Well I guess I'd be one of these "standards purists" then. For every project I work on I'll use standards. Every single one. I actually find I can't bring myself to work on sites which are tables-based, it's just a horrible, horrible experience.
I'll use semantic code wherever I possibly can (heading tags in a meaningful order, sensible class/id names, minimising the use of ids and classes).
HTML and CSS code should be lightweight, meaningful, maintainable and (I think) "beautiful".
People who are truly web design professionals will conduct their work in a professional manner, adhering to these standards.
Folks who don't use standards aren't keeping up with the industry, and are therefore not (in my eyes) professionals.