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The liberty platform

Next president should look to Paul

Super Tuesday can be full of surprises, and the West has yet to be won. Still, Ron Paul isn’t the likely GOP nominee. The Gazette doesn’t endorse political candidates, and we don’t favor the Republican or the Democratic party. The eventual nominees, however, would be wise to give serious study and consideration to Paul’s message. The ideas he brought to the race could help center a Republican Party that’s grasping for an ideology that doesn’t sound like Democrat lite. It could help Democrats lasso disenchanted former Republicans whose party lost its way.

Paul’s campaign far outperformed the expectations of most astute political analysts. He set new records for raising millions in a short amount of time. The media held up former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani as a mainstream heavyweight hitter all the way through Florida. Yet Paul, who has been treated by the press mostly as an also-ran, trounced Giuliani in every caucus and primary except in Florida — where Giuliani spent all his time and capital trying to woo millions of retired New Yorkers to disappointing avail.

Why has Paul drawn an envious base of diverse, young supporters?

Perhaps it’s because his message is a promise of less government, not more. It’s an unwavering belief in the individual, in states’ rights and in free markets. It’s a philosophy that says countries should work together, toward mutual gain, rather than engage in ongoing wars. It’s a simple and consistent ideology that appeals to young adults, who must pay for the weighty entitlements of an older generation, and aren’t on the receiving end of copious amounts of government largesse.

Paul is the candidate whose ideas inspired young Democrats and unaffiliated voters — and people who’ve mostly ignored the process until now — to register Republican in droves in order to bolster his platform. Paul, a social conservative, is unwaveringly pro-life. He once sponsored a bill that would have defined conception as the beginning of life. Yet it’s easy to find Paul supporters who favor legalized abortion. Paul opposes any federal sanction of homosexual marriage, yet he has attracted gays and lesbians to the campaign.

In a visit Friday with The Gazette’s editorial board, Paul was asked why so many of his supporters have different positions on some of the fundamental issues that define modern politics — such as abortion and gay marriage. Paul explained that his constituents don’t fear his presidency would interfere in their lives, because they understand that his leadership would enhance liberties. He isn’t promising government action to appease each interest of every large voting block. He’s doing the opposite, promising less production from Washington and minimal interference in the everyday lives of Americans.

Anyone with a basic understanding of American history, for example, knows that overturning Roe v. Wade wouldn’t outlaw abortion. It would simply return the issue to state legislatures, where it belongs. In states such as Colorado and California, abortion would remain legal for better or worse.

While most politicians promise a result, Paul envisions a free and decentralized process.

A defender of religious freedoms, Paul favors ending the federal funding of religious charities that was started by President Bill Clinton and expanded by Bush. This week, the socalled faith-based initiatives became troublesome in Colorado because of a bill that would force religious organizations to stop considering religious preference in hiring, for positions linked to charitable activities that receive government funds.

“It’s very dangerous,” Paul said of government funding of charities. “You’re corrupting churches. Once they become dependent on that money, they will be forced to toe the line.”

Paul’s economic recovery plan is simple, and it appeals to common-sense Americans who desire to live free. It goes like this: reduce and eliminate taxes that punish investment and savings; eliminate corporate taxes that threaten jobs; eliminate wasteful federal spending by reducing overseas commitments and freezing all non-defense, non-entitlement spending; require the Federal Reserve to televise its meetings; repeal Sarbanes-Oxley regulations that push companies to seek foreign capital; and end restrictions that prevent small banks from fostering local growth. Unlike other fiscal recovery plans, Paul’s doesn’t leave one with that sinking feeling of “how do we pay for it?”

Paul, who has a tough-on-illegal-immigration track record, speaks with hope about a future in which more immigration could be allowed to benefit the United States. He explained that his concerns about unfettered illegal immigration relate to the fact state and federal welfare programs have resulted in the possibility that immigration costs more than it’s worth.

“If we had a truly free market, and therefore a prosperous economy, then we could legalize immigration,” Paul said.

To old-school conservatives and classical liberals, their old friend the GOP has become a caricature of what it once was. Once it was a party that knew happiness and prosperity resulted from free markets, liberty and minimal government. Today it’s a party that promises happiness and prosperity as a federal gift from a central government that grows without constraint and tells us how to live.

Paul almost certainly won’t become president next fall. Whoever wins, however — Republican or Democrat — should study Paul’s platform with respect. Our next president should lead the country to greatness with an agenda of passionate plans and ideas — a platform to be achieved by individuals, local governments and businesses that are free from over-taxation and excessive regulation. Need the playbook? Consult Ron Paul.