Dakota Beacon

It might be a good time to look at a couple of our possible Republican Presidential candidates again.  It has been a while, now, and there are a few adjustments in the public’s viewpoint since the last time we checked.  I looked at Richard Viguerie’s poll on Conservative HQ, which included the following, in order of preference:

Leading with Sarah Palin, participants cast their votes for Rand Paul and Ted Cruz (tied), Dr. Ben Carson, Allen West, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Jim DeMint, Mike Lee, Scott Walker, Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, Mike Pence, John Thune, John Kasich, Nikki Haley, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and Bobby Jindal. 

This is a matter of some concern.  It reflects the views of Conservatives who are astute enough and engaged enough to read CHQ and to go the step further to participate in the polling.  What is concerning is the top two. 

Let’s start with Sarah Palin.  Here we have an attractive young woman, who seems to come up with surprisingly relevant and courageous statements.  On the down side, though, is a character which seems to be lacking.  She has a tendency to view everything from her own self-centered perspective.  By that I mean she has a history of what for lack of a better term we can call “revenge” for personal slights and the view that it is appropriate to use her public standing to repay what she sees as personal debts.  That her followers agree is disturbing.  

In 2010 she first endorsed the ill-fated Senate candidate Joe Miller.  Miller went on to win the primary over incumbent Lisa Murkowski.  Then he made a mistake.  He slighted Palin.  Charging right in the First Dude published a letter rebuking him for his off-hand gratuitous comment at Palin’s expense and she abruptly cut him loose.  Murkowski did the nearly impossible – she ran and WON as an independent WRITE-IN candidate with Palin’s “conservative” following in Alaska staying away from Miller in droves, out of some sense of loyalty to Palin.  Well, so we’ve got a Senator Murkowski in the U.S. Senate.  We all lose with that one.

Then, in 2012, fellow conservative Michele Bachmann made the tragic mistake of appointing the disaster Ed Rollins to head her campaign.  Rollins hit the ground running with a slap at Palin, implying that she was stupid.  Michele was the dumb one for not throwing Rollins out of her campaign, repudiating his unfortunate comments and offering her apology to Palin.  Instead, she kept the dufus on and he finally departed after the damage was done.  In the meantime, Bachmann couldn’t go to an ice cream social without the glittering Palin tour bus pulling up to suck the oxygen out of her campaign.  Palin had no intention of running, but she also had no intention of Bachmann running.  And, of course, she could see to that.

In the same year Palin decided to go to Arizona and pay off what she perceived as a great debt to her “master”, John McCain, the man who had raised her up from the anonymity of Alaska’s distant snow banks (or, to use the words of George Will, “conferred celebrity on her”).  Now, I don’t know about you, but to me, this is like taking public money to pay a private account.  Forget that it was even rumored that McCain’s people would never see her sworn in if he won, but remember she was fully aware of her popular appeal.  She used it so as to help McCain with her endorsement – at the expense of an actual conservative: J. D. Hayworth.  Now, regardless of the personalities involved, Hayworth’s vote in the Senate would have been RIGHT.  McCain’s is almost uniformly WRONG, plus, he never misses an opportunity to help Obama, whether with his “Dream Act”, with his meddling with Al Qaeda in Syria or with a gun-grabbing effort at home.  He is one of the worst obstacles to America’s recovery in the Legislative Branch.  And she could have influenced the vote for Hayworth.  She didn’t.  Now, every time I hear the name “Sarah Palin”, it translates itself to “John McCain”.  That, alone, should disqualify her.  Her actions since her defeat on the McCain ticket have done nothing to promote Conservatism and everything possible to obstruct it and promote Progressivism.  Why should we believe in HER?  She has betrayed us more effectively in many ways than the accursed John Boehner.  She simply cannot be trusted.  Her judgment is obviously impaired.  The moment she feels personally slighted, out come the claws.  She is much like an immature school girl who keeps her “enemies list” in her locker. 

Now we come to a tie: Rand Paul and Ted Cruz.  Rand Paul appears to be an excellent candidate at this time.  Ted Cruz is without doubt one of the most intelligent and capable leaders to come along since Reagan.  He effectively and courageously defends the Constitution and purports to believe in our founding principles and our heritage of freedom.  But here’s the problem.  We are currently living with the effects of a foreigner as President.  (Don’t waste our time debating this for now.  Obama is a cultural alien to America.)  The effects are not pretty.  His presidency has removed any doubt as to the rectitude of our Founders in their decision to avoid foreign influence in our highest office.  And then, in Obama’s case, he has compounded the crime by producing forged idenfification.  At any rate, it is OFF LIMITS to all but “natural born” citizens.  No one doubts the patriotism of Cruz, or the principles he has espoused, so far.  His family’s history is instructive to us all.  He is immensely gifted as a speaker and as a leader.  We cannot fault his words.  But his deeds?  Cruz is not eligible to hold the office of President.  He was foreign-born.  His father was a non-citizen.  However we might like him, his insight, his gutsy stand on our most important issues, we cannot put Ted Cruz on a presidential ticket.  To do this would be to squander the best leadership qualities we have!  If Cruz were on the ticket the Democrats would – quite correctly, this time – scream, “Hypocrites!”  This is how we make “birthers” of Democrats.  Cruz CANNOT WIN, no matter how popular he is today.  The press would suddenly discover the Constitution.

We should not seek some way to circumvent the Constitution with clever words or manipulate it in some way to make it come out all right.  We simply cannot do this.  Truth is truth.  Sometimes it is not what we want, but it is all we have.  We cannot live a lie.  It is not right for Obama to have been put on a presidential ticket and it would not be right to put Ted Cruz on a presidential ticket by the same token.  That said, Cruz could do much (perhaps even more than he could as a President) to restore America’s greatness.  He could be the best Attorney General we’ve ever had.  He could repair the damage done to our nation by people like Eric Holder.  There are undoubtedly other pivotal roles he could play in our history.  But NOT as a presidential candidate.  He could not win, nor should he, if we are to live under our Constitution.  That law is our lifeline.  We can’t apply it selectively in order to get Ted Cruz on a ticket.  If we do this, his credibility would be destroyed and his potential lost to us. 

The only ethical and patriotic thing Ted Cruz can do is to 1. Take himself out of the race and refuse to engage in speculation about putting him on any ticket.  2. Decide who among his Conservative colleagues has the best chance and would be the best candidate to save America in the role of President and endorse THAT person.  And then go out and work as hard as he can to elect that candidate – throw all of his considerable political weight and talent into that fight.  His failure to do so to date is beginning to take a toll on his credibility and his ethical standing.  Is it really moral to keep this up?  Would it be appropriate for him to try to find a way around the Constitution he has defended? 

These questions must be raised.  We have had a string of presidents who were either morally corrupt or untalented as leaders or both.  Our country is in imminent peril.  If we are to survive we must do better than Sarah Palin or Ted Cruz.  The former has a pattern of self-centered smallness and the latter, though a truly great leader, is tarnishing himself and his reputation by placing himself in a morally indefensible position.  We simply can’t afford these people on a presidential ticket in 2016.  If Conservatives such as Viguerie continue to pretend that Cruz is a viable candidate they will be doing our Republic a grave disservice.

Sally Morris is a member of Americans for Constitutional Government and the Valley Tea Party Conservative Coalition.  Please visit her website at fromtherampart.webs.com.