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January 5, 2008
I recently went to a WV GOP wood county convention where voting for delegates to the state convention was being held. While there I became involved in a discussion with the people working the event and with a couple people who are running for office. One person, Ed Long, really caught my attention. He mentioned he was running for House of Delegates and I asked him what he was for. Mr. Long then proceeded to pull out a business card that stated "Long 4 Christian Family Values" and little else besides his name. Mr. Long then proceeded to tell me that the card he handed me about summed up his campaign. I had to do a double take. He then mentioned to someone else that he was going to be using the church route to get votes. I didn't get into an argument with the man, but my mind sure was turning.
Is this the kind of person that is the base of the Republican Party? If so, how shallow and how devoid of real substance. I figured anyone running for a House seat would be anxious to spew forth ideas on taxes, regulations, education, the flawed judicial system, or something else that the government controls. It just seemed like this guy thought he should be elected to promote virtue. What laws will he support to favor legislating virtue? What penalties would there be for people who did not go along with his virtuous requirements. Is he targeting gambling, pornography, television and radio programs, what people put in their body, or what? What happened to the idea that laws should be based solely on protecting individual rights? If a person wants to do things bad for them, should there be a law against it if they do not directly infringe on someone else's rights? I think not.
We need to see serious discussions on serious issues and this type of shallow appeal to "Values Voters" is just pathetic and needs to stop for government is not the vehicle for promoting virtue. I would encourage anyone looking for serious discussions and a serious candidate to check out Ron Paul at http://www.ronpaul2008.com. Now there is a person who has the guts to take on tough issues.
Victor Zill
