I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that most of you had the same reaction when you read the title of this Unconstrained Discourse: "Who is Chuck Baldwin?".
The short answer is that Chuck Baldwin is the Constitution Party's candidate for President of the United States; and yes, I'm going to vote for him in November.
I'm also going to guess that you've already started composing your arguments against my pick for President. Things like: "There's no way he's going to win so why would you throw your vote away", and "If you vote for him you're just helping Obama win".
I'll stipulate that Chuck Baldwin is not going to win the Presidency. I'll also agree that most people that will vote for Mr. Baldwin would otherwise have been voting for John McCain. So by voting for Mr. Baldwin, I — and others like me — may be helping Obama to win.
So why will I vote for the Constitution Party candidate when I know he can't win? Why will I vote for him when doing so may help this country elect the most liberal, radical, and militant President we've ever had?
Because I've decided that being principled, and standing up for what is right, is more important than winning.
I am a conservative. I have conservative ideals, beliefs, and convictions. Neither Mr. Obama nor Mr. McCain share those traits.
I probably don't have to explain to you that Mr. Obama may possibly be the most liberal Presidential candidate that this country has ever seriously considered. It should be obvious that a true conservative would never vote for Mr. Obama.
But what about Mr. McCain? He's a republican. While it's true that Mr. McCain is a part of the Republican party, he is not -- by any stretch of the imagination -- a conservative. At best he is a moderate and I believe that he is even more liberal than that.
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Despite his recent protestations, Mr. McCain is FOR amnesty for illegal immigrants.
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He has been at various times both pro-life and pro-choice.
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He has voted for bigger government.
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He has voted against tax and spending cuts.
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He has a globalist economic view without regard for its impact on the US economy.
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He was co-author of one of the most unconstitutional pieces of legislation to ever come out of Washington (McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform). A piece of legislation that restricted your 1st amendment rights.
"But what about the war?", you say, "We need McCain to fight the war on terror for us". The truth is, Mr. McCain was almost single-handedly responsible for stripping our intelligence agencies of the ability to gather the information needed to prevent future attacks when he eliminated their ability to do coercive interrogations.
Given McCain's record, I don't know how any principled conservative could vote for him. It's been said that when you choose the lesser of two evils, you still end up with evil. While I'm not saying that Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain are evil; we could paraphrase to say that when you choose the lesser of two liberals you will still end up with a liberal. I will argue that there will be very little difference between a McCain presidency and an Obama presidency.
There comes a time when we must decide to stand up for what's right. We must decide to be principled. We must decide that right is more important than expediency.
So what does voting for Mr. Baldwin accomplish?
First and foremost, it will allow me to go to sleep on election night knowing that I held true to my beliefs. I will know that I didn't compromise and vote for a pro-choice candidate. I will know that I didn't compromise and vote for someone who flaunts our laws by supporting illegal immigrants. I will know that I voted for smaller government. I will know that I voted for The Constitution.
Finally, my vote for Mr. Baldwin -- if combined with enough of your votes -- will send a message. Even if that message is sent in defeat, the numbers will send a message. Republicans will eventually hear that message and the party leadership will be forced to bring the party back to its conservative base.
The choice is yours. Will you make a stand for what is right?
Wayne