The Caucus
Tonight I did something I’ve never done before: I attended my party’s precinct caucus. To be honest, I’m not quite certain exactly how the process works: we voted both for presidential candidates and for county and state caucus delegates. I’ve a feeling that the candidate votes don’t mean much and that it’s the delegates who do, but I could be wrong.
The turnout was interesting. There was one Huckabee supporter (our precinct leader), four Paul supporters, five McCain supporters and maybe eight Romney supporters. One of the Paul supporters was a young woman named Star—her heart was in the right place, but I’m afraid her head wasn’t. I’m partial to his candidacy too, but she was…crazy. Her speech for delegate pretty much repeated his name over and over as though it were some form of protection against harm. Goofy stuff. I appreciate her enthusiasm, but the man is no divine avatar; he’s just a politician. Besides, goofiness just gives his campaign a goofy appearance.
I kinda wish that we’d been able to give speeches. Before I
left for the precinct I looked up the president’s oath of
office. It’s remarkably short: I do solemnly swear (or
affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the
United States, and will to the best of my Ability[sic],
preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United
States.
That’s it. I’d have liked to have asked my
fellow precinct-members this one question: which candidate do you
believe can say that with a straight face? That’s really what
choosing a president is all about: who will preserve, protect and
defend the Constitution? Can you say that McCain will? He hates the
first amendment. Can you say that Giuliani will? He hates the
second. Can you say that Huckabee will? He wants to rewrite the
Constitution to better fit his religion. Can you say that Romney
will? He doesn’t seem to care about anything other than gaining
power. The only candidate who would say those words, and mean them,
and follow them up with action; the only man who has kept his sworn
word; the only candidate who has preserved, protected and
defended the Constitution to the best of his ability; is Ron Paul.
He’s crazy, and he’s wrong about a lot of issues. But
he’s right about the most important issue of all: he’s
right about the importance of the Constitution, of a government of
laws rather than men.
I could and would vote for a McCain, a Huckabee, a Romney or a Giuliani—I might even be able to vote for an Obama or Clinton—if any of those actually gave a fig for the Constitution of the United States of America, if any of those wouldn’t be forsworn within hours if not minutes of swearing. That’s the only issue which counts; all others are subsidiary.
In other news, my dear brother John is now a delegate to the Mesa County and Colorado caucuses: congratulations to him! I take some small credit for his achievement, since I was the one who walked him through the precinct caucus business and looked up his caucus location for him. It was his first one, and he managed to suitably impress his neighbours. Good for him!
