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restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations
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The Constitution Party: The Real Alternative
Recently NewsWithViews.com published an article by Bill Sizemore, “Why the Constitution Party is Going Nowhere”. My first impulse, as Chairman of Oregon’s Constitution Party, was to fire back in anger at Sizemore’s obvious attempt to discredit our party just as election year activity is heating up. Instead, I paused long enough to reflect on how our recently departed and beloved President Reagan handled these things – turning hostile situations inside out, not joining the other guy in the mud.
Well, I reread Bill’s comments and decided that there are some things he says that might help the Constitution Party move toward the success we hope for. Good advice can come from adversaries as well as from friends. Additionally I remembered some political wisdom from another source – “Worry when opponents take no notice of you. It is a sign that you are going nowhere.” The truth is that Bill Sizemore is tacitly admitting that the Constitution Party is going somewhere. It is just “somewhere” that he as a Bush booster doesn’t like.
Also, Bill may be politically savvy but he still misunderstands something. The Constitution Party really does not play by the same laws of political science as the two big parties must. They must protect their dominant position which they do by inviting their supporting constituencies to feed at the public trough. We cannot offer such fare. The elephants offer empire and corporate favors. The donkeys offer monthly checks and the abolition of moral discipline. The Constitution Party offers a return to lawful governance and individual liberty but at the expense of all the socialist goodies. We want to subtract where the entrenched parties must add.
The Constitution Party isn’t really a “third party”. We are America’s first party - the party of Adams, Madison, Jefferson, George Mason and George Washington - the party of limited government and empowered people. We hold out an idea not a fist full of dollars. We have a different constituency.
Today, few Americans are prepared to strike out in a radically different political direction as part of a small band even if they recognize the ultimate rightness of the project. However, the number of those few is steadily increasing. The Constitution Party stakes its future on that trend.
What fuels that trend? Moral degradation, unsustainable economic practices, cultural upheaval, the continued shedding of innocent blood at America’s abortuaries, the spiritual hypocrisy of wanting a God blessed America while we boot Him from every public venue, the erasure of our borders, the shrinking of anything private, the expansion of all things bureaucratic, the bankruptcy of public education, the loss of private property rights, the growing sense that the two big parties aren’t the answer to the problem – that they are the problem, and more.
Who are the people who make up this small but growing
band of political pioneers? Homeschoolers, those who worship God and do
not worship the state, those who visualize abortionists on trial,
constitutionalists, people who have
to be free,
sound money advocates, and gun owners. These are dedicated people who fit
the “Live Free Or Die” and the “Don’t Tread On Me” pattern. The
Constitution Party can go somewhere with these kind of folks. The
Republican Party has abused this constituency for a long time thinking
that “They have no where else to go.” We will see.
The likely Constitution Party presidential ticket of Michael Peroutka and Chuck Baldwin will not have the “big bucks” and “big name” campaign. Bill Sizemore is right about that. Yet these men are articulate and right on the issues. They will become more widely known than Mr. Sizemore wants them to be. They will draw a bigger vote than he wants them to. They will be part of an unstoppable movement that will carry the Constitution Party along the road toward our goals – Life, Liberty, Limited Government.
Bill Sizemore paints a depressing picture of a closed loop political world where no new political product can emerge because big money and big names will always slavishly cling to the Democrats and Republicans.
The Constitution Party is not modeling itself after these two monstrosities. We believe that the answer for America is to restore the Republic that our Founders gave us. We believe that the Biblical principles are the only sure foundation for man’s laws. We believe the safest foreign policy is to avoid meddling in the affairs of other nations and to encourage a well armed citizenry at home. We believe that parents have the right and responsibility to guide their children’s education. Our legislative agenda is to repeal unconstitutional programs not concoct new ones.
Wondering about wasting your vote? Our answer is that we quit wasting our votes when we stop giving them to politicians who, once in office, move us further from the America we hope for. Use your vote to underline what it is that you truly do want. That, Mr. Sizemore, is how to go “somewhere!”
June 16, 2004
Robert Ekstrom is the chairman of the Constitution Party of Oregon. He may be reached at ekstroms@earthlink.net