“Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don’t vote.†William E. Simon
Those are very relevant words by the late Secretary of the Treasury of both the Nixon and Ford Administrations.
Our greatest gift from our Constitution is our right to vote. The greatness in the gift is that it comes from God, not from man. We have indeed been “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Liberty is not a gift from man, nor does it come from our constitution. Our constitution is merely a covenant, a contract between the elected and the represented. More American blood as been spilled in the preservation of liberty than for any other cause. It has been spilled not only on our continent or for our country, but around the world and for other countries.
My son gave his life for the safety of our country and also for the country of Iraq. Eddie wrote the following in his article “Freedom Feels Good”:
The Iraqis are capable of free government but we cannot call it quits because we think they aren’t. Someone has to believe in them, someone has to help them out; someone has to provide the example. We are showing it to them. Some have taken it, many haven’t, but it will spread…because freedom feels good.
The whole world is watching us. If we choose not to vote, will the whole world continue to believe in us? The pundits were excitedly describing the massive GOP voter turnout here in Florida and statewide it was 41.7%, the largest turnout was in Lee County with 57.4% and the lowest was in Dixie County it was 29.5%. In comparison, estimates for Iraqi voter turnout in the parliamentary elections in January 2005 were estimated to be near 70%.
I quoted Charles Finney in my book about our Christian duty to vote:
Charles G. Finney, the great 19th Century revivalist credited with spearheading the Second Great Awakening in America, said this about Christians participating in politics:
“The church must take right ground in regard to politics . . . The time has come for Christians to vote for honest men and take consistent ground in politics, or the Lord will curse them . . . God cannot sustain this free and blessed country that we love and pray for, unless the Church will take right ground. Politics are part of religion in such a country as this, and Christians must do their duty to God . . . God will bless or curse this nation according to the course Christians take in politics.
Some will say that there are not any honest men running in the primaries and that may be true, but to overcome the issue of not wanting to vote for the “lesser of two evils”, may I recommend you do what Frank Salvato has written about in his latest editorial?
Why don’t we vote for the better candidate?
To all the states involved in Super Tuesday: the whole world is watching.
No pressure…exercise your right to vote. It was bought with blood.
Go Lee County!!! That said, I would remind folks that you never think about the importance of the right to vote- until you can’t vote. Thank you Dave- excellent post~ Carolyn
No one has the right to complain if they don’t vote. We just came back from hearing Mike Huckabee speak at the Trinity Methodist Church. Don’t care what the pundits say, we have decided that he is the only one that we can vote for and will definitely vote for him on Tuesday. Thanks for all your inspirations, Dave. Jackie
As this Presidential campaign cycle gears up, there has already been much hype, much unfounded speculation, and unfortunately too much dirty politics. The thing there hasn’t been enough of is honest in-depth debate on each candidate’s plans and principles, not just positions. Conservative principles are the very core of our American spirit. They are what the Republican Party is supposed to be based on, right?
Fred Thompson has what America needs to take her back to the principles that made her great, the principles our forefathers based our Constitution on. Fred is the respected man he is because he stands solid on his principles, never swaying with the winds of political correctness. He is a man who stands rock-solid on his principles; a man who will look you straight in the eye and tell you how it really is, good or bad, straightup; a man who speaks with substance; the only one who can be trusted to stand tall and have the resolve to do what is necessary to protect America.
I’m writing this to reach out to more people and let them know America had a strong conservative candidate within her reach. Unfortunately though, when Fred Thompson dropped out of the race it became a dark day for America. Do not despair though, there is still hope, the fight will and must go on; there is a plan. If we are all truly commited to Fred’s principles, and hope to see these principles have some bearing on the future of America, we all must vote for Fred in every primary, even if we have to “write in†his name. If we can help keep the vote split enough, maybe a brokered convention could happen. At the very least, it will send a very clear message to Fred and the American people he actually had more support than they thought. This in itself may reinforce the possibility of Fred being selected to run as VP, which would not only bring some integrity into the White House in January of 09, but would garner him the exposure needed for a Presidential run in 2012 or 2016. It would also send a message to the Republican party there are still many true conservatives left who will not stand idly by and watch our party be hijacked by moderate, liberal-leaning Republicans. Last but certainly not least, it would educate the mainstream media to the fact that even though they may be able to influence a campaign’s decision, it is truly we the people who will exercise our God given right guaranteed by the Constitution to make the final decision, to select who we feel is the best leader for our great country.
Dave,
Great post! I have listened to all, done the research and as a believer and by virtue of a good conscience I can’t pull the lever for Huckabee. I could for Fred and Duncan. Now it is down to Mitt or John. Between the two I am choosing Mitt based on his leadership ability, his buisness record and honestly his family life is a lot more respectable than John’s and McCain is definately a liberal in my book.