Why I’m voting for Ron Paul

Just want to let my two cents be heard as I get ready to vote this Saturday. 

Some of you may be surprised at my support for Ron Paul.  You might be thinking “but she’s not a druggie or a hippie or an anarchist or an obnoxious college student” and you are right.  I’m not that stereotypical crazy Paulbot.  I’m your average stay-at-home mom, former school teacher, church-going Latter-Day Saint (Mormon), law abiding citizen, intelligent (if I do say so myself) human being, and freedom lover.  Not all Ron Paul supporters are what you may think they are.  We are people who believe in personal liberty.  We believe that the government should be for the protection of our life, our liberties and our property.  We believe that the federal government should get out of our lives (beyond the previously mentioned things) and our wallets and leave the bulk of government powers to the states and local governments where the people can actually decide and have a say in what they want.  We believe that the Constitution should be the basis for how government works.  We believe that this country has strayed dangerously far from the principles it was founded on.  We believe in common sense.

I was very excited when I found out earlier this week that Ron Paul would be speaking in Charleston this morning and talked my friend Melissa into going with me.  To our relief, we weren’t the only ones there with kids in tow!  It was exciting to see him in person (from afar and through a very large crowd) and hear him speak.  We stayed near the back of the crowd so the kids wouldn’t disrupt people so it was a little hard to hear everything, but the things I did hear, I agree with.  I am looking forward to watching the full speech again online, so I can hear it better.  He is so much better of a speaker in this type of setting than in a debate.  I will be the first to admit he did terrible in Monday’s debate.  Here’s hoping he can do better in tonight’s and maybe win over some new supporters.

There was one thing about Monday’s debate that drove me CRAZY and so I need to vent about it and see if anyone else agrees with me here.  On the topic of Foreign Policy, Paul was asked about why he did not support the way we went into Pakistan to get Bin Laden.  He said that yes, we did need to get Bin Laden, but suggested that we should have worked with the Pakistani government instead of going in without their knowledge.  He said we would be furious if another country sent their military into our country without our knowledge and then mentioned the Golden Rule.  And he got booed big time!  A room full of conservative (mostly Christian, I’m sure) southerners actually booed the mention of the golden rule!  And then Newt gets talking and says “What should we do to our enemies?  Kill them!” (not his exact quote, but I’m too lazy to look it up) and the crowd goes wild with cheers!  Now whether or not you agree with Ron Paul’s stance on foreign policy or not, doesn’t this seem a little over the top?  If you take a step back and look at this without rosy republican colored glasses, what does it say about our society?  Are we really a bunch of blood thirsty savages?  Because that is what it sounded like to me.  I do not completely agree with all of Ron Paul’s foreign policy platform, but when I see stuff like this, I get pushed more and more toward his ideas.  As all this news about Iran comes out I am reminded of the book 1984 and this thought keeps coming to mind “Iran is the enemy.  Iran has always been the enemy.  We are at war with Iran.  We have always been at war with Iran.”  Now I know our country hasn’t gone quite that far yet, but it scares me at how close we are coming to it.

I know that it’s still a long shot for Paul to win the nomination.  But I believe that a vote for Ron Paul is an extremely important vote.  It is not a wasted vote, as I’ve heard many people say.  The other republican candidates are all practically the same anyway (in my opinion).  I’ve heard a lot of people say they are choosing their candidate based on who can beat Obama (or who the media tells them can beat Obama) and I want to take this chance to say that I am voting based on principles!  I do not believe that there is anything wasted in voting your principles (especially in a primary election!)  So I encourage you to do your homework and study the candidates then base your vote on something more than who the media tells you you should vote for.

Thanks for reading as I get on my soap box!  And don’t forget to vote!

PS…We’re training our children in the cause of liberty young!  Adeline loves her Ron Paul button and even thanked God for it in her prayers the other night!  Rob is still training her to say “Don’t steal, the government hates competition!”