That doesn't mean, Don, that there aren't millions of Republicans out there who imagine that they are voting for principles and competence. I mean, hell....just ASK them! ;-D

Every political group in existence imagines they are voting for principles and competence. It's a standard assumption of the human mind, no matter what side of a partisan issue people are on. Everyone imagines he's voting for "the good guys", the principled, and the competent.

To put it another way, everyone looks through glasses tinted by their own cultural perceptions which they've garnered from birth till now, and their own perceptions alter how they see the situation. This is true of you, me, and everyone else on the face of the Earth. Never assume that you or your group stands alone in having a conscious sense of righteousness or in appreciating principles and competence.

Do I think the Republican party is a bastion of principles and competence? Ahh.....nope! I sure don't. But then, I don't think the Democratic Party is principled or competent either. ;-D Which one would I dare walk down a dark alley with? Well....I think I would try and avoid that situation altogether if I could find any possible way to. If I was forced to walk down that alley with a gun at my back, I'd say a quick prayer to the great loom of creation and Mother Nature and I'd walk with the Democrats...usually. Maybe not always, though. I have not forgotten Lyndon Johnson.