Patriot Voices’ “Our Vision for America” Commentary, Part 1 of 6

http://www.patriotvoices.com/vision_for_america

Patriot Voices’

“Our Vision for America” Commentary

by

James M. Leonard, PhD

(part 1 of 6)

I engage in political writing as a pastor and theologian who has been watching politics since Nixon resigned, but only in the distress of these last ten years have I felt compelled to invest myself sacrificially into politics to support this grand and worthy enterprise known as The American Experiment, an enterprise which is now very much at risk. I think the American Constitution and Declaration of Independence were written by men who had a very deep and breathtaking understanding of the Christian religion and its scriptures, with equal acumen in human nature and national governance. I fear, however, that most Americans have only a superficial grasp of the Christian religion and perhaps even less of human nature and principles of governance. This realization has prompted me to harness the energy of social media in an effort to disseminate a deep consideration of these issues that are crucial to our way of life.

In the last two years, Republicans have been most expert in criticizing the Obama administration and even in identifying the searing issues. At the Republican Leadership Conference last weekend in New Orleans, there was no shortage of candidates capably criticizing Obama and articulating the conservative Constitutionalist message, while also decrying the Republican Establishment’s complacency. Such abilities are impressive, but not sufficient to assure victory. The essential ingredient for victory is the articulation of an inspirational and encompassing vision, one that addresses the present crisis while fervently upholding our foundational and guiding principles.

Sen. Santorum’s Patriot Voices’ “Our Vision for America” qualifies as a vision that speaks to our present critical need while espousing our core values reflected in the founding documents. More so, it is a manifesto which drinks deeply from Christianity’s fountain of knowledge and is not just a thoughtless repetition of run of the mill superficial Christianity that gets distributed on any given Sunday. Indeed, some of the statements are difficult and require serious reflection, but in my estimation, fall in line at all the right places.

The Santorum vision was not written to be red meat offered on the altar of delegate expediency. Nor was it written for those who spend much time watching Eurovision or The Simpsons reruns. The Vision is written for thoughtful Patriots. Let me invite you to follow the link to sign on. The country needs you. Patriot Voices' Our Vision for America

This article is the introduction to what will be a six part commentary. Check back soon.

RLC 2014 Round Up

RLC 2014 Round Up

He did not announce his candidacy, but Santorum’s presence at the 2014 Republican Leadership Conference was more than a cameo appearance.

In 2012, Santorum ran on the argument that Mitt Romney was the worst possible Republican candidate to challenge Obama. I’ll not review the subpoints, but in post-election reflections, all the pundits suddenly came to the same conclusion, and did so as if it were their own discovery.

Santorum was the last not-Romney candidate, and by the end of the campaign, he carried 11 states, despite party elitist meddling to prevent victory announcements in Iowa until after the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries. The most frequently expressed complaint against Santorum was that he had no chance to win; what a difference the end result would have been if South Carolinians had seen Santorum victorious in Iowa.

Santorum had been labeled as a one-song candidate for social values. This was a marginalizing and tidy pigeon hole, a popular narrative that put Santorum into a precisely defined category for a media and an electorate focused more on Gangnam style in 2012 than on the future of the country. In reality, Santorum was the candidate most expert in the Middle East, the candidate with the most comprehensive economic recovery plan, the candidate whose balanced budget plan was projected for five years precisely so that he and the House and Senate members supporting it would be held responsible by the voters in a second term election. Indeed, it was by a single Senate vote that Santorum’s 1995 Balanced Budget Amendment failed, a day whose infamy should be altogether clear to Americans who now face an $18 trillion deficit with a clear path and a pedal-to-the-medal Legislature that will see that number double and triple by the time Hillary’s grandchild will be enrolled in NYC’s most prestigious elementary school.

What is Santorum up to now? He’s making sure that everyone knows him as the Blue Collar Conservative, one who consciously integrates his social values into a compelling economic message that should rebrand and re-vision the Republican Party. He capably explains how this is a winning message for Republicans and that it is a message which brings with it all the urgencies of conservative Constitutional Republicans. Santorum sang a different song at RLC, one which was dominated by this new vision, with red meat anti-Obama rhetoric served only in small portions so that the audience might grasp that one does not win elections by anti-Obama-ism alone, but with a message which each American’s name on it.