A reader in New Hampshire asks if Walt is voting today. For Ron Paul or Rick Perry. The answer is "no". Lifetime pct .982. But I really should explain.
My religious and political biases are fairly obvious. For a good summary, see my profile. I also like the motto "Live Free or Die". Which presidential wannabe shares my beliefs? Certainly not the incumbent. So that leaves the Republicans.
Of the shower that have tossed their hats into the ring, only two don't make my gorge rise. They would be Rick Santorum or Ron Paul. In previous posts I've declared for Congressman Paul. [For all the good that does him. Ed.] But I've watched and listen to Mr. Santorum a lot since the Iowa surprise, and like much of what I see.
A former aide to Santorum once called him "a Catholic missionary who happens to be in the Senate". Mr. Santorum appears to be a real jump-through-the-hoops traditional Catholic, not one of these modern "cafeteria Catholics" who think they can dissent from the Church's teachings and still call themselves "Catholic". (Step forward, Newt! Step forward, Nancy!)
Mr. Santorum stands firm against abortion, "gay rights" (especially "gay marriage"), sodomy and other perversions. He goes right down the line with Holy Mother Church in favour of family values and the right to life. In It Takes a Family (2005), Santorum says that family values are the foundation on which all else must stand.
Pope Benedict XVI would agree. In his annual "State of the World" address to the Vatican diplomatic corps, the Holy Father laid heavy emphasis on the threats to the dignity of life and the family, violations of religious freedom, and the continuing economic crisis.
So... if religion and family values were the only issues to be thought about, I'd be plumping for Rick Santorum. Unfortunately for Mr. Santorum -- and for America -- there are other concerns to be dealt with, not the least of which is the economic crisis of which the Pope spoke.
As I said on Saturday, I worry that the LGBT crowd, the "progressive thinkers" and the lamestream media are going to focus solely on Mr. Santorum's "divisive" views on gender and abortion, and ignore what he has to say about economics and foreign policy -- issues on which Santorum's views seem to me fuzzy and indistinct.
As nearly as I can tell, Rick Santorum believes that more government intervention is the answer to America's economic woes. Before he got clobbered in the 2006 election, he supported Dubya's "compassionate conservatism" -- pouring more taxpayers' money down the ratholes of welfare, medicare and the general doing of good for the "disadvantaged".
The only difference between that view and, say, Obama's is that the compassionate conservatives would channel the money through faith-based organizations rather than hand it directly to the baby mamas and drug addicts. But, IMHO, redistributing wealth is not the answer.
So also on foreign policy. Mr. Santorum has no ideas, let alone policies, other than to stay the course, do what's been done for the last half-century, only do it better. He offers no plan to write finis to America's act as policeman and saviour of the world. Nor does he propose reducing the military budget and bringing US forces home from foreign sandpits where they are doing more harm than good.
The only -- repeat, only -- candidate addressing these issues is Ron Paul. People ask if there's any difference between Mr. Paul and Mr. Santorum and the "other conservatives". There is pawlenty. (Sorry!) To me, the critical thing -- the one thing that would make me vote for Ron Paul and not Rick Santorum -- is Mr. Paul's libertarianism.
Ron Paul believes in less government, not more. He believes America should disentangle itself from the snares of the Middle East and the rest of the Third World. I may be overstating the case a bit, but I read Mr. Paul as saying the government should just get out of the way and leave people alone. I couldn't agree more!
Finally, a word about electability. The lamestream media would have us believe that only the Mormon candidate has a chance of beating the Muslim (?) candidate. It may be that Ron Paul and Rick Santorum cannot attract the votes of the "moderate majority". But that doesn't mean they should shut up and go home.
And it doesn't mean they're wrong. Remember Barry Goldwater. If you're British, remember Enoch Powell. Both Goldwater and Powell painted word pictures of what would happen if the "moderate" and "mainstream" views of their opponents prevailed. Both Goldwater and Powell were vilified as mean-spirited, right-wing nutbars, and soundly defeated. And both turned out to be right!
Footnote: Contrary to the Reuters report of the Holy Father's speech, Pope Benedict did not refer specifically to "gay marriage", although his condemnation of this perversion was certainly implicit in his remarks on the crisis in family life. Click here to read Vatican Radio's summary of the Pope's address.
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