Don't Waste Your Vote
The Republican Party tries to discourage voters from voting for the Constitution Party by saying, “If you vote for the Constitution Party you will be wasting your vote.” What do they mean by this? They are saying that if conservatives vote for the only conservative party, i.e. the Constitution Party, then the Democrats may gain control of the White House and/or Congress. If this happens spending will go up, there will be high trade deficits, illegal immigration will increase, the war in Iraq will drag on, abortions will continue and a Democratic President would appoint liberal Supreme Court justices. Actual events indicate that the above items are happening now with a Republican White House and a Republican Congress. Spending is at the highest level ever, illegal aliens are flowing across our borders and the illegal war in Iraq is dragging on further increasing our national debt. Abortions are continuing as before. We will see in a few months whether the two new Supreme Court justices are conservative, moderate or liberal. Keep in mind that seven of the nine Supreme Court justices sitting in July 2005 were appointed by Republican Presidents and over half of these were liberal.
Dr. Chuck Baldwin has written two articles on this subject which are contained in the following. The first article is entitled, Would you Vote for Nero or Caligula as the Lesser of two Evils? (February 7, 2004)
“I constantly hear Christian conservatives say they must vote for ‘the lesser of two evils.’ This mostly translates into a vote for a pseudo-conservative Republican who, once elected, implements the same basic policies that just about any Democratic candidate would have implemented.
However, rather than admit there is virtually no difference between a pseudo-conservative Republican and an openly liberal Democrat, Christian conservatives continue to argue the benefits of voting of ‘the lesser of two evils.’
Question: If these same Christian conservatives had the opportunity to vote for Nero or Caligula, for whom would they vote? Would they vote for Nero because he slaughtered fewer Christians than Caligula? Would they overlook the murder of the Apostle Paul because in the grand scheme of things, Nero is not regarded as bloodthirsty as Caligula?
Philosophically, the above scenario is not much different from the logic used by Christian conservatives today who choose to overlook the violent injustices to the Constitution, the continued destruction of unborn babies, and the utter contempt for less government that are routinely demonstrated by recent Republican presidents. Their only argument for the continued support of such people is, ‘They are the lesser of two evils.’ Therefore, I suppose we would hear Christian conservatives say, ‘Vote for Nero; he is the lesser of two evils.’
When Christian conservatives attempt to defend G.W. Bush, they usually point to his signing a partial birth abortion bill as some great accomplishment which sets him apart from pro-abortion Democrats. But does it, really? I think not.
In the first place, the ink had not even dried on the paper when a federal judge struck down the partial birth abortion bill as ‘unconstitutional.’ Has anyone heard anything about it since? Has President Bush used his bully pulpit to protest the court’s decision? Has he petitioned Congress to impeach the judge?
The main difference between pseudo-conservatives such as G.W. Gush and liberal Democrats is that Bush professes to be conservative while most Democrats profess to be liberal. So, which is ‘the lesser of two evils?’ The one who tells you he is a liberal and means it, or the one who tells you he is a conservative and doesn’t?
Choosing between a phony conservative Republican and an honest liberal Democrat is no choice at all. One may as well argue the benefits of voting for Nero over Caligula. No, the only choice is to vote for a true conservative. If one cannot be found in the Republican Party, try looking to a minor party. The Constitution Party comes to mind. If enough conservatives would vote their conscience, the Constitution Party would not be a minor party, and we wouldn’t be left choosing between Nero and Caligula as ‘the lesser of two evils.’”
The second article by Dr. Baldwin was written January 27, 2004 and is entitled, Time to Trade in the Republican Jalopy.
“Listening to President Bush deliver his State of the Union speech reconfirmed to me that conservatism is dead within the national Republican Party. Of course, most Americans realize conservatism died within the Democratic Party years ago, but now it’s time to face the fact that conservatism is also dead within the Republican Party.
If I had closed my eyes, I could have concluded that it was Bill Clinton instead of G.W. Bush speaking before Congress last Tuesday. His speech was laced with calls for increased federal spending, increased federal power, and increased federal bureaucracy.
Compare Bush’s call for bigger and bigger government to the words of Barry Goldwater. Goldwater said, ‘I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them, it is not to inaugurate new programs, but to cancel old ones that do violence to the Constitution, or that have failed in their purpose, or that impose on the people an unwarranted financial burden.’
Goldwater continued, ‘I will not attempt to discover whether legislation is ‘needed’ before I have first determined whether it is constitutionally permissible. And if I should later be attacked for neglecting my constituents’ interests, I shall reply that I was informed their main interest is liberty and that in that cause I am doing the very best I can.”
Not since Ronald Reagan have the American people heard anything resembling true conservative convictions emanating from the lips of any prominent Republican. Sadly, Bush I and Bush II have turned the Republican Party into a pale image of the Democratic Party. As a result, genuine conservatism no longer exists within either major party in Washington, D.C.
If voters truly want to vote for historic conservative principles, they will be forced to vote for an independent ticket this November. My choice is the Constitution Party, but one thing is certain: a vote for President Bush is not a vote for conservatism. It is a vote for bigger and more intrusive government. From a conservative perspective, a vote for Bush is a wasted vote!
It’s time that conservatives awake to the reality that political parties come and go, that they are merely political vehicles through which principles may be transported into public policy. Whenever a political party abandons the principles people believe in, it is the duty of people to abandon the party for a more reliable form of transportation.
Therefore, since the national Republican Party is obviously a broken down jalopy, it needs to be traded in for a new model, one that has the internal combustion to transport conservative principles back to Washington, D.C.”
Vote Your Convictions, Not the Lesser of Two Evils!