Things to Consider Before Supporting Any Candidate for Public Office
General George Washington: The model of the disinterested, reluctant leader. A man who turned down and walked away from power at least three times in his life: first, by refusing the offer of a military coup at the height of his power; second, by retiring from public life after the Revolutionary War when he likely could have become “King of America,” and third, by, to the astonishment of the world, term-limiting himself and walking away from what could have been presidency for life. How does your candidate compare?
When you are considering supporting any candidate for office, consider the following four criteria:
1. Do they know and understand the Constitution? If they don’t know and understand it, how can they possibly defend it? As a threshold matter, do they know the text? Have they even read it? If they don’t even know what it says, how can they follow it? If the can’t be bothered to read it, just how sincere a Constitutional defender are they? And do they understand it? Do they have a firm grasp of the basic principles and concepts of our Constitutional Republic? Attend a town hall meeting and ask them some pointed questions to test their knowledge. A good list of questions to ask can be found at the back of the excellent book, the Five Thousand Year Leap, by W. Cleon Skousen. If they don’t know the text or the answers to those questions, then you should be very hesitant to support them for office. Certainly you can have good, sincere people of demonstrated courage who have recently woken up and had not heretofore studied the Constitution. But courage without understanding will just not cut it. At the least they should correct their ignorance, and you can help them do so, such as by giving them a copy of Skousen’s book to go along with their reading of the text of the Constitution itself, but frankly I have to wonder why they are even running for office if they have not yet bothered to read and study the Constitution.
2. Even if they know what the Constitution says and understand it, do they have the integrity and courage to follow the Constitution, come what may? Knowledge without courage and integrity is even more useless than is courage without understanding. There’s a thundering herd of politicians, most of them lawyers, who do know what it says but simply don’t give a damn. When trying to figure out whether a candidate has the courage and integrity to actually be faithful to the Constitution, look not to what they say now, on the campaign trail, but to what they have done. If they have already served in office, what was their voting record? If they have already voted for unconstitutional bills, then they have shown you all you need to know. Such a person is a demonstrated oath breaker. If, to be fair to them, there is a valid question of whether one of their votes was a violation of their oath, ask them to explain why they voted the way they did. Unless they can articulate a credible rationale for why the bill was constitutional, you should pass. And have they spoken out against the violations of the Constitution by their own party, or do they only point out the violations by “the other team”? And even if they have no political voting record to look at, have they, in the past, ever stood tall in any situation, with the courage of their convictions, even at personal risk? In other words, what have they DONE? When have they taken a stand? If you can’t find any examples of them taking a stand, I would be very suspicious of believing the campaign promises.
3. Do they have the personal integrity to keep specific campaign promises, such as promises to term limit themselves or to vote for or against particular bills? What about them or their past behavior makes you confident they will keep their promises? When have they been true to their word even to their own harm?
4. What is their motivation for running? Do they look forward to public office? Are they excited about the prospect? If so, run! Frankly, the best candidate is the sincere constitutionalist who does not want to run for office, who loathes the thought of all the headaches that go with the job, that you have to convince to run against their better judgment (because serving in public office is a royal pain in the rear to normal people. Only psycho sociopaths enjoy it). You want someone who is not interested in power and perks. All too often I have seen people who were sincere constitutionalists but who also were very keen on public office sell their souls and compromise their principles because they were star-struck with the prospects of fame and fortune and liked the idea of being called “Senator” or “Representative” so-and-so just a bit too much. Seek out the person who doesn’t care a whit about all the perks and power, who detests the idea of running for office, and convince that one to run. You will more likely have someone who will stand tall no matter what.
A candidate for office must know the Constitution, must have the courage to follow it, must have the integrity to keep promises, and must be in it not for personal gain, but to serve, protect, and defend. Look past the campaign rhetoric and see if you can find a track record of knowledge, courage, and actual devotion to country. If you can’t find such a clear track record, look elsewhere.
Stewart Rhodes
Founder of Oath Keepers
Please donate and support Oath Keepers mission, every little bit helps!
January 6th, 2010 at 6:39 pm
This is a very good and informative post thanks.
January 6th, 2010 at 6:39 pm
Well said Stewart. There will be many saying they are Constitutionalists, but will be wolves in Patriot’s clothing.
January 7th, 2010 at 3:33 am
Well said Stewart. Thank you very much for posting this very good advice. It should be read and understood by all Americans.
January 7th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Friends,
My tipping point came during retirement four months ago while having coffee on our deck with my wife and reflecting on our RINO Congressman’s support of Cap and Trade, TARP, Hate Crimes, ad nauseam. Combining that with other national dismantling was all it took. Here I am. And here is my campaign website. Check it out.
Ernest Huber
http://elect.ernesthuberforcongress.com/
January 7th, 2010 at 10:40 pm
Thanks Stewart. If American voters would have taken time to consider the four points you posted
before supporting a candidate, we would have more honest people in office and less of the “bottom of the barrel” unscrupulous politicans now in power.
January 8th, 2010 at 4:05 am
I, too, want to thank you, Stewart, for giving order and process to this duty of American citizens. As I looked at the list, I thought,
uh-huh, that’s right, that’s right…very good.
For just a moment, I got sort of an “us vs them” mentality, as I don’t qualify in all those areas. I’m a newer kid on the block and a work in progress in the earlier stages. I began to settle into the comfort zone that my job was only to check out the candidates and, if none are fit, find someone else who is. Pretty tall task to be called a comfort zone, eh?
Something didn’t “fit” in my mind. Then the light bulb came on. The only division between “us” and “them” is arbitrary and chosen in the sense that it should rest on the shoulders of all Americans to prepare themselves to perform the Constitutional responsibilities of public office should they be needed.
My job is not just to find someone else, but to be prepared to step up and do the job if there are no others willing. I must remove the self-imposed boundary of “us” and “them” and merge all into We The People.
This is the flip side of the Militia Act of 1792, so to speak. In this case, the knowledge, and the understanding of the appropriate application of that knowledge, is the equivalent to the musket, balls and knapsack required of all able bodied males between the ages of 18 and 45.
I am grateful for the list of questions as a starting point, but the fact is, I should personally have the grasp and deep understanding of the force empowered by our Constitution. Such power has never been acknowledged to the individual in all the history of mankind until our founding fathers saw fit to stake their lives upon it and give it to me. Imagine ignoring that.
It is no less my duty to train myself (and others) in this discipline than it was for the men of the early United States to stand ready for militia duty. After all, the same logic that a man will fight hardest for his own piece of ground and family should apply to those who lead our country.
It makes no difference upon which battlefield we fight, for the greatest victory on the one may be completely destroyed by a crushing defeat on the other. Without an educated populace, we guard the front and rear, but the flanks are exposed.
The enemy has positioned himself well within our ranks to alienate the process of governing, creating the illusion that it is much too difficult for the average person. They feign service to us by doing that which they say we can no longer do well for ourselves.
Beware, my fellow Patriots, of the hand that feeds you if it is not your own. It is up to us to remove the poisonous spines and embrace once again a days work well done by each and every citizen.
January 8th, 2010 at 11:52 pm
I have to commend Ernest Huber for running for Congress and having the courage to openly state his views on everything from soup to nuts, and to specifically tackle the subjects that are considered controversial. Good Luck with your campaign, you obviously have the balls to put your money where your mouth is and to stand tall about your views on controversial issues.
January 9th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Hi All,
I have read some of the comments by individuals on this website and Mr.Huber’s campaign webite. I am a retired 20 year veteran who served in the Navy. I will also say that I do agree with some of the comments on this website, but not all of the opinions or comments. I figure though everyone has a right to their opinion whether I agree or not. One area that I found interesting was the comment from Mr. huber’s campaign website. I would like to ask Mr. huber a few questions:
1.) Your comments about the present situation in Iraq and Afganistan. I’m cofused as to how it is the fault of Obama of the situation that our military is in in those locations. Was it not a conservative president and conservative congress that put the country in this mess in the first place?
2.) This country does not need any federal government employees. Since I retired from the Navy 20 years ago I was hired by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) to work on the maintenance and repair of airport radar detection and display systems. Are you willing to take my job away that I have earned after my dedicated service in the military?
3.) Mr. Huber you mention that homosexuality should be considered a felony and “all” homosexuals should be put in prison for a minimum of 40 years. Considering that at least one third of the population of this country is gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, or transgendered will this not be the equivalent of what the Nazi Party did in the 1930’s when the imprisoned all of the intellectuals, homosexuals, and people who they considerd not “right”?
Frankly your I’m just a little bit afraid of all of you people on this website. I fear that your more about taking away the rights of those who have not hurt any of you in any way, shape, or form and wrap the product up in some form of pseudo-patriotism. When I read writing such as what I have read here I feel as though my 28 years of combined military and federal civil service has been a great waste of time from my life. I will not wish any harm on any of you now will I ever take away your right to freedom of speech, happiness, or right to your opinions. In turn though I ask to not take my rights away to work for the federal government as a civil servent protecting the flying public as I ensure the quality and reliability of the equipment I work on that the airport I am assigned to. I also will that I am trnagenderd and transitioned to a woman and at no time compromised the security of this nation or the Constitution of this nation while on active duty in the Navy or as a civil servant. Take care and the best to all of you.
January 9th, 2010 at 6:50 pm
Boy if we all had know what was ahead of us and had stopped to think what we needed ahead of us we would not be looking at our enemey.We all thought we had left them behind but now we can see them looking us in the eyes.There is no knowledge of the Constitution,no integrity and no courage at all in Washington. Thanks Stewart for a great insight as to what we should have put in Washington instead of the GOOD OLD BOYS!!!
January 10th, 2010 at 7:40 am
Dasr11mj,
From which professional and peer-reviewed studies did you obtain your numbers related to sexual deviancy? Frankly, I think you blurted without thinking due to your personal agenda of sexual perversion!
Because you have proven that you have a perverse agenda and the willingness to lie about it, I also question your stated veteran’s status without seeing any proof.
Have a nice day!