Do Republicans want real ideas?

Printed in the Friday, March 4th issue of The New Hampshire


With the New Hampshire primary less than a year away, prospective Republican candidates for the presidency will begin to make their rounds to our state in hopes that they can pull out a win in the Granite State and prepare for a momentous primary season for their campaigns. As the first in the nation primary, New Hampshire holds a unique responsibility to take the first look at the field of primary candidates. This election cycle, we'll only see Republican candidates since it seems more than likely that President Obama will pursue a second term in the White House. As one of the most conservative states in New England, not to mention the entire union, New Hampshire's Republican primary voters have the opportunity to make their stamp on the entire field of candidates. We must make sure we give the New Hampshire. bump to a candidate with principle, vision and the resume to back it up. Above all else, this candidate should show that he or she is not afraid to balance a budget, not afraid to cut wasteful programs - no matter how popular - and not afraid to push back against the status quo to enact real change in the way we govern ourselves.

The Republican Party today is intellectually bankrupt. I find myself saying this more and more often these days. Hearing Mike Huckabee, a competitive social conservative for 2012, suggest that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange be executed for his activities really makes you wonder what kind of hysteria would ensue with a Huckabee presidency. Tim Pawlenty's morning-after-9/11-style foreign policy doesn't impress either. Stick to budgets, governor. Mitt Romney's political support seems to stem from his campaign's incessant efforts to coronate the former governor of Massachusetts as the de-facto Republican nominee leftover from 2008. A force moving only by momentum, I predict the Romney Zombie Machine will deflate after the electorate realizes its transparency. It seems as though his campaign is built on a foundation of Obama jokes and rhetorical quips. Romney speeches are the political equivalent of dumping a bucket of chum into a school of sharks when we need a president who's willing to shock them with a cattle prod. Change will not come easy. Balancing the federal government's fiscal mess will be like pulling a 180-degree turn with a tugboat; it'll take some time.

"Decepti-cons" like Huckabee, Pawlenty and Romney have controlled the mainstream of conservative thought and Republican Party policies for decades. Within the last decade, the United States has bore the brunt of two decidedly pro-government, pro-spending, pro-debt parties with minuscule differences between them - two parties that sustain endless wars, encroach on personal liberties and support failed Keynesian economic policies. Changing the debate surrounding the 2012 Republican primary means shifting the entire political spectrum. What we need is a rational debate on what role a government should play in a free society. What better than an impending budgetary and fiscal crisis to kick it into gear?

What this electorate should look for is a candidate who examines our problems objectively and provides thorough solutions. Former Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson and Texas Congressman Ron Paul are miles ahead of the rest of the field in this area. Johnson's resume as governor shows he's got what it takes to balance a budget and keep government under control. He says: "Run government like a business. Best product, best service, lowest price." As a governor who vetoed 750 bills and billions of dollars in useless spending with them, Gov. Johnson understands the role of the executive in our government: to counter-act the frivolous legislature's misuse of tax dollars. Congressman Ron Paul has maintained a consistent, principled record in Congress and as a harsh critic of the expanding warfare-welfare state and the opaque methods of the Federal Reserve. Dr. Paul will be on campus in the Granite State Room at 3 pm on Thursday, March 24. His much-anticipated visit will signal his willingness to chase the Republican nomination for president in 2012. Always a challenger of the status quo, Ron Paul has stood up to the GOP establishment more than a few times during his extensive career in Congress. From bank bailouts, to the Iraq War, to the Federal Reserve, Congressman Paul has maintained positions that he believes strongly and defends with consistent principle. Can we say the same for the rest of the 2012 Republican primary field?