Courage in Politics

I'm back! I've been a little busy to post for the last two weeks or so, but I'm back!

It's not often that we see true courage in politics, so I thought I'd point it out.

By the way, the exception to the above statement is virtually every candidate running on the Constitution Party platform. This takes a tremendous amount of courage, both because they stand for the truth, and because, as a result, they wind up as targets for persecution from people who call themselves "conservatives", including friends, family, and so-called conservative organizations.

Within the two major parties however, such courage in defense of the truth is becoming more and more rare.

Here in Michigan, we have three Republicans running to replace our Democrat senator Debbie Stabenow in the 2006 elections.

I've spoken with all three of them, and as usual, the rhetoric is thick and difficult to pierce. Most of what these gentlemen say sounds great...as far as it goes. That's the problem. It doesn't go very far.

In spite of the most probing questions that I have been able to ask, (without having a concentrated sit-down interview--which I doubt their campaign managers would allow) I'm not convinced that any of them have the intestinal fortitude to take a stand even on those topics where they verbally sound conservative, with one exception.

His name is Jerry Zandstra. In response to a question I asked him about what he would do when faced with a blatantly unconstitutional appropriations bill--supported by the Republican majority in Congress and the Republican President--he said that he believed that one of the qualifications necessary for anyone to hold the office for which he is running is that that person not need the job. In other words, they need to be willing to lose the next election if that's what it takes to do the right thing.

Needless to say, I agree whole-heartedly. Talk is cheap, however, and I have taken his words with a grain of salt.

Recently, however, Mr. Zandstra has taken an action that speaks far louder than those words.

In our state, an organization called Michigan Citizens for Life has stepped up to the task that we should have taken in hand years ago.

This organization has initiated a petition drive to put an amendment to our state Constitution on the ballot in November. This amendment recognizes for the purposes of Michigan law and the Constitution that personhood begins at conception, and that all persons are to have the protection of the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses from that point.

I'm disappointed to say that the organization calling itself "Right to Life" (both national and state branches) has opposed any measure that would result in such complete protection of innocent human life. They opposed the South Dakota measure and successfully defeated it the last time it came around, and opposed it this most recent time, though happily they lost that battle. They have also registered their opposition to this new effort to protect unborn children here in Michigan.

Mr. Zandstra, being pro-life not only in word but also in deed, informed Michigan Right to Life of his intention to support the initiative.

He was told in no uncertain terms that if he did so he would lose his MRTL endorsement.

He did. He announced formally that he would support the petition drive and MRTL summarily revoked their endorsement of him.

Right to Life's endorsement is perhaps one of the most important to any Republican candidate. Mr. Zandstra demonstrated that he was willing to risk losing the election if necessary in order to do the right thing.

For this courage, I applaud him. Neither of the other candidates have demonstrated such courage, and for that reason, I consider him to be the best candidate running on the Republican ticket.

This is not the first time that he has taken a risky position, but this is perhaps the largest risk to date.

It still remains to be seen to my satisfaction whether his worldview is as whole and complete as it must be in order to tackle the many difficult tasks facing our next United States Senator, but he has at least demonstrated a certain integrity that bodes well for the rest.

Thank you, Mr. Zandstra, for demonstrating that there still exist politicians who can take a stand for right no matter what.



Michigan Citizens For Life
Mr. Zandstra's Campaign Website