From Blake Ashby’s Campaign Website:
“My name is Blake Ashby, and I am running for President on the Republican ticket. I have never run for office before, and I will likely never do it again. But I had to do something.
I have been a Republican since my sophomore year in High School. My Republican party has a core set of principles and beliefs. We don’t hold these beliefs to get elected. We seek election to put these beliefs into action.
My Republican Party believes that budget deficits are stealing from our children. Further, we recognize that budget deficits are a distortion of the free market. My Republican Party believes that while the government certainly must help insure the stability and integrity of the institutions of the free market, the free market itself tended to do the best job of allocating resources and generating value. My Republican Party believes that free trade is good not only for our economy and the global economy as a whole, but is also a tool of democracy, helping people raise their standards of living and expectations of freedom.
Again, we don’t hold these beliefs to get elected – we hold them because they are prudent and cautious. Because we believe we have an obligation to pass on to our children a sound and healthy country.
Unfortunately, this Administration has abandoned all of these principles. This Administration has doubled farm subsidies, regularly puts up trade barriers, and is running a massive budget deficit. Think about it – we have a Republican House, a Republican Senate and a Republican President, and yet spending beyond homeland security has skyrocketed. By any measure, this Administration has abandoned the prudence and caution that were the hallmarks of my Republican Party.
The President likes to talk about his tax cuts. My Republican Party knows the difference between a tax cut and a tax deferral. The $400 billion of government we didn’t pay for this year, we still have to pay for. My Republican Party knows that the ONLY way to cut taxes is to cut spending. Unfortunately, this Administration is throwing money at any interest group it thinks it has a chance of buying votes from. But government spending doesn’t hurt less just because it is a Republican writing the checks.
I voted for the President, twice – in the primary and general election. I thought I was getting another fiscal conservative, another Eisenhower. I thought I was getting an Eisenhower, but instead I got a Lyndon Johnson. It’s ironic, but this President, our President Bush, will go down in history as the Republican President that most increased the tax burden on U.S. citizens.
You know that what I am saying is true. You know that what has happened in Washington over the past three years is not what we believe in. And you know that we are slowly bankrupting our country. Will you stand up to the President? Do you want this to be your legacy? That you stood by and did nothing while our government was bankrupted, and our principles trashed? Will you be able to look your grandchildren in the eyes? Will you be proud of your stewardship?
Please, be a Republican and stand up for our beliefs, and the future of our country. Do what you can to help. Write in Blake Ashby when you vote in the Primary. Forward this email to friends and associates. Call your elected officials and let them know how unhappy you are with the Administration. If you are interested, visit ashby2004.com and sign up for our email list. But whatever you do, please do something – this is the future of the United States we are talking about.”
There is also a convincing essay on the Bush administration’s failures in Iraq… Go ahead and read it.
Since I pretty much agree with it all, and I don’t think higher gas taxes are a bad idea in general, and I am certain that gay marriage, abortion, and flag burning should not be outlawed at the federal level, you might wonder why I’m still likely to vote for Bush this November.
The real problem is, I’m scared of Democrats. Even if they arrive at some good ideas, they do so starting out from a completely different set of basic assumptions that distinguish liberals from conservatives. And when someone comes from those sets of assumptions, I don’t feel like I can trust what they will do in a given situation. I certainly was no fan of Clinton – even though we did pretty well under him. I attribute this mostly to the fact that the presodency and congress were split. Basically, very little got done, and the less government does, the better off we all are.
Now that government has decided to go all proactive for a while, we’re all giving up more freedoms and waiting longer at the airport for a false sense of security. Its pretty sad really, how hapily we give up our freedoms because someone wearing a white shirt tells us that its for our own good.