GOP should let voters have a say

The Washington state Republican Party again should embrace its tradition of honoring results of the state's popular presidential primary.

The state Republican Central Committee will meet Saturday in Yakima to decide if it will use the 2008 primary results to select some of its delegates to the party's national convention. Some in the GOP are arguing the party should follow the same course the state Democratic Party did last month, deciding once again to ignore the primary results completely. That begs the question: If the Democrats jumped into Puget Sound, would the GOP follow them there, too?

Probably not. Cooler heads ought to prevail on this issue, since the GOP historically has made the right decision to count primary results. About one-third of delegates were allocated by the 2000 primary results; the rest by results of party-run caucus meetings.

In a much more elitist approach, the state Democratic Party always has based its delegate allocation exclusively on the small fraction of party members who attend its caucuses.

Turnout is dramatically different. In the state's last presidential primary, 40 percent of registered voters (1.3 million) voted, while only about 2 percent of registered voters — 60,000 — participated in the caucuses.

In addition to providing data to the parties, the presidential primary also serves as a magnet for presidential candidates. In 2000, several candidates on both sides — including George W. Bush and Al Gore — spent time in Washington state, learning about its unique issues, assets and challenges.

The next challenge will be setting the 2008 primary date early enough to matter in the presidential races. A state panel meets June 11 to decide the date.

The GOP should follow its history and populist sensibilities — not the Democrats — on whether to count the presidential primary.