Friday, January 20, 2012

Sigh

I have to make an announcement:  I am going to vote for Ron Paul in the Kentucky Republican primary.  I'm not going to be voting for Paul because I like him.  I came to this decision in a process of elimination, and Paul was the only one I can't discard:

  • Newt Gingrich:  I'm as flawed a human being as you can get, but I can't vote for a serial adulterer who didn't flee Washington like his hair was on fire after he wasn't re-elected.  Yes, I'm making a subjective and probably unfair judgement call about someones character based on what I know about his personal life.  But to be fair, I did the same thing to Bill Clinton, Gingrich's nemesis.  He's a great debater, or at least a combative one who would make Obama work for it, but I've never seen anything from him that tells me he'd be able to lead the country. 
  • Rick Santorum:  Seems like a good guy, but after the things I've heard him say about gay people and their ability to marry, I can't support him.  A president can't be choosy about whose rights he holds dear.  I always say that if the rights of one of us are violated, then the rights of all of us are violated, and I believe that if I as a twice-divorced heterosexual man can choose whatever other human being I want to be with (hopefully) the rest of my life, then every other citizen, gay or straight, should be able to do that too.  Look at it this way, if he was saying "I love guns, just not those guns" instead of "I love marriage, just not those marriages" would you vote for him?
  • Mitt Romney -  Do I believe that Romney will be Obama light?  Actually, I've come away from that.  Romney isn't a wannabe socialist.  I see Romney as a political chameleon who will try to govern through consensus rather than fight for what he believes is right.  He will compromise base principles in order to say he's accomplished something, even if it's counter to the philosophy of the people who elected him, and therefore I won't vote for him. 
So I come to Ron Paul.  Now, I like a lot of what Dr. Paul has to say about domestic policy, but I have problems with his foreign policy stance.  I'm all for reducing our foreign military involvement, but I think he wants to cut too close to the bone.  I also know that what a candidate promises on the campaign trail, what a sitting president tries to do in concert with the Congress, and what actually happens in the end are three very different things, so maybe my concerns aren't that big a deal.


Do I think he has much of a chance of getting elected?  I have no idea.  Obama would be able to paint him as an extremist kook, but he would be able to re-energize the Tea Party movement.  If he chose a conservative running mate, he might have a shot.

However, none of the Republicans are the kind of candidate and leader who you can look at and say "He will beat Obama".  Gingrich and Santorum will bring the nutroots out of the woodwork, and Romney is the opponent that Obama wants and he won't get the Republicans to the polls. 

So I'll cast my vote in the primary, try to get excited over the summer, and consider third party voting in November.  I'm seriously beginning to think that it would be better for Obama to have the White House with a Republican Congress than for any of these four to have a compliant Republican Congress.

9 comments:

Old NFO said...

Do what you gotta do :-) None of them are perfect, but I'm still taking Newt over the others, simply because the dems are scared s**tless of him...

Six said...

How did we get to this place? I kept waiting for a conservative of moral character to step up but apparently that's too much to ask for. I may have to do the same as you but I'm actively considering dropping the R from my name and taking a hard look at third party candidates.
You are absolutely not alone in the idea that some of us regard a republican congress (and Senate??) with obama in the WH as an alternative not without some consideration. 4 more years of that man would either spell the end of the Republic or the end of the Dems.

Mad Jack said...

I agree with you. I would not vote or support Gingrich for the same reasons. Santorum is out due to the gay position, and the gun analogy is a very good one.

I like Ron Paul's positions, generally, and those that I don't agree with I'll live with. The thing about the military is that if a candidate is the challenger, we should realize that the incumbent is privy to knowledge that the challenger isn't - so, if Ron Paul is elected he may well change his views on the military and not be able to say just why he did that.

Like, for instance, Zealot Dictator One has a delivery system and his almost neighbor Screwball Dictator Two has a nuclear device. Right now, we are standing between them... do you think we should keep the road blocked or just let nature take its course?

The election is The Anointed One's to lose. I do not see the GOP promoting a candidate that is certain or almost certain to win, and I don't think the Moonbats have really begun their fight. There isn't nearly enough finger pointing and name calling from the Moonbat regulars, let alone the Moonbat press. So, with a little hubris on the part of the Moonbats and a few very shrewd opening shots from the rest of the free world, there may be a nice chance to evict the current tenant from the double wide on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Unknown said...

I'm with you. It's a pity when voting "against" is the only option because there's so little to vote "for."

Paul could conceivably win. He probably won't, but the number of people voting for him will be a threat to the status quo.

Jake (formerly Riposte3) said...

I'm voting Gary Johnson, even if Ron Paul gets the nomination.

I had planned to vote for Paul if he got it, but then I found out about this bill that he introduced in 2009.

I know some people won't think it's a big deal, but the fact that he believes that the federal courts have no place determining whether a state law violates the Constitution or not is extremely disturbing to me. Even more disturbing is the way parts of that bill were specifically tailored against gays. It makes me wonder what his real position on gays is.

SW said...

I'm with you. I like Paul but some of his concepts concern me. I also think that the dysfunctional legislatures will hold back some of his more controversial ideas. This gives me some comfort when I cast my ballot. At least we know going in, what he intends to accomplish. Something that hasn't been observed in politics in a very long time.

A little more on in-Sanitorium's warped mind from over at Lew Rockwell's blog [URL="http://lewrockwell.com/dilorenzo/dilorenzo226.html"]here.[/URL] I think it is very likely that most of the rest of these Congress Critters think the same way on the freedom issue.

Phillip said...

I came up with the same decision a month or so ago. I'm voting Paul in the primary, and if Romney gets the GOP blessing, I'll vote for a third party or write-in candidate. I've read too many of JayG's rants about the AWB and the state of MA to think that Romney's a good choice, and the only way the GOP will ever give us a good set of choices again is if we show that we will NOT vote the party line regardless of what they put out there.

Anonymous said...

The one thing I do not like about many Republicans is their argumentative, nasty ways of dealing with situations. Newt is a prime example of that. I know there are many people who actually admire that in people. Not me. Get some class. That makes no difference in whether someone can run the country or not. I don't care. I can't stand Newt and his nasty ways. Maybe he will suggest that we share our borders with other countries, like he suggested his second wife share him?
The other thing about Newt is that he was all about impeaching Bill Clinton for adultery while at the same time he was living the same kind of lie. Hello, Newt? People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Get some integrity.

I sound just like Newt, I'm just against him right now, not for anyone yet.

Auntie J said...

Electile dysfunction: When none of the candidates do anything to make you want to vote for them.

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