One Latter-day Saint's (Mormon) Perspective
on Romney vs. Paul
by Marnie L. Pehrson
When a fellow LDS friend learned I'm
supporting Ron Paul, she asked me what I think of Mitt Romney. Here's my reply
to her and anyone else who might be curious.
Romney might be better than some
candidates we’ve had to choose from in the past, but Ron Paul is so head and shoulders above the rest in actually voting for and standing by the
Constitution that everyone else pales in comparison.
Romney doesn’t “get” things on the level that Paul
does. You can tell that by the way Romney’s willing to use government funds for stem cell research (or his favorite version of it). While his favorite option may be the best one, it’s unconstitutional to use government funding on something like that. If you read the transcript from that
California debate, you’ll see that down the line Paul takes everything back to the
Constitution.
Romney speaks a good game,
glorifies family and America, and talks about switching from pro choice to pro
life (a necessity which I find extremely odd for a Latter-day Saint, by the
way).
He's got the goose pimple vote nailed, but Paul goes back to the rule book (the
Constitution) with almost every single question. He really understands that
inspired document and knows how to apply it. Better yet, his voting record
consistently backs up his words.
Right now, I’m doing everything I can to work for Paul because I’m hoping he’ll wake people up and get them comparing what’s going on in
government to the Constitution. He may not win, but he very well could with the internet.
I think the LDS community is going on auto-pilot… voting for the Mormon guy because he’s Mormon. If Romney wasn’t running, they would fall behind Paul because they’d start to wake up. With both of them running, I think the LDS community is
asleep (or as President Ezra Taft Benson would have said "neutralized") in a great battle for the
Constitution. They’re not really digging for the best candidate like they otherwise would. And I think that’s a shame because Paul is definitely the better choice when it comes to preserving and defending the
Constitution.
To my LDS friends, I just ask that you
study the Constitution (which our own scripture says is divinely inspired). Then
examine what Ron Paul has to say. Really look at how he's voted. Then look at
Romney's political past and what he has to say and see if you see what I see.
That's all I ask. From there it's entirely up to the dictates of your own conscience.
A couple good blogs on this subject:
