Questions for the Undecided Voter

[Valin]

Ricochet:

Dave Carter

10/11/12

 

A few weeks ago, I wrote to those people who can recite the winners of the last 117 seasons of American Idol, but can't name their elected representatives. But there is another type of undecided voter, ...people for whom the major limitation is that of time. Between work, taking children to and from athletic events and practices, and the frenzied pace of simply maintaining a functioning household where food is prepared, laundry is done, and the place is kept up, there is precious little time left to absorb and consider the endless barrage of news events. Both the Democratic and Republican conventions experienced a decline in viewership because, in my opinion, everyone knew how they would end. Each party concluded that their nominee was the best thing to come down the pike since the double decker peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the truth of the matter notwithstanding (*because there is precious little in life better than a double decker peanut butter and jelly sandwich). So why bother watching? Besides which, a politician's promise is made of the same stuff as the tooth fairy and just as reliable, right?

 

But now that viewership of the debates is increasing, and people are starting to seriously consider their options, it's time to decide not only who to vote for, but to evaluate the criteria for making that decision. Is it reasonable, for example, to expect our public servants to exercise their official duties according to the same values as the people they represent?

 

(Snip)

 

The crucial question therefore is whether the citizen exists for the purposes of the government, or does the government exist to protect the life and liberty of the citizen? Who is the servant and who the master? For that matter, does the private sector exist to fund the state and its experiments on individual sovereignty? If so, then Barack Obama, and his fundamental transformation of America from a country based on limited Constitutional government to a country where a central authority manages the individual, and where you and your family exist to support the state, is your ticket. But if you believe that it is you who employs the government, not the other way around; if you believe that in America it's the people who are sovereign; if you believe in an America where the values we teach our children apply to our politicians as well; and if you believe that the greatest country on earth doesn't need fundamental transformation, but rather restoration to the principles that made it great in the first place, then I'd like to interest you in a bracing alternative: Send Barack Obama and his party packing, evict them from the White House as well as the House of Representatives and the Senate, and elect instead Mitt Romney and other Republicans who not only cite the Constitution, but vow to respect the limits it places on government. Then stay vigilant and keep them honest. Your children and grandchildren are counting on you.

 

 

 

*I disagree the greatest thing in life is peanut butter and sweet gherkin on toast.