"You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We'll preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on Earth, or we'll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness." - Ronald Reagan 1964.

It is almost rote that the politicians tell us every year's election is the most important in our lifetime. The difference is that 2012 is.

Like Ronald Reagan expressed in 1964, we in 2012 have choices to make and the consequences to those choices are stark. Preserve this last hope of mankind, our Constitutional Republic, or continue the slow walk into "darkness." But we have two "times of choosing." The latter is in November in which we will choose between two incompatible world views, and parties.

Yet the first "time of choosing" is also significant. In the Idaho Republican primary on May 15 we will decide who will carry the banners of our party. We will decide who will lead the way in our struggle to save our nation in November. We must choose wisely or risk losing our opportunity and our initiative.

The decision in May is simply a decision on what kind of party we as Republicans want to be. There are two visions here also. One is the vision that Ronald Reagan outlined in his landmark speeches in the '80s. His "New Republican Party" was one that built a broad vital party based on inclusion and conservative principle. The Reagan Coalition created from his plans became an electoral movement unlike any in American history. The "Party that Reagan Built" was successful throughout the '80s and even achieved its zenith after Reagan's presidency when Republicans took control of Congress in 1994. This is a vision we all could build on again.

The contrasting vision is a narrow party based on exclusion, demagoguery and ideological purity. This vision requires slavish devotion to a few leaders who develop a cult of personality from whom any criticism or deviation is considered traitorous. Any dissent from the stilted favored ideology (or even perceived dissent) is dealt with by ostracism, intimidation and slander. The currency of this vision is power and control, not conservative principle. Unity in this vision means either subordination or banishment. The greatest danger of this limited vision is that it is doomed to fail in translating conservatism into reality because its exclusionary rigidity will ultimately deny us the majority.

The Reagan Republicans have always been champions of Reagan's vision of a broad-based conservative party which not only supports but lives by republican principles. We have always opposed a narrow ideologically-partitioned Republican party that requires uncritically marching lockstep to a few demagogic leaders. This year that contrast is made tangible by our choices in the May 15 primary. Reagan Republicans have endorsed candidates and Reagan Republicans are running in their precincts precisely reflecting Reagan's vision in this conflict. I hope all Reagan Republicans join in this hopeful and optimistic vision.

The following candidates have been endorsed by the Kootenai County Reagan Republicans for the 2012 Republican primary on May 15.

Congress: Raul Labrador

2nd District:

House Seat B: Ed Morse

Senate: Steve Vick

3rd District:

House Seat A: Jeff Tyler

House Seat B: Frank Henderson

Senate: Bob Nonini

4th District:

House Seat A: Luke Malek

House Seat B: Kathy Sims

Senate: John Goedde

County:

Prosecuting Attorney: Barry McHugh

Commissioner, District 1: Todd Tondee

Commissioner, District 3: Dan Green

Sheriff: Keith Hutcheson

Ron Lahr is president of the Kootenai County Reagan Republicans.