Mark: It’s time to make our primary election “BARF” and “CRUD” awards identifying candidates pretending to run as republican in the republican primary.
Doyle: “BARF” stands for “Bummer, Another Republican Fake,” liberals who wrap themselves in the republican brand (think of Mitt Romney). “CRUD” stands for “Candidate Really an Unregistered Democrat,” candidates who will vote like a democrat but campaign like a republican (think of Mitt Romney again).
Doyle: So, who are the winners this election cycle?
Mark: Drum roll please . . . . Marco Erickson, Dave Radford, Kevin Cook, Doug Ricks, Brittany Raybould, and Jon Weber.
Bryan: Wow! That’s quite a list. What did these candidates do to earn such honors?
Mark: It’s not what they did as much as what they refused to do: Each refused to participate in our Bonneville County Republican Party candidate forum.
Bryan: Let me see if I’ve got this right. These folks want to represent the republican party in the general election as the republican nominees, but they refused to participate in a candidate forum sponsored by the same republican party whose nomination they seek?
Mark: Exactly! And they have their own excuses for not wanting to inform the voters at a republican sponsored event.
Doyle: Marco Erickson said he preferred a “non-partisan” candidate forum.
Bryan: But he’s running in a republican primary against Bryan Zollinger! You can’t get any more partisan than a republican primary. What’s he got to hide?
Doyle: He sounds like a CRUD—after all, he just registered as a republican last September and hasn’t voted in a republican primary or general election since at least 2012.
Mark: Dave Radford and Kevin Cook thought the forum would be “rigged” because Bryan Smith supports their opponents, Chad Christensen, and Adam Frugoli.
Bryan: What? All I did was send out invitations and teach Mark how to use Zoom. I had nothing to do with formulating the questions. In fact, Mark, you moderated the event and didn’t give anyone the questions in advance.
Mark. Yeah, I know. But that didn’t stop them from conjuring up a phony boogeyman for an excuse even when I sent them a personal invitation.
Doyle: Why didn’t Doug Ricks participate?
Mark: I have no idea because Doug didn’t even respond to several emails and phone calls.
Bryan: If Doug is willing to ignore his own republican party now, how will he treat voters after he’s elected?
Doyle: Why didn’t Brittany Raybould participate?
Mark: She said she was going to hold her “own” candidate forum. I guess she was going to ask herself questions!
Doyle: Why didn’t Jon Weber participate?
Bryan: He was upset that anyone on the Bonneville County Republican Central Committee would support his challenger, Shane Ruebush. When asked if we could tell the voters he wasn’t willing to inform them about his position on issues at a republican event, Jon said, “go ahead!”
Mark: These sound like lame excuses to avoid informing republican voters because Brittany, Doug, and Jon also refused to participate in the Madison County Republican Women’s forum.
Doyle: Wow! It sounds like these candidates are worthy of their BARF and CRUD awards because they don’t sound like real republicans interested in informing real republican voters.
Mark Fuller is the Chair for the Bonneville County Republican Central Committee
Doyle Beck is the Republican Chair for Legislative District 30.
