In today's world, where the Press has delivered us the worst possible Republican nominee, what is a true conservative to do on election day?

The answer, of course, is to do everything you can to minimize the damage. Sitting home and sighing that "we're screwed" will just ensure that we are.

I know it will pain many of us greatly to go and vote for John McCain, but, the alternative (a Democratic president) is unthinkable.

With McCain we won't have the best conservative but it will be better than Barack. But, most importantly, getting up off our couch and going to the polls will allow us to vote for Republican candidates for the House and the Senate and even state and local Republicans. By going to the polls we can help to determine how easy it is for any president to get his way with Congress. By supporting Republican candidates we have a real chance of narrowing or even eliminating the Democratic lead in both houses of Congress which will go a long way towards allowing us to keep the pressure on to ensure they follow the will of the people.

The key is to stay involved, at all levels. Whether it is by making phone calls, donating to the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee or the National Republican Senatorial Committee, it is the only way we can move our values, our beliefs, our issues forward.

So, Be strong and stand up for what we believe in and GO VOTE!

Edward Richardson, Berwick, ME

A Member of:

The Reagan Coalition www.ReaganCoalition.org 7728 Members and Growing

What has happened to the Republican Party? Can just anyone say they are a Republican and then run for president on our dime?

Being a Republican needs to mean something. It needs to say to the world that "I am a person who fully supports the Republican platform." It is a label that should be earned not just given to anyone who wishes to use it.

A potential candidate, for any office, should be required to submit an essay requesting the party's permission to carry the banner of Republican. The essay needs to show that not only are they aware of what the Republican platform is, but, that they fully support all aspects of it.

An example of how the base feels was recently brought to my attention. I include his exact words for your education:

"I think the distinction is the level of support he may get.

As an example, John McCain was in Cincinnati yesterday and I had received advance tickets from the Hamilton County GOP (unsolicited). I am not a fan of McCain at all, but I probably will vote for him in the general election just because the possibility of an Obama presidency really scares me. So I had planned for several days to attend the rally, hoping to hear something that would make me feel better about the prospect. I took the day off work and intended to go.

I got up, began to get ready, got my suit out, started to iron a shirt, and got a very funny feeling inside. I just could not follow through. There were several others in the campaign at one time that I could have become excited about, but not John McCain. I just could not make the effort."

Now, as to the platform:

The current Republican Platform is riddled with politically correct double-speak. This needs to change. The platform needs to be shorter and more to the point. The platform should set the goals for our political leaders, not the leaders setting the goals of the party. The Republican Platform needs to reflect TRUE CONSERVATIVE VALUES determined by the voters such as the following:

1. Lower Taxes...money is best spent when it is spent by the people who earn it. There needs to be a push in the federal government to reduce beneficent handouts at home or abroad. If the American people want to contribute to a charitable cause, they have shown over and over again that they are the most generous people on the earth. It should not be Congress' job to decide for them which cause deserves their money. A flat tax, that does not require an amendment to the Constitution, should be implemented to simplify the tax code and make it more uniform. The corporate tax rate needs to be dropped to 20% to encourage businesses to keep their operation inside the United States instead of moving them to foreign countries. Any surplus funds that the government receives need to be used to make a principle payment on the national debt.

2. Smaller government-Audit all government programs to see if (1) should they be a Federal responsibility and (2) does the program work efficiently. Eliminate wasteful and non-functional programs. If you cannot decide, just ask the American people what should be done-we will tell you. After all, the government is supposed to work for the people.

3. The Constitution means exactly what it says-nothing more, nothing less. Appointees to the Supreme Court need to know this and follow this. They should NEVER consider the laws or documents of other countries when deciding cases. When it appears that a decision on a particular case would ostensibly create new law, the case should be referred to the congress for legislative action to resolve the matter.

4. If an issue can be better handled by the states, or left to the people, then the federal government should leave it alone.

5. The First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion-not freedom from religion. It was recognized that this country would not long endure unless religiousness played a dominant role. Religion gives us guidance in what is right and what is wrong. There have been too many laws and Supreme Court rulings that have the effect of "prohibiting the free exercise" of religion and they need to be repealed.

6. The First Amendment also gives us freedom of speech so the people could always assemble and voice their grievances. All responsible speech is protected, (you cannot scream fire in a crowded theatre), and even political speech right before elections-McCain/Feingold should be repealed as being un-Constitutional.

7. The Second Amendment guarantees the right of the people, (read, citizens not convicted of a felony) to keep and bear arms-any arms. It was put there to ensure that the government would always respect the wishes of the people because if they did not, the people have the means and the responsibility, even the duty, to rise up and replace the government with one that will follow the will of the people.

8. Crime: Anyone convicted of a felony forfeits their right to vote and their right to keep and bear arms for life. No state can override this point. These criminals have already proven through their own actions that they have put there own self interests above the laws of this country. An investigation will be made to determine the feasibility of creating federal tent prisons in southern states (favorable climates) to reduce the costs associated with housing criminals. The model that will be followed is the one set up by the Maricopa County sheriff from Arizona. It will be the goal of the Republican Party to house ALL non-high security federal prisoners in such facilities.

9. There is no part of the constitution that guarantees the right of an individual to terminate the life of another without due process of law for capital crimes, therefore, a woman's right to choose what happens to her body is reserved for the period of time BEFORE conception-not after. That same choice of responsibility will also be awarded the man.  If he wishes to avoid the responsibilities inherent in the creation of new life he must make that choice BEFORE conception, not after. This policy puts both the male and female on equal grounds thus preserving the equal protections provided for in the Constitution.

10. Abortions, as awful and immoral that they are, should be only used as a last desperate measure to preserve the life of the mother when without it both mother and child would perish and should be paid for with personal insurance and/or private funding. No taxpayer who is against such a procedure should be made to pay for it, even indirectly, though tax dollars.

11. Due to scientific breakthroughs, the immoral killing of embryos for stem cell research is no longer needed and thus should not be funded by tax dollars.

12. Cloning is an abomination against God and nature and should not be legal or funded by tax dollars.

13. The only parts of education that should be controlled by the federal government are the qualifications of teachers and setting minimum educational requirements for graduation from 8th grade and high school. All teachers should be required to be tested regularly on their ability to actually TEACH. There are too many out there that know how to present material but don't have the first clue as to how to help their students actually learn what they are presenting. There also needs to be set up a means of inspecting colleges to ensure that they are not using the classroom to push political viewpoints. College should be non-political. The only places where politics should enter into it are in political science courses where ALL viewpoints need to be given equal weight. The right of parents to home school their children will not be infringed on by any federal or state laws, however, a system of achademic standards should be put in place to ensure that homeschooled children don't fall behind public schooled children. The rest of the aspects of education need to be controlled at the state level.

14. Recognizing the importance of morality in any society and also recognizing that marriage is between a man and a woman and constitutes the basis for a healthy and moral family structure, and recognizing that legalizing immorality still does not make it moral, there will be no laws passed that erode the aforementioned value of marriage being between a man and a woman. And, any law currently on the books lending any credibility to homosexual unions must be repealed. Homosexuality needs to be returned to being recognized for the abnormal behavior that it is and be treated as such. Sexual urges in all species serve one purpose only, the procreation of the species. Any sexual behavior that does not procreate the species is therefore by definition abnormal. Just because someone has immoral sexual urges does not mean they have to act on them or that the rest of society needs to normalize such immoral behavior. Pedophiles also have abnormal and immoral sexual urges, but, I don't see anyone pushing to make pedophilia acceptable or normal.

15. Immigration; It is uniformly believed that we would not be the great country that we are without immigration. But those immigrants came here legally and actively worked to assimilate. They did not come here to just be in America, they came here to be Americans. The current problem with illegal immigrants is unacceptable. The borders need to be secured with a fence or wall and armed border agents with rules of engagement that allow them to operate effectively to stop illegal immigration into this country. Those who are here already MUST be REMOVED! With the current threat of terrorism that exists in the world today, no other answer should even be considered. Strict workplace enforcement will go a long way toward eliminating the magnets that draw them here in the first place. Regarding the children that would be effected by this, they fall into two categories, those born here and those brought here. For those brought here, they leave with their parents. For those born here, if it is determined that their mother was here illegally at the time of birth, they will have their citizenship revoked and be made to leave with their families. A law needs to be passed that states that children of illegal immigrants are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States of America and therefore they are not citizens at birth. After we have illegal immigration stopped, then we can address what levels of legal immigration we are going to have and who we will let into our country.