Presidential Candidates

We are faced with a unique opportunity this year as the ridiculously early primary election season picks up speed. We actually have a choice in presidential candidates from a “major” party that won’t propel us further down the path to social slavery!

Along with the usual suspects, a qualified candidate has slipped through the cracks and managed to make it into primary season! This doesn’t happen nearly as often as it should, the question is “will we take advantage of it and stop (or at least slow) our downward slide?”

Let me start by explaining why most of the candidates are not fit for the office to which they aspire. I’ll not waste time and space discussing the Democrat candidates, because it’s pretty obvious that none of them are qualified. I’ll focus on the Republicans—the party that most Christians think is the “good team”.

Please note that I am not going to give an in-depth analysis of each candidate, (usually only just enough to prove that he is not fit for the office) nor am I going to give the “positives” of each candidate. It’s nice that they want to lower taxes, but that doesn’t make up for utter Constitutional ignorance and apathy.

I might also throw in an additional fact or two that, taken alone, may not technically be enough to disqualify the candidate. These are simply additional reasons not to even consider the candidate in question.

John McCain

“Campaign Finance Reform”. Need I say more? Senator McCain is responsible for one of the most egregious violations of the First Amendment we’ve seen in a long time. He’s disqualified by reason of Constitutional illiteracy/apathy.

Rudolph Giuliani

As Mayor of New York, he supported taxpayer funded abortions for any woman who couldn’t afford one. He also opposes the Second Amendment, preferring to put the government in charge of who can and can’t own what type of firearm, with the emphasis on “can’t”. In case you missed it, he’s also on his sixth wife, which says something about his ability to keep an oath or sacred vow. He’s unfit by reason of Constitutional illiteracy/apathy and moral bankruptcy.

Mitt Romney

Anyone with designs on godhood (as any “good” Mormon has) should concern you (and NEVER be elected to ANYTHING!). Romney also displays a frustrating ignorance of the Constitution by claiming to support both the Second Amendment and the so-called “Assault Weapons” and Brady gun bans. Obviously, he’s disqualified due to terminal Constitutional illiteracy at the very least!

Fred Thompson

Supported McCain in 2000. (Also supports so-called “Campaign Finance Reform”.) Believes that life begins at conception, yet also that abortion ought to be legal in all 50 states all the way through the end of the first trimester. Lobbied for “Planned Parenthood”. Certainly disqualified based on Constitutional illiteracy/apathy!

Duncan Hunter

Voted to make the so-called “PATRIOT” Act permanent. (Gross violation of Constitution on many counts.) Certainly disqualified due to chronic Constitutional ignorance/apathy.

Okay, those are the easy ones (relatively speaking). Now we come to the VERY controversial and emotionally–charged candidate from Arkansas. I’m going to break with format and discuss this one a little differently.

Mike Huckabee, on the surface (in other words, in his campaign literature) appears to be a good candidate. He has the endorsement of HSLDA, he’s a professing Christian with an apparently sound marriage. He claims support for the Second Amendment, (and actually demonstrates at least an academic understanding of it’s intent) says all the catch-phrases that small-government conservatives and the evangelical masses long to hear from a candidate, etc., etc..

Unfortunately, once you start digging (if you’re honest about it) you’ll find yourself confronted by the less flattering reality.

Mike Huckabee is the only Republican to earn the endorsement of the national teacher’s union, the NEA (in NH at least). It’s not hard to see why either. He supports the unconstitutional so-called “No Child Left Behind” scheme and he raised taxes as Governor of Arkansas to increase spending on government schools.

He wants a nationwide smoking ban and supports federal farm subsidies. These are not the actions of a man who both respects and understands the Constitution!

His fiscal policy while he was Governor of Arkansas was quite similar to Bill Clinton’s, his past is full of ethical problems and questionable activity, and for advice of foreign policy he turns to none other than Richard Haass, president of the globalist “Council on Foreign Relations”.

Immigration? He claims to oppose amnesty and support a secure border, but as Governor of Arkansas, he supported measures to offer preferential tuition rates to illegal immigrants!

There’s much more I could say about Mike Huckabee, but I think I’ve spent enough time and space to adequately demonstrate that he is not fit for the office of President of the United States.

He appears to be the “designated dark horse” of the Republican leadership, pitched to the disgruntled Republicans and freedom-oriented voters who are sick of the RepubliCrat regime.

But enough of the negative, I said that we actually had a qualified candidate this year, and we certainly do.

Ten-term United States Congressman Ron Paul has demonstrated, not merely in stump speeches on the campaign trail, but throughout all ten terms in Congress, that he has a good working understanding of our Constitution, and equally important, a commitment to abiding by and defending it. He’s earned himself the nickname “Dr. No” on the Hill due to his opposition to so much unconstitutional legislation.

He wants to abolish the so-called Federal “Department of Education”, the IRS, DHS, National Endowment for the Arts, Department of Energy, FEMA, BATFE, and countless other unconstitutional federal agencies. (He’ll never see an endorsement from the NEA!)

He wants to abolish the Federal Reserve (not a government agency) and return us to a constitutional and sound monetary system. He plans to reinstate the traditional, pro-American foreign policy of non-intervention in foreign affairs, saving countless lives and at least a trillion dollars every year, not to mention the preservation of what little freedom we have left here at home.

If we run down a list of issues, Dr. Paul (he’s an OB/GYN who has, in his own words, “assisted women” in the delivery of over 4,000 babies) passes with flying colors, but he also possesses an understanding of how these issues properly fit into our legal system that even many activists often fail to grasp.

He’s pro-life

He’s pro-Second Amendment

He’s pro-small government

He’s pro-tax cuts (he’s planning on eliminating not only the “death tax”, but the income tax and several others as well)

He’s pro-American sovereignty

He’s anti-illegal immigration

Etc., etc., etc..

He also tends to live consistently with his Constitutional beliefs, for example:

He does not participate in the lucrative Congressional pension plan

He has never accepted “Medicare” or “Medicaid” in his private practice

He doesn’t accept taxpayer-funded “junkets” (trips)

He returns part of his Congressional office budget to the treasury every year

No, Congressman Paul is not perfect. No one is. But he’s something that we haven’t seen in a while, at least in presidential candidates. He’s qualified.

You’ll notice that I haven’t said anything about his “chances of winning”. That’s because that is an irrelevant topic when determining the candidate who will receive your vote. For the record, however, Congressman Paul has an excellent chance of winning. He’s beaten the so-called front runners in fundraising, with his funding coming in much smaller increments than the other candidates. (Incidentally, he’s received more money from active-duty military personnel than any other candidate.)

We have an opportunity this year, and it’s one that we may not see again for a long time (if ever). We as Christians had better not squander it, or we will deserve what we get, and more importantly, what we lose.

Don’t throw your vote away this year on a candidate who says one thing, but does another when he gets into office. Congressman Paul doesn’t just say the right things, (the same things he was saying 20 years ago by the way) he has proven himself over ten terms in Congress, often voting against the rest of the House! If he hasn’t “gone soft” and begun to “play ball” with the Establishment in ten terms, it’s probably safe to assume that he’s not going to in two terms in the White House!

I don’t often actually endorse a candidate on this blog, but I am officially endorsing Congressman Ron Paul for the office of President of the United States!

(For more information about Congressman Paul, you can visit his website below, or the link to many of his writings and speeches below that.)

www.RonPaul2008.com

www.lewrockwell.com/paul/