A Non-establishment Delegate

One of the less noticed elections during the presidential primary, is the election of delegate to the convention. Each Congressional district will elect three delegates and three alternate delegates for the Republican National Convention. I am a candidate for Delegate to the Republican Convention, even though I have only been registered as a Republican for six months. Less than a year ago, I was the Vice Chairman of the Constitution Party of Maryland, so if I can make the switch, you could also.

This election may be our last possibility of salvaging some remnant of our great constitutional republic. The Democrat establishment, with their Obamacare and socialist agenda, do not suit my liberty loving conservative frame. The Republicans however, with all of their establishment warmongering, are also unacceptable, but with one exception: Congressman Ron Paul.

Once registered as a Republican, even if only for six months, you will be eligible to vote in the Republican primary for a presidential candidate, three delegates and three alternate delegates. The delegate candidates appear on the ballot as undesignated, or for a particular presidential candidate. A delegate candidate, who wishes to be listed on the ballot for a particular presidential candidate, must have that presidential candidate’s campaign certify them. The delegates, listed with the presidential candidate that wins the popular vote, have historically won the delegate slots as well. Once elected, the delegate travels to the party’s national convention to officially nominate the Party’s presidential candidate and establish the platform. I have requested to be certified by Dr. Paul’s campaign.

This year’s Convention delegate rules have changed, in that the delegate is bound to vote for the candidate who won the district on the first vote, but if the candidate fails to secure 35% of the vote, or the candidate releases his delegates, or the Convention goes to a third ballot, the delegate is free to vote for whomever he or she considers the best candidate. This could be historic.

Our government has lost its constraints of the constitution. The establishment in both parties has worked the welfare/warfare paradigm to strip us of our liberties, bankrupt us, and retire our constitution to the status of relic to be used for pseudo patriotic outings. We hear talk about the 10th amendment and state’s rights, but there is no state’s rights concept within the power structure of the Republican Party establishment. State parties toe the party establishment line with every directive from the national party. One needs to look no farther than the last Presidential election in Maryland to see what is acceptable in the GOP, and what is not.

In 2008, I also ran for delegate to the Republican Convention, as well as Congress in Maryland’s 7th District. The Republican primaries in five of Maryland’s congressional races were won by non- establishment candidates, myself included. The five of us, along with Roscoe Bartlett’s campaign, were honored by Dr. Paul coming to College Park to publicly endorse our efforts. Three fourths of the party’s general election congressional candidates were endorsed by Congressman Ron Paul. Wouldn’t you think that the party leadership would turn out, if not for Ron Paul, than at least for the individuals who sacrificed to keep the GOP on the Maryland ballot? This was arguably the biggest event for five of these campaigns, yet the state’s GOP establishment essentially boycotted the event, with only one Republican committee person, from the state and 23 county central committees, in attendance.

I once believed that principles would win out, regardless of party. This lesson was shattered after I ran as candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 2010, under the Constitution Party. Principles, such as strict 2nd amendment adherence, or being a foe of state funded abortions, were treated as meaningless, by our not being in the two-party duopoly. The local gun groups, the Baltimore Archdiocese, and several other “conservative” advocacy groups would not recognize us with an acknowledgment, an endorsement, or a simple declarative sentence in their election supplement, even though, we agreed with the principles of these groups more than any of the other candidates on the ballot.

The Maryland Republican Party may be showing some backbone in the straw poll taken at the state Fall Convention. Ron Paul finished in practically a dead heat tie for 2nd place. Could the state party be preparing to interpose the constitution over national directives? Don’t count on it. Neoconservative Congressman Harris just announced he will be Co-Chairing the Maryland effort for former congressman, Newt Gingrich. Newt is the epitome of establishment, with his concern about climate change, his fortune he has slurped from the government trough as lobbyist, and his public advocacy of violating international law with plausible deniable lethal attacks against sovereign nations.

Our only hope is to run over the establishment Republican Party. There are almost as many unaffiliated voters in this state as there are registered Republican Party members. Add to that, the disgruntled Democrats, the Libertarians, and those Republicans who insist on a party of true constitutional principles. We can take back our nation, through the Republican Party:
• A party that promotes the value of honest money: End the Fed.
• A party that yearns for personal liberty: End the Patriot Act.
• A party that pursues a non-interventionist foreign policy: End Undeclared Wars.
• And a party that depends on the restraints of our constitution: End Judicial and Executive legislation.

Let’s salvage our constitutional republic? Register, and vote, Republican.