with Karl Rove to siphon off donor monies into campaigns to defeat conservative Republican challengers who bear the label "Tea Party," even applauding the treachery in Mississippi.
What has Lamar Alexander done from his relatively safe seat in Tennessee? He's been on the wrong side of every issue including amnesty.
What have of the placeholders done, Mike Enzi, Thad Cochran, John Cornyn and the others? What have they done to advance conservatism? Too hard a question? What have they done to impede Obamas tyranny? Still too hard?
Do you really believe that these guys will repeal Obamacare? Do you really believe that these guys will fail to endorse amnesty? Oh they might give you a head fake but if their votes are needed they will betray us. Some like Alexander and Graham at least are upfront about it. The rest are skulking around the cloak room ready to do the bidding of K St. or of the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal.
I don't give a damn about conservative credentials if they are not worth anything. To be worth something conservatives from safe seats must do something. Yes, I judge senators from safe seats more harshly than those for marginal seats. No apologies.
Let's put the fear of God in some of these placeholders and turncoats to "encourage" the others.
Mike Enzi is no Cochran.