An interview with Byron Donalds, candidate for Congress (FL)

I am so pleased to find a fresh new crop of folks who appear to be well-grounded and firmly principled conservatives running for office in 2012. It is especially gratifying to see so many young blacks stepping forward as Republicans and conservatives to take as stand against the Democrat Party and Barack Obama’s constant race baiting.

Here in Minnesota we have Chris Fields challenging far-left Congressman Keith Ellison. In Utah, Mia Love looks to be an outstanding Congressional candidate who will bring fresh ideas to Washington. In Florida, candidate for Senate Deon Long appears to be solidly conservative, and Byron Donalds, running for U.S. Representative, also has his feet firmly planted in conservative principles.

Recently, I had opportunity to interview Byron Donalds. Donalds is running for Congress from Naples, Florida, “because he still believes in the power of the American people and the future of the American dream,” as his Web site says.

On limited government

When I asked Donalds about “limited government” and its implications for Americans, he pulled no punches. He said that he believed “the federal government” should be “restrained by a detailed list of powers” as enumerated in the U.S. Constitution. The federal government, Donalds went on, “should do only what the States and the people lack [the] ability to do” for themselves. Furthermore, he said, the government in Washington “must not decide to do things that the States have chosen not to do.”

“Limited government,” Donalds stated clearly, “in not only important to Americans, it is important to the liberty of all men. An intrusive government erodes liberty….” and it is liberty that, in the final analysis, “creates economic prosperity.”

On free markets

Donalds is affixed in the free market camp. He understands that only the free market offers the best of opportunities to “all people” and the fairest exchange of “the fruits of [their] labor” for the goods and services they need or desire. He also clearly articulated to me that the most broadest opportunity for save and “accumulate” wealth for upward economic mobility also rests on free market principles. He is convinced that only the free market can create lasting jobs and the kind of durable economic growth that will be necessary to pull the U.S. out of its mountain of debt.

He said that the government should refrain from being “a player”—unduly influencing—the free market.

On monetary policy

Equally sound is Donalds’ position on monetary policy. He stated that “the Fed” (Federal Reserve Bank) should have one—and only one—“mandate.” That is to supply the nation with “a stable currency.” The Fed, he stated flatly, should “have nothing to do with controlling inflation.”

On being effective when in office

The candidate articulated a clear method for becoming a change agent in Washington after his election. He clearly recognizes that “the only way [to bring about] real change is [to have] the will of the people behind you.” It is “the will of the people” that allows an officeholder to “resist the political establishment” once inside the beltway.

Like Ronald Reagan, Donalds sees the need for being “clear and frank with the voting public” and that means “consistency” in both “message” and “effort.” As a political pragmatist, he enunciated how the Left (e.g., progressives, liberals) have invested 100 or more years of relatively consistent energy in dragging America into its present economic and political morass. Therefore, overnight change will not be possible, but the change must begin today—before it’s too late.

Summary

My brief interview with Byron Donalds revealed to me a bright, articulate and principled young man with a strong will and the kind of message that I believe can and will galvanize support for the kind of conservative change that these United States need so desperately right now.

If you would like to learn more about Donalds candidacy and his positions, please visit http://www.byrondonalds.com/. Offer your support and, if you live in Florida, offer to be boots on the ground. I know a good campaign can always use more volunteers.

How the GOP can regain its political “brand”

How can the Republican Party (GOP) really distinguish itself from the Democrats?

By taking clear, well-articulated positions for:

1. LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT - Retrenching the expanding federal reach, doing away with federal grants-in-aid to state and local governments while simultaneously reducing the federal tax burden so that state and local governments are at greater liberty to do what needs to be done based on local realities (or not do what does not need to be done, as the case may be). Along with this, Congress should take specific action to re-articulate and reinforce states' rights and the return of greater liberty to U.S. citizens.
   
2. FREE MARKETS - Taking a strong and well-articulated stand against corporatism and bailouts for businesses or unions, presenting a new vision for unfettered economic growth to the middle class. This vision should include reducing the regulatory burden on business and industry by granting increased liberty to individuals (the consumers) to decide more about what they want and don't want in products, in services, in their employment and in benefits.
   
3. SOUND MONETARY POLICY - Get control of the Federal Reserve Bank (FRB)  to help re-establish the value of the U.S. Dollar ( USD ), which is being gradually destroyed through inflation since the inception of the Federal Reserve banking system.

On a third-party in America

The effectiveness of the Libertarian Party and almost all other third-parties in U.S. history in promoting their policy positions has usually been counterproductive, because running a third-party candidate reduces the vote for the least undesirable (aka, lesser of the evils) among the major party candidates.

A disciplined group of grassroots activists and organizations that are prepared to take incremental improvement and political motion in the right direction over some irrational notion that somehow we can recover 100 years of political motion in the wrong direction in one or two election cycles could have a considerable and ongoing effect on the issue positions of both major parties and their candidates.

After all, to win an election—in almost any jurisdiction—requires that the candidate pull a significant portion of the votes from the so-called "swing" voter (the voters in the middle).

According to Cato Institute, about 20 percent of voters have generally libertarian political preferences, but few Libertarian Party candidates win more than one percent of the popular vote. This is because the whole gamut of libertarian policy changes is too much for the general public to swallow in one fell swoop.

Let's get reasonable, shall we?

Despite the upsurge in strongly conservative thinking, in most political races, it still makes fare more sense for grassroots conservatives to search out, recruit, work-for and support conservative candidates with integrity and strong Constitutional grounding within the context of the Republican Party (GOP) than to try to make political gains fielding radical candidates in a third party.

I believe this will remain true until such time as the GOP collapses and becomes virtually totally irrelevant. Unfortunately, I believe that time is approaching at a rapid pace.

The unwillingness for the GOP establishment to embrace the upstart Tea Party movement proved that GOP party leadership was truly out-of-touch with the grassroots of conservatism, libertarianism and the increasingly broad acceptance of Austrian economics. It cannot be disputed that the GOP has no brand and the party’s establishment seems intent on keeping it that way.

My guess is that it will not be long before the Republican Party goes the way of the Whigs unless the party’s leadership wakes up to smell the coffee and learns that the Tea Party movement can help them rebrand the party.