Sunday, February 3, 2008

The True Colors of Diversity

While I have made my official endorsement of Ron Paul (not that my endorsement means so must because I am just a guy sitting at a computer) I also acknowledge some of the virtues of the other candidates running. I do like Mike Huckabee’s personality and human touch. While the talk radio personalities don’t care for the former Arkansas governor, he does indeed have the Reagan charm which I find impossible to ignore. Mitt Romney exudes competence and confidence, unfortunately he lacks a certain amount of flavor.

With these factoids in mind, I wish to continue my discussion of diversity. This time I will be coming to the other party, the perceived racist and segregationist party. For the Republicans, there actually exists a diversity of ideas, which is what true diversity means, not the diversity of appearances. Take these past and present candidates for example:

Rudy Giuliani, now out of the race, is pro-choice and was so engrossed with liberal ideas of "gay rights" that he went so far as to march in Gay Pride Parades.

Mitt Romney is a convert to the pro-life movement, it seems, and favors the "No Child Left Behind" legislation many conservatives now spurn. Like Giuliani, he favors gun control and the Brady Bill.

John McCain is the biggest war hawk running. He favors open borders immigration policy and only since he has been ascending among Republicans has he decided to speak about border enforcement. He has a reputation for being a budget hawk, but he may be more accurately thought of as an earmark hawk.

Mike Huckabee is the most socially conservative candidate in the field. He is a free trader who borders on protectionism which makes him an aspiring economic nationalist. He favors a more moderate foreign policy that still supports Iraq but is more temperate in his dealing with Iran.

Tom Tancredo was the biggest immigration hawk while he was in the race. He pounded the immigration enforcement drum long before it became politically expedient and he is a hawk on the Iraq issue.

Ron Paul has a consistent pro-life and tax-cutting voting record. He believes in states rights and thus the 10th Amendment, the most neglected in the Bill of Rights. He also opposes the Patriot Act and any unauthorized surveillance by the government. He is also the lone non-interventionist among any of the Republican candidates who were ever in the race.

By contrast, the Democrats threw Senator Joe Liebermann out of their party for enthusiastically supporting the Iraq War to this day. An otherwise liberal senator, Liebermann was cast aside for one deviant position.

Tell me which party has diversity.

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