WHAT CONSTITUTIONALISTS OFFER THAT REPUBLICANS SIMPLY CANNOT…OR WILL NOT:
by Andrew Zuelke
2008

Friends, tell me you haven’t heard these lines before:

“We don’t need the Constitution Party…we have the Republicans.”

“We don’t see any real differences between your two parties so you Constitution Party people should just join the Republicans.”

“We know many Republican candidates are liberals, but what choice do we have? There is no one else to vote for.”

“Even a ‘moderate’ Republican is better than a Democrat.”

This article is a personal note to all our constitutional conservative friends who think to themselves, “Yes, we know the Constitution Party is constitutionally correct and is everything the Republicans are not, but it will take too long to build your party up. We need to defeat the Democrats, so we must hold our noses and vote for these RINO’s Republican candidates yet again.”

I write this letter to proclaim the good news to you, friends. You don’t have to settle for the lesser of two evils. It’s not a choice between a moderate, compromising Republican or a liberal, pandering Democrat. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Here are some absolute truths about the Constitution Party of Wisconsin (CPoW) and the national Constitution Party which our state party is affiliated with:

1. The Constitution Party of Wisconsin puts principle over politics. This party will not compromise its principles “just to win”.
Now it’s true that when you campaign for office, you are out to win. But can we agree that there is a right way to win…and a wrong way? The Republicans settle for “We still will have unconstitutional laws passed and further government expansion under our party, but not as bad as you’d have it under Democrats.”
The lesser of two evils is still an evil and anyone can compromise their principles and win. That costs nothing, it proves nothing. But to stand on principles and win, to never compromise with the enemies of freedom, to never surrender, that’s real sacrifice and statesmanship. Being a politician? That’s the easy path.

That’s the level of sacrifice the CPoW candidates and elected officers will make. We will not endorse, nominate or in any way financially support for office any candidate who doesn’t stand solid on the Bill of Rights and our party platform…period.
There’s no denying Republicans win elections. They may very well win back their majority in Congress, but many of their candidates, including their current presidential nominee, will not stand on constitutional principles if there’s any chance that stand will cost them re-election. A close examination of many Republican candidates reveals many of them who have betrayed the Bill of Rights with their own legislation and undermined our liberty with their votes.

For the CPoW, when it comes to principles and protecting the Bill of Rights, close enough is not good enough. We don’t settle.

2. The CPoW is solidly pro-life, no exceptions. We will never stop fighting to protect the precious, innocent unborn children from the atrocity of abortion on demand.

Dear friend, we invite you to go to our web site and read our platform. You will notice that every issue there is listed in alphabetical order…save one. The Sanctity of Life issue is moved to the top of the list. To us, pro-life isn’t about an “issue”…it’s about human beings. Helpless, defenseless human beings whom the federal government has said are expendable if their mothers “decide they don’t want them.”

We in the CPoW believe—we know—that if the government has no authority to do something (kill innocent people or deny them due process) that same government certainly doesn’t have the authority to grant that “right” or power to citizens, either. The government cannot say, “We give pregnant women permission to end their pregnancies if they choose to.”
In fact, the CPoW believes the primary duty of the federal government is to protect innocent life and a government that cannot or will not do that certainly will not protect our liberty and our rights, either.

Republicans can and have run candidates for office who not only compromise on pro-life, but some who are rabidly pro-choice (read: pro-abortion). This is not partisan rhetoric on my part; this is a fact.

Now, it’s their party and the Republicans can run any candidates they wish to, but then they shouldn’t claim to be pro-life when they’ll endorse and nominate pro-aborts simply because they have the “best chance of winning this seat”. Republicans will say, "We can't allow our party to get bogged down over one issue."  The Constitution Party says, "Life, liberty and property and individual rights are the cornerstones of our civilization and are clearly spelled out in the Bill of Rights as inalienable". You cannot have liberty or own property if you’re not allowed to the right to life first.

If you want to end the horror of abortion in America and stand for life, the Constitution Party is the only true defense of the unborn party. Republicans simply cannot claim the same.

3. People join the CPoW because of our platform, NOT in spite of it.

I’ve personally heard from people who joined this party who have told me they agree with our platform, like our platform and want to join this party because of our platform. Our platform is what brings people to our party and it’s a platform of true fiscal restraint, compliance with Article 1: Section 8 and a healthy respect for the Tenth Amendment, that is pro life/no exceptions, seeks only a sound currency, defends the sovereignty of America, and supports individual rights and protects personal property. The glue that unites us is the original intent of the Founding Fathers and rule of law, not rule of man.
Contrast that with Republicans. How many people in the Grand Old Party (GOP) think, “I’ll tolerate the platform for now, but I don’t agree with this plank or on this issue and I will change things one day.”? We see this every presidential year with RINO candidates pretending to be conservative to steal the conservative vote to win the primary, but once they’re the nominee, their true liberal, big Daddy government colors show in the unconstitutional, big government programs they extol the virtues of. At Republican national conventions, moderate/liberal Republicans fight to modify or even remove party platform planks which don’t accommodate their moderate/liberal beliefs. There are pro-choice Republicans always demanding ‘their place at the party table’ and Republicans who say the GOP needs to be ‘more mainstream and less right-wing’ and that they should be a ‘big tent party that is open to other points of view’. How many so-called fiscally responsible elected Republicans have made conservatism into a national joke by voting for deficit budgets when in the majority?

Let’s face it. Many members of the GOP are opportunists who, knowing full well what is in the GOP platform they joined the Republican Party anyway. Many politicians and candidates want to ride the GOP’s coattails and use their name recognition as a way to build a political career. Many Republicans support gun confiscation bans, the United Nations, income taxes, federal interference in education and other states’ powers, etc. At the CPoW state conventions we do have debates over platform planks or for adding new ones, but the difference there is we debate and disagree over whether a platform resolution or plank is constitutional enough, or if a motion can be better worded, never over whether it’s “inclusive to other viewpoints or not”.

No differences between the Constitution Party and the Republican Party, you say? The only way that would be true would be if Republicans started obeying the Constitution in all matters. They won’t defend the constitution…the Constitution Party always will!