I have a lot of respect for the resilience of Senator John Mccain’s campaign. He was left for dead this summer after being a leading voice for an unpopular war and being in favor of a very unpopular immigration reform bill. He’s still fighting an uphill battle, but he has come back and is making a real push to win in New Hampshire.
I respect Senator Mccain for his service to our country as a war hero and prisoner of war in Vietnam. I also respect his willingness to speak his mind even when he knows it’s unpopular. He was a leading advocate of the troop surge in Iraq that has turned out to be a very successful strategy. Senator Mccain is also a budget hawk who would certainly fight, as he has as senator, against all the wasteful spending by our government.
Although Mccain is also technically pro-life, his commitment to fighting the battles of the culture war is suspect. He has often been at odds with evangelical leaders like Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and Dr James Dobson. He also opposed the federal marriage amendment that failed to win two thirds majority in the Senate in 2006.
Senator Mccain has taken some other strange stances over the years. He co-authored the Mccain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill, which did nothing to clean up the corruption in politics. He also opposed the Bush tax cuts when they were first proposed, although he now favors extending them. These combined with his support of a horrible immigration reform bill earlier this year make him a risky candidate to get behind. His judgment has often been proven wrong over the years, so it’s hard to predict what kind of president he would be.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is the hot candidate lately. He was considered a second-tier candidate until just a couple months ago, but now has a legitimate chance to win the nomination. I remember watching him in the debates last summer thinking he would be a good president, but he has no chance. Now that he has a chance, I’m not sure he would be such a good president.
Mike Huckabee is a former Baptist preacher and a very strong evangelical Christian. He is also very charming and has a humility about him that many people find attractive. I love his stance on the culture war. I believe like he does that our nation is morally near bankruptcy and needs to be cleaned up. I think he’s a very likable guy, so I really wanted to believe that he was the guy to get behind.
Now that he is a serious contender, people are taking a closer look at him, and they don’t like a lot of what they see. This guy is 100% with us as a culture warrior, but, otherwise, it’s hard to find other areas where he’s actually a conservative. Looking at his record in Arkansas, he raised taxes far more often than he cut them, he supported in-state tuition for children of illegal aliens, he furloughed many prisoners, some of whom committed more crimes after being released from prison.
He’s also made some very disturbing remarks about Iran, implying that if we just talked to them we could find a way to get along with them peacefully. This combined with criticisms of Bush’s foreign policy make you wonder if he really understands the scope and magnitude of the threat our country faces and if he’s up for the challenge of taking on the evils in this world.
That leaves us with former Mass governor Mitt Romney. Mitt was only governor for four years, but he has a ton of experience in the business world. He is very well-organized and has a history of turning companies around and making them profitable. He also is known for his work fixing up the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002.
As president, I have every confidence that he has a great understanding of economic policy and what it takes to keep our economy strong. I also think he would do a lot toward cleaning up all the waste and pork spending done by our Congress. He is a strong supporter of Bush’s foreign policy and would continue going after the terrorists and keeping our country safe. Mitt also has a strong stand of securing our borders and stopping the flow of illegal immigrants.
Mitt has two drawbacks in my book. The most important is that he has flip-flopped on some issues like abortion and gay marriage at very convenient times for a presidential run. He now says he’s pro-life and pro-family, but one must wonder how committed he is to those causes.
I hate to admit it, but the second drawback for me is his Mormonism. It’s not a huge deal, but it is a little bit of a problem. As a Christian, I do indeed believe that Mormonism is a cult. Mormons will argue differently, but one bottom line thing they don’t believe is that Jesus is God. They only believe that He is God’s son and brother of Lucifer. This is a fundamental disagreement with Christian theology. One that I would say disqualifies Mormonism as a Christian religion.
That said, I don’t believe that Mitt’s Mormon faith is enough to disqualify him from being president. Many of our founding fathers were not theologically on the same page with orthodox Christians. Thomas Jefferson was a deist, meaning he believed in a God that created the universe, then left it alone and never intervened into human events. This did not stop Jefferson from being a good president.
The bottom line for Romney and his Mormon faith is whether or not he will be on our side in the culture war. Will he appoint good justices and fight for the causes that all of us as people of faith believe in? This is a question that has yet to be answered. I suspect that Romney is on our side. His personal life shows a man of faith and character that is loyal to his wife and family.
After examining the five candidates, the search for Ronald Reagan continues. None of the five candidates have stolen my heart up until now. Of course, even if we can’t find our Ronald Reagan, in order to prevent Hillary Clinton and Co. from getting into the White House, I will enthusiastically support whichever of the five wins the nomination.
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