[This is an old speech but it is not out of date. The names and faces may have changed but the issues are even more clear today.]
In his article for the Monroe Weekly entitled, CONSERVATIVES: MAKE EVERY VOTE COUNT, Paul Elvig wrote:
“Ralph Reed, the former executive director of the Christian Coalition (1989-97), asserted in the June 12th issue of the New York Times that, ‘If the pro-family movement bolts the Republican Party, they will become the cultural equivalent of a Perot movement. They will enter a no man’s land in which they lose influence and lose the ability to use a major political party as a vehicle to highlight their issues and their agenda and their concerns.’”
Mr. Elvig continues, “The liberal community with its family-hostile agenda would get their biggest break in twenty years if even five percent of pro-life/pro-family Republicans leave the party for a third, forth, or fifth political party this year.
“To lose Republican majorities we now have in Congress, would mean that the successful July 23rd House override of the President’s veto on the late-term abortion ban would never have happened. It would mean an obstacle-free path for the homosexual agenda . . .” and he goes on to describe horrors and statistics that await our nation because of the actions of disgruntled conservatives.
You see, conservatives, especially Christian conservatives, have been the scapegoat of the GOP whether within or without the Party. When we were in the Party, it was our ideals that alienated the Republicans from the voters. And now that we are gone, it is our fault they have lost their voting base.
Those who believe that the political process will be the salvation of our nation would like to have it both ways. But we know better, don’t we. We know that God alone raises kings and deposes them. Our strategies have neither won elections nor lost them.
Remember the story of Joshua in Joshua chapter five. As the Israelites were preparing to take the city of Jericho, Joshua saw a man with a drawn sword and he asked if he was for them or their enemies. And the commander of the Lord’s army told him that he was for neither and it was Joshua’s responsibility to submit to God’s authority.
The same holds true today: God does not fight for us because we are the American Heritage Party. No – we are called to submit to His laws and look to Him for victory. And for those of us who have read the end of the Book, we know that God will have His victory!
If one could presuppose that human strategy was ever responsible for an election victory, they may choose the election of 1994 – the “Republican Revolution” brought in by the “Contract With America.” That was the year it appeared that principle was more important than winning. The GOP had a vision to win the hearts of the American people and the people responded.
But the vision was short lived and the “Contract With America” became the “Contract On America”. No longer was the vision to raise the flag and wave it. Instead, they exchanged the flag for strategies and they substituted leadership for approval.
When I was chairman of the Snohomish County GOP in the early nineties, I wrestled with Party leadership because I could see they had no intention of winning; and if they should win, they had no intention of leading. Their only concern was protecting their seat at the table. Be that as it may, many people saw the 1994 election victory as the salvation of our nation.
But what did we receive? Instead of rolling back civil government:
• bureaucracies have increased;
• funding for obscenity and abortion have increased;
• federal authority over education has increased;
• many crimes have been reclassified as federal crimes;
• we have multiplied treaties and increased the rise of globalism;
• mandates have been sent to the States impeding our first and second amendment rights;
• environmental restrictions have increased, impeding property and inheritance rights;
• Executive Orders have increased in exponential fashion and have gone unchecked;
• Posse Comitatus has been ignored as federal agencies have engaged in police and sheriff work with the aid of military forces;
• Our Republicans representatives have given us national ID cards;
• and this list could go on.
Did the Republican Congress finally balance the budget? Or did they strip Ninety-Five Billion dollars from the Social Security trust account to appear to “balance” an over-weening general budget that they did not have the intestinal fortitude to grab hold of. And then, to boot, the returned Five Billion back to the account to give us the impression they were rescuing it! God save us – they are no different than the Democrats!!
What about our problems in Washington State? Some time ago, I was reading an account in the Seattle Times and my heart went out to Dale Foreman, the fearless leader of the State GOP – or rather, the fearful leader of the State GOP. He related his problem to the reporter: He will receive a letter from a liberal, or moderate, member of the Party and then he receives a letter from a conservative member and he has to give the same deference to both. How troubling life can be.
His problem is not the diversity of opinion within the Party. His problem is that Dale Foreman, the Harvard graduate, the man of letters cannot, or will not, lead. He lacks conviction because he has no guiding principles. How can you expect him to lead us out of socialism when he has no principles to lead with?
Clyde Ballard, the Republican Co-Speaker of the House: That is a safe position to be in and much more comfortable than when he was Speaker because now he has authority and notoriety but no accountability – he can always blame the bad results on his co-Democrats. When he was the Speaker, he would not lead. He would facilitate, blend, mix and serve up something palatable for his liberal detractors and the media. The closest he came to leading was to beat conservative representatives into submission. Therefore, our conservative bills would go down to defeat but he looked good.
It was under his guidance and leadership that the Partial Birth Abortion ban destroyed as he orchestrated the removal of the referendum clause and then the final gutting of the bill altogether and finally defeat. He has put compromise ahead of principle. He has put public perception ahead of principle. How can he lead us out of socialism when he has no principle to lead with?
I fought long and hard for a principled platform within the Republican Party. The battle grew tougher every year as leadership determined to make the tent wider and wider. The GOP wants to include everyone so that there is no room for principle and the big tent becomes a three-ring circus.
But lack of principle serves a two-fold purpose: Not only can the leadership claim they are making a bigger tent, but they remove the benchmark. There is no longer a standard by which to judge the candidates and evaluate their actions. And they become like the Democrats. How can the Party lead us out of socialism when it has no principle to lead with?
Now we come to the question: Are you throwing away your vote by voting for a third party candidate?
Remember the story of Joshua: Our strategy and our power will not win elections – we must submit to God’s law and His authority. In the book of Daniel we are told that God alone raises kings and deposes them.
Speaking against unGodly alliances, God tells us in 2Ch 16:9 “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” This was God’s rebuke to King Asa for doing a foolish thing by trusting in his alliance with the king of Aram. God does not need coalitions and Repbulicans to accomplish His plan. For that matter, He doesn’t need the AHP. He only needs a remnant whose hearts are fully committed to Him – and He will have it!
A vote for the lesser of two evils is still a vote for evil. If you are willing to compromise your principle for the sake of winning, don’t be surprised when the candidate you voted for compromises his.
Many so-called conservative candidates would have you believe they must vote for bad bills in order to win re-election to save us from candidates who would vote for the same bills. What is happening is most politicians are swayed by campaign finances, global interests and their pensions – they are looking for a seat at the table.
The GOP wants you to believe they are the saviors of the nation, or in the alternative, they are necessary for conservative Christians to have a voice in the political arena. Don’t be fooled, unless they return to principle, they will go the way of the Whig Party before them. But do not gloat, keep a sober mind – the American Heritage Party will go the same way when they lose their principle as well. We must remain vigilant – and we must pass our vigilance on to the next generation.
Principle – attending to the laws of God, must be the absolute goal. Our convictions dictate that we cannot win using the same strategies as the moderates, liberals, Democrats and neo-conservatives.
We are not commanded to win. Throughout Scripture, we are commanded to stand firm. And the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter six that after we have done everything to stand our ground, we are to stand and stand firm.
We must raise the standard:
• the troops will rally; and
• the voters will have something to hale to.
If God is willing we will have victory in the election of candidates. Nonetheless, our victory is not in winning elections – our victory is in changing the hearts of the people and we can only do that by standing firm.
We must be willing to lead while yet a minority if we expect to lead as a majority. This is the Achilles heal of the Republican Party – they never expected to lead!
If we never become the majority, don’t minimize for a second what a “leading” minority can accomplish. Remember our Founding Fathers were not in the majority, they had less then a third of the people on their side. Yet they were not discouraged, they didn’t succumb to building coalitions and making bigger tents. They were victorious because they stood firmly for principle and they were willing to lead – even if it cost them their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. They did this with a firm reliance upon God, their Creator and Lawgiver.
If you want to return our nation to our Common Law, constitutional foundation;
If you want laws that are just;
If you want to reduce civil government intrusion into our lives,
Then you must be willing to stand for Biblical principle.
What is the conclusion? Are we wasting our vote by voting for a third party, specifically the American Heritage Party?
We have enough facilitators to drag our nation to hell itself. We have plenty of kinder, gentler politicians who are self absorbed in their own well-being and public appearance. Our nation is void of leadership. God has given you a vision – Raise the standard, wave the flag and lead!!
God save our nation,
Dean Isaacson
27 March 1999
Snohomish County American Heritage Party Convention
