Last night I followed as dozens of my friends on Facebook cheered the victory of Scott Brown in Massachusetts. Many of these friends are what I would consider “Constitutional” Republicans – or in other words – those who share a very similar belief system to mine.
My response was that the best bet out of Brown’s win was that the health care legislation in the Senate would go nowhere. In that, we would at least have a really good chance of keeping control of our health care. However, will Brown help liberty or will he be more of the same? Looking at the issue of health care, it must be stated that Brown supported more government involvement in Massachusetts. One can hope this doesn’t carry over to Washington, DC.
I won’t try to predict what Scott Brown will do as a Senator. I will say that I liked the ideas of Joe Kennedy much more, but even the most unrealistic idealist had to understand that it wasn’t his election to win. Despite the difficult situation he had to attempt victory, this Kennedy understands the principles of liberty and I hope he remains active in the political arena.
So what is liberty and how will Scott Brown improve it as a Senator? Liberty to me means being less involved in the affairs of foreign countries. It means if anything, we need to be taking care of those in our homeland before anywhere else. The ultimate goal here being that individuals are self-sustaining and care is taken of them by their families, friends, and communities. Liberty to me means allowing individuals to have the ultimate decision making power over their own lives. Liberty means not being bought and paid for by the highest bidder (corporate favors come to mind). Based on what I have seen, Scott Brown supports more involvement in foreign affairs. Scott Brown, as I stated, supported a government involvement in healthcare as an elected official in Massachusetts.
I hope and pray that Scott Brown will realize that the tree of liberty goes much deeper than the issue of health care. I hope that he sees that the role of the federal government should never be that which he helped legislate in Massachusetts.
More importantly, I hope that my friends in New Hampshire and beyond realize the same. I dearly hope and pray that Scott Brown becomes a knight in shining armor for liberty and not the beginning of a terrible rerun of the Republican disaster of 1994.
Freedom does bring us all together – if we understand the power of the word.
Cameron
The move towards liberty continues to accelerate. While some of the candidates involved are not quite there on what I would call a “liberty litmus test”, we do have a lot of potential to turn the direction necessary for maximum individual freedom.
Scott Brown in Massachusetts is an example of someone who I don’t agree with on all issues, but I believe to be more of a friend to liberty than would be his Democratic opponent. The main issue in his race is that of health care. He can be elected next Tuesday and help block the government takeover of healthcare – called by many “Obamacare.” While we need a tremendous overhaul of health care in America, I believe a lot has to do with deregulation (i.e. deregulate the use of alternative medications) versus more government intervention – and ultimately higher costs. Sure, I don’t agree with Brown on foreign policy and other issues, but the health care debacle in Washington has us closer to centralized government than any other issue at this time.
In Texas, Debra Medina showed a good streak of liberty in an articulate debate performance against Kay Bailey Hutchinson and Rick Perry. Medina helped demonstrate what is wrong with those currently in power – including how out of touch they are with America today.
In Kentucky, Rand Paul continues to impress the masses with a mostly consistent message of liberty. Just months ago, he was double digits behind Trey Grayson. Today, his message of individual liberty and freedom has resonated well in Kentucky and he has become the person to beat in the GOP primary. Now with Manchester, NH political superstar Andy Demers working on his campaign, I think we will continue to see great things.
More candidates throughout the country should continue to open more eyes to liberty. Peter Schiff in Connecticut hasn’t quite swung the door open in the public opinion polls, but it may be only a matter of time.
The list continues, but the point is that the move towards liberty has been greater than I would have ever imaged a few years ago. The key is that those who are leading the liberty movement need to be checked by every liberty loving voter to ensure that they are true to the principles of freedom and liberty. In New Hampshire, I hope we see more and more individuals come forth for the liberty movement. I generally support Frank Guinta and also think highly of Bob Giuda and Jennifer Horn in their races for US House. In the state races, Jim Forsythe will be an outstanding candidate for State Senate. There are countless others I am sure.
On the state representative level, when the filing time comes, I hope I am just one of dozens – if not hundreds – of liberty candidates looking to serve the citizens of New Hampshire.
For me, it all starts in Manchester NH. I hope you see the potential for liberty as I do and that you work for it wherever it is you may be in 2010.
Let’s work harder than ever to make liberty happen!
Cam
My first election as a selectman has come and gone. I had an enjoyable time working with other election officials and with the voters in Manchester Ward 2.
I am also glad to congratulate Dave Boutin on his primary victory. I will work hard to ensure his victory in Senate district 16. The election is on February 16th.
That said, I am dismayed that there was a lot of misinformation brought up in the primary about his opponent Terry Pfaff. The Terry Pfaff I met was a person who was opposed to an income tax, opposed to a sales tax, was pro-life, and was pro-2nd amendment. Unfortunately this was not portrayed accurately by opponents. I hope that clean and honest campaigning will be the centerpiece going forward.
Again, I had a great time today and look forward to success for liberty in February and beyond.
Cam
On Tuesday January 12th, we have a primary in Ward 2 and other areas of State Senate District 16. In the Republican primary are two good candidates – Dave Boutin and Terry Pfaff.
Convention wisdom would suggest that I support Boutin over Pfaff. Afterall, he’s endorsed by three groups I support – The New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, the NH Republican Liberty PAC, and the Coalition of New Hampshire Taxpayers.
With all due respect to those groups, I believe that Terry Pfaff will be a much more liberty-friendly Senator. I appreciate the fact that he has run a clean campaign (from what I’ve seen), while I’ve seen some pretty ugly mailers from Boutin. While I’ll never realize my dream that all politics will be run cleanly, I can wish for it in this race and it does affect my vote.
A couple of points and counterpoints.
1. I hear that people oppose Pfaff because of his firefighter/union connections. How can we paint all people in a group as being the same? My mother is a teacher, but I can assure you she is not pro-union and she is very conservative.
2. In Boutin’s campaign literature, he states that Terry Pfaff refuses to take ‘THE taxpayer protection pledge opposing a sales and income tax.” Terry has been very clear in saying he supports no income tax and no sales tax. Can we not take the candidate at his word? Sure, trusting politicians is difficult, but I’m ready to give Terry the chance. Plus, signing a pledge is just as easily broken as one’s word.
I have talked with Terry, mostly via e-mail. He is very supportive of the 2nd Amendment (a gun owner himself). He proclaims to be very pro-liberty and when he worked in Concord he was only paid on days he worked. He says that the assertions that he is pro choice are a lie.
Terry Pfaff has a good list of endorsements. He is supported by Ted Gatsas and he received a contribution from former governor Craig Benson.
In the end, I’ll be voting for Terry on Tuesday. I was glad he reached out to me and asked for my help. I am glad to have gotten very upfront answers to any questions I’ve had.
When the dust settles Tuesday, I’ll surely support whichever candidate wins the Republican primary. I hope that clean campaigning prevails and that Terry Pfaff is that individual.
Please feel free to share your thoughts on this important election.
Cam