Editorial: A simple litmus test for Republican voters

The conventional wisdom is that 2022 will be a good year for Republicans, and given the off-year election norms, it should be. Even in the suburbs, even in Illinois.

Certainly, there are issues that may play to GOP strengths - inflation, parental rights at the local schools, violent crime, the health of local businesses. among other things. And the more Democrats give air to extreme voices within their party, the more they add to the Republican hopes.

That said, this still is Illinois, and Illinois still is a blue state. For Republicans to win, the stars need to align.

There is one thing that could disrupt the GOP optimism: Adherence to the Big Lie. And if Republicans allow that to happen, they would deserve the disappointment it would produce.

For the most part, we are not fans of litmus tests, but as the GOP candidates announce themselves, it grows increasingly more apparent that voters will have an easy way to winnow the choices.

Any assessment of candidates in the June 28 Republican primary must begin with their answers to two fundamental questions:

One: Is Joe Biden our duly elected president?

Candidates can differ on, say, the merits of mail-in voting or the Electoral College, just as they can differ on the details of our systems for drawing district maps.

But accepting the will of the voters and reinforcing the public's justifiable faith in the basic accuracy of our elections is a prerequisite.

The Donald Trump-led campaign to undermine confidence in the result of the 2020 presidential election - in the face of multiple court rulings and audits to the contrary, despite Republicans exceeding expectations further down the ballots and based on nothing more than manipulative conspiracy fallacies - has greatly damaged the republic.

Giving credence to that, even in mere winks and shrugs, ought to be disqualifying, and any voter should question the naiveté or ethics (or both) of any candidate who does.

Two: Do you agree with the Republican National Committee's resolution that the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the nation's Capitol was "legitimate political discourse?"

If our freedom is to survive, we cannot allow ourselves to ignore the evidence seen with our own eyes.

The assault on the Capitol was nothing less than an assault on our republic - an ugly, misguided, cynical attempt to overturn an election.

The election was not stolen from Donald Trump. Donald Trump attempted to steal the election. And before, after and since then, he has attempted to steal our faith through a drumbeat of repetition.

There are plenty of worthwhile issues for Republicans to pursue - economic policy, crime, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign policy, equity, abortion, taxation, policing, immigration and more. All of these issues represent matters that would be enhanced by robust civic debates.

But it all starts with a commitment to democracy and the welfare of the republic. It all starts with an embrace of reality. It all starts with a sense of responsibility to the greater good.

There will be two kinds of Republicans running this year. Those who accept truth and those who deny it.

The choice for voters should be simple.