Ron Paul for President

With the Republican Presidential primaries rapidly approaching, it is time to choose a candidate to endorse. I believe that Congressman Ron Paul is the best choice for President.

Evaluating the candidates requires examining their positions, records, experience, character, and electability.

POSITIONS AND RECORD

Ron Paul has the most conservative record of all the Republican candidates. He consistently scores 100% on The New American magazine's Freedom Index, which measures adherence to the Constitution.

Paul has the edge on the issues on which conservatives dominate the Republican Party. He is pro-life, and unlike any of the other candidates he has proposed declaring unborn children to be persons under the 14th amendment. He is also a doctor who has delivered more than 4000 babies, and thus can bring a personal perspective to the debate.

Paul is supports gun rights without exception. He has been a leader in Congress on this issue, and has been rewarded by Gun Owners of America with an A+ rating.

He supports traditional marriage and opposes "gay marriage". He supports stripping jurisdiction from federal judges to hear lawsuits aimed at forcing states to accept "gay marriages" performed in other states. This is a better alternative than a politically unrealistic federal constitutional amendment.

He supports appointing federal judges, prosecutors, and other officials who respect the Constitution. Paul has embodied this respect in his own career in Congress. Conservatives need not fear another O'Connor, Souter, or Miers under President Paul.

Ron Paul is far and away the best on other issues.

On taxes, he not only opposes tax increases and supports tax cuts, but he advocates eliminating the entire income tax and the IRS. He supports eliminating other taxes including the death tax. Short of completely eliminating the income tax, he supports tax reforms such as the flat or fair taxes.

Ron Paul is unquestionably the best candidate on government spending. He supports eliminating all unconstitutional government spending, including unconstitutional and harmful cabinet departments. Thus would significantly cut the monstrous three trillion dollar federal budget. At the same time, he would protect government benefits for those who depend on them for their survival. Paul's congressional record reflects his willingness to make often lonely votes against appropriations bills.

Paul is also the best on government regulations. He votes against all unconstitutional regulations, including campaign finance reform and many others.

Paul also raises the important issue of monetary policy. Whether or not the gold standard is the best monetary policy, Paul is certainly correct that government inflation of the money supply is a hidden tax that reduces that value of our money.

Paul is by far the best choice to protect American sovereignty. He is opposed to the United Nations and all its treaties, and has led the fight in Congress to withdraw from it. He opposes purported trade agreements like NAFTA and the World Trade Organization that impose supranational government regulations. He opposes plans for a North American Union through the Security and Prosperity Partnership and NAFTA Superhighway.

Paul is solid on immigration. He opposes amnesty. He supports ending government benefits for illegal aliens. He opposes birthright citizenship and has led efforts in Congress against it.

Ron Paul supports adhering to the Constitution. Many candidates talk about following the Constitution, but only Ron Paul has actually done it, even when it was unpopular. He has a thirty year record of advocating his beliefs in and out of Congress.

My biggest disagreement with Paul is on foreign policy, where I believe that his noninterventionism is unrealistic. But the neoconservative polices of imposing democracy and nation-building are also unrealistic. Paul's foreign policy also has good points, such as cutting off foreign aid to hostile entities such as the Palestinian Authority. Examining the biggest causes of death in recent decades simply does not support the notion that the war is the most important issue and that we should ignore all the other issues and focus only on it.

EXPERIENCE AND CHARACTER

Ron Paul is a medial doctor who has delivered more than 4000 babies in his career. He served in the United States Air Force for two years in the 1960s. He has served three stints in House of Representatives (1976, 1978-1984, 1996-present). In and out of office, he has advocated liberty.

Ron Paul has unimpeachable integrity. Unlike most any other politician, he always votes for what he believes is right. He tells the truth. He cannot be swayed by lobbyists or contributors. He works hard to enact his beliefs.

He has been married for 45 years and has five children.

ELECTABILITY

Is Ron Paul electable? There isn't enough information to come to any definite conclusion.

The generic political environment is bad for any Republican. It could be that no Republican is electable. On the other hand, Democrats have liabilities as well, and a third party candidate such as Michael Bloomberg could help Republicans.

Paul would have the advantage on the issues of abortion, guns, marriage, immigration, and taxes. His position on the war would also be a significant asset in the general election.

Political analyst Newt Gingrich has argued that Republicans can win with a candidate who is seen by the public as significantly different from President Bush, as Nicholas Sarkozy was seen as a significant change from the unpopular Jacques Chirac in France. Paul fits the bill far better than any of the other candidates.

Finally, it is worth noting that Paul has been elected to Congress ten times. This is no small feat, given what he advocates. He is one of the most skillful politicians in America. Would voters actually elect an honest man instead of another slick establishment candidate? There's only one way to find out.

As for the nomination, it is worth noting that none of the people who said that he can't win predicted that he would raise almost $20 million from more than 100,000 individual donors through online fundraisers organized by his supporters. Neither did they predict that he would win dozens of straw polls, or lead "first tier" candidates in various polls. The conventional wisdom should not be unquestioningly accepted.

CONCLUSION

The other day I happened to hear Ronald Reagan's 1964 speech in support of Barry Goldwater, entitled A Time for Choosing on the radio. It is striking how much Reagan sounds like Ron Paul, or vice versa. None of the other candidates sound like that.

I hereby endorse Ron Paul for President.