tomhanna

"I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. Barry Goldwater"

Because that's where the politics are.

I am a registered Republican. From 1996 to 2000, I was the Newton County Central Committeeman for Reding Precinct. In 2000, I got married and moved to Granby, which is the home precinct of the Newton County Presiding Commissioner. He and his wife are the committeeman and woman for the precinct, so now I enjoy the status of "invited guest" at most committee meetings. I am a libertarian with a small l and, don't let this scare you, an armchair anarchist. I believe that government is best which governs least and to paraphrase Thoreau that is logically the government which governs not at all. On the other hand, I don't think we are actually ready for that and I accept some government as realistically necessary or at least inevitable. The greatest influences on my thought have been the great advocates of freedom and individualism from John Locke to Thomas Jefferson to Ronald Reagan. In my case, it didn't start with Ayn Rand. It started with William F. Buckley, Jr. and Ayn Rand came a couple of years later. I worked on Mel Hancock's first primary campaign for 7th District Congress in '88 and got the taste for winning conservative candidates. I am a former member of the Libertarian Party, though I have supported Republican candidates since that first voting and working election in 1988. I supported several Libertarian candidates in that 1988 election and basically learned that there are too many flakes in the Libertarian Party who don't care enough about their principles to want candidates who will further those principles to win. As a libertarian, I'm a member and supporter of The Club for Growth, an organization which has moved libertarian ideas forward in Republican politics, and think that the Libertarian Party has served its purpose (barring the self-immolation of the Demoncat party which would change the dynamic completely). Even though I am a libertarian and not a neocon, I am a supporter of the Project for a New American Century. The best defense for life, liberty and property at home is helping free people from tyranny abroad so they can produce their own freedom and prosperity rather than just coveting ours. In Presidential races, I worked for and voted for Ron Paul in 1988. Ron was a former Republican Congressman from Texas running as a Libertarian and he is now back in Congress as a Republican. I did not trust the man who called Reagan's economic plan «voodoo economics. As it turned out, I was right. In 1992, though I had left the LP and was otherwise solidly Republican, I cast a protest vote for Ross Perot. In 1996, I was an enthusiastic supporter of Bob Dole and Jack Kemp. In 2000 and again this year, I was an enthusiastic supporter of George W. Bush. I think he's more conservative than his father and also learned from his father's mistakes.