By Scott Tibbs, October 31, 2008
A lot of conservatives are disenchanted with the Republican Party, which is not surprising. After all, we have a Republican candidate for President who is often at odds with the conservative base of his party and an incumbent Republican President who has been anything but conservative when it comes to domestic policy. At the national level, Republicans gave us a brand new federal entitlement program, a significant expansion of the federal government's role into primary and secondary education, government regulation of the content of political speech and significant new government law enforcement powers.
But despite all of this, Republicans should still get out and vote next Tuesday.
Whatever one thinks of John McCain, there are many good reasons for conservatives to get to the polls on election day. Indiana has Mitch Daniels, who has given us significant property tax reform, funded infrastructure improvements and moves us closer to finally building Interstate 69 with his "Major Moves" program and lease of the toll road, and generally worked to streamline government and make it more efficient. Daniels will likely cruise to a well-deserved blowout victory over Jill Long Thompson next week.
In the Ninth District, we have Mike Sodrel. With Republicans in Congress increasingly forgetting that they gained power in 1994 because of a limited government agenda, Sodrel is exactly the kind of principled conservative that we need to bring the GOP back to its roots. In addition, Sodrel strongly opposes abortion. Just voting for Sodrel is more than enough reason to get to the polls on Tuesday.
Then there are the local races. These are the races where the outcome matters most in your daily life, and is also where your vote matters most. Republicans need to get out and vote for fiscally conservative, experienced candidate for local government. For County Council, we have Jeff Huston and Don Francis to provide fiscally responsible leadership on the county budget.
For County Commissioner, Jeff Schemmer will promote policies that will encourage economic growth. Schemmer's opponent, Mark Stoops, is a "Green Democrat" who will encourage more restrictive planning and zoning regulations that make it more difficult for small business to operate. If you support city government's outrageous decision to threaten an apartment community with a $95,000 fine for a couple balloons, Stoops will bring that kind of silliness to the county.
It is true that Republicans do not have a lot to be excited about at the top of the ticket. But that is no reason to deny your vote to principled, experienced public servants such as Mike Sodrel, Mitch Daniels, Jeff Schemmer, Jeff Huston and Don Francis. As Puff Daddy would say, Vote or Die.
