Question: Why are you a Democrat or a Republican?
Sean Faircloth:
1. I love freedom. I don’t want Big Government micromanaging personal lives: Washington interventionists try legislating a husband’s private decision about his wife’s life support. Big government tries to dictate what women do with their bodies. Right-wingers lecture against gays. Democrats trust individuals, not government, to make personal decisions.
2. I love capitalism. In 1932, America was teetering between dictatorship and communism. President Hoover’s troops shot at military pensioners. FDR saved capitalism with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Tennessee Valley Authority, rural electrification, and more.
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Eisenhower offered repeated recessions. JFK? Low inflation, high growth, no recessions. Reagan created huge deficits (and made illegal arms deals with terrorists). Clinton, with zero Republican votes, balanced the budget, leading to the greatest economic growth ever—and a surplus. President Bush increased the cost
of living for working people while cutting taxes for ultrarich people who never had to work (they inherited it). Democrats reward work, thus Clinton’s Earned Income Tax Credit—boosting worker pay, strengthening the economy.
3. I love justice. The first President Bush began his career fighting loudly against the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Democrats voted overwhelmingly with Martin Luther King. Right-wingers opposed the ERA for women. Democrats supported it. Justice leads to opportunity. Opportunity leads to economic growth—and a better world.
4. I love opportunity. A “legacy” is someone whose grades and SATs weren’t great, but who gets into a place like Yale because Daddy’s a rich alumnus. President Bush was a legacy at Yale. Affirmative action for rich kids must stop. Americans want children from working families to have decent opportunities: good nutrition, good education, and safe neighborhoods. Bangor police chief Don Winslow calls for more programs for troubled youth. President Bush cut those programs. Clinton put more cops on the street. President Bush cut community policing, cut funds for the disabled, for nutrition programs, and even our veterans—while imposing unfunded educational mandates.
Not all Democrats have done well. LBJ avoided combat when he was young, but tried to prove his manhood by putting other men in harm’s way. Truman and JFK (combat heroes) didn’t seek to prove their manhood with other people’s lives.
5. I love businesslike management. President Bush hired incompetent cronies to run FEMA, to be ambassadors (his ambassador to Ottawa was unsure whether Indiana was part of Canada), to run Iraq (many died while cronies dithered). This is a Bush family tradition (remember the incompetent response to Hurricane Andrew?). JFK and Clinton liked women. They also liked competence.
6. I want a strong military response when attacked. In 2002 Bin Laden was in the Tora Bora Mountains. President Bush pulled brave troops from Tora Bora, sending them to Iraq. The way Bush chose to invade Iraq was, inadvertently, very beneficial to Bin Laden’s recruitment effort. FDR in WWII, Truman in Korea, and JFK in the Cuban Missile Crisis stood up to enemies with maturity and strength. Sadly, President Bush took pressure off Bin Laden. Today many are dead in Iraq—Bin Laden is at large.
Capitalism, freedom, competence, opportunity, strong defense, justice. These are the reasons I’m a Democrat.
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Sean Faircloth is a state representative, lawyer, and professor of justice studies.
Scott K. Fish:
There are Republican principles—which are immutable—and there is the Republican Party—which is changing always. I am a Republican because of respect for Republican principles, i.e., freedom and responsibility. When the Republican Party gets too far afield, it is up to those of us who value Republican principles to bring the party back to its roots.
The Republican Party was born in the 1850s to oppose slavery in America. The country was divided into slave states and free states. As the country grew and settlers in new territories sought to become new states, whether they would be new slave or free states was a serious issue that took the “War between the States” to resolve.
The Americans who founded the Republican Party—or the Grand Old Party (GOP)—wanted free states only. Abraham Lincoln, the Republicans’ first candidate, was president of the U.S. during our Civil War, which, in the end, abolished slavery throughout our nation.
A political party favoring free states is a party that wants free individuals, not slaves. So the GOP became the party of “less taxes, less government.” The party’s detractors like to twist the meaning of “less taxes, less
government,” saying that Republicans don’t care about the little guy, the common man, “Joe Sixpack!”
Nonsense! Government based on the Republican principle of freedom is government that gets out of Joe Sixpack’s way so he can work in his own way, keep the bulk of his own money, and pursue his own dreams. That frees government to do a better job helping those who most need it.
The twin principle of freedom is responsibility. Joe Sixpack is free to pursue happiness, but keeping the nation free—so the freedom Joe enjoys will be there for his children and their children—that’s Joe’s responsibility. It’s the responsibility of every American. Lost freedoms rarely return. How do we ensure our freedom stays alive? At a minimum, every American should know how our government works and take part in making it work.
Suppose Joe Sixpack gets down on his luck. Where does he go for help according to Republican principles? First, he turns to himself. Next, to his family. Then to his neighbors, his community. Local government next, then state government, and—in extreme circumstances—the federal government.
Today that hierarchy is upside down. Too many people turn for help first to the state and federal governments. That fattens government. Joe Sixpack turns three-and-one-half months’ worth of paychecks over to government—every year. There’s no shortage of people willing to take part of your paycheck to grow government to meet “needs.”
When does the GOP surrender the right to call itself the “less taxes, less government” party? Republicans
in Washington DC are now wasting tax dollars at a record pace. That must stop. Republicans need to return to offering solutions based on first principles: freedom and responsibility.
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Scott K Fish is technology director/marketing manager for the Maine Heritage Policy Center and owner/editor of www.asmainegoes.com.
