The recent announcement by Howard Phillips that the Constitution
Party has achieved ballot qualification in 30 states with some 290
potential electoral votes — more than a majority of the 538-member
Electoral College — is important news.
“It is time for the media to recognize the fact that the Constitution
Party is well ahead of Pat Buchanan and Ralph Nader in efforts to secure
November ballot status,” said Phillips. “We know that we will be on the
ballot for sure in at least 30 states and have high hopes of securing
ballot access in more than a dozen others, despite the fact that, on
principle, we accept neither Federal matching funds nor Federal
subsidies.”
Howard and the Constitution Party — formerly known as the U.S.
Taxpayers Party — have stood on principle since the beginning of this
long-range political endeavor to reach the White House. While the Party
has drawn to its cause some of the best brains in the conservative
movement, it has been seriously handicapped by its inability to raise
the kind of funds that would permit it to buy media time and compete
with the major parties. Thus, the Party is scarcely known by the
general public.
As everyone knows, politics is run by money, by forces determined to
control the seats of power in order to further their own interests.
Thus, both George W. Bush and Al Gore are able to raise millions of
dollars because either one can be relied upon to carry forward the
corporate internationalist agenda.
On the other hand, the Constitution Party stands for an agenda in
total opposition to what the corporate and academic establishment wants.
The Constitution Party is committed to ending abortion in America,
replacing the income tax with a revenue tariff, and withdrawing from
unaccountable international bureaucracies, including the United Nations,
NAFTA, the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, and the
International Monetary Fund. The party also is a staunch defender of
Second Amendment gun rights and advocates the ending of Federal funding
and control of education.
However, without the millions of dollars needed to promote this Party
agenda, Phillips, who is the Party’s candidate for president, will find
it virtually impossible to reach the American voter through radio,
television, or even newspaper advertising. But none of that undercuts
the immense value and importance of the Constitution Party as a rallying
point for principled conservatives — the committed few — who uphold
our constitutional principles in the face of a White House that violates
the Constitution at every turn, whether it be in bombing Belgrade,
letting the Chinese influence our president, permitting the Chinese to
take over the Panama Canal, incinerating the people at Waco, kidnapping
Elian Gonzales with a SWAT team or any number of other crimes and
misdemeanors for which Bill Clinton should have been thrown out of
office.
The only protection we have against political tyranny is the
Constitution itself, which is guaranteed by an armed citizenry.
Although we have a cowardly Congress — and a judiciary riddled with
liberal, anti-constitutional judges — we still have a form of
government based on a structure designed by the framers of the
Constitution. While many politicians and judges have bent the
Constitution to suit their own agendas, the Constitution, as an
objective delineator of our government’s powers, has been able to
provide the opposition with the means of countering the activities of
illegal government.
What the internationalist establishment fears most is the possible
awakening of the American people to what is being done to destroy
American sovereignty. But the establishment has minimized this
possibility by exerting an almost total control over the mass media and
by controlling both major political parties. And, all of this is done
by money. When Cecil Rhodes said at the turn of the last century that
the only way his plan for world government could succeed was by gaining
control of the wealth of the world, he knew that money would be the
deciding factor in gaining political control.
Many of us who worked with Howard Phillips in helping him launch the
Constitution Party movement debated long and hard over the strategy that
conservatives should adopt in trying to restore our government to
Constitutional principles. Some of us thought that the best strategy
was to build conservative strength within the Republican Party in order
to exert maximum influence within the party. This is what followers of
Goldwater did back in 1964. They repudiated Nelson Rockefeller, who
represented the internationalists. The result was that the
internationalists turned the press and media against Goldwater, and
Lyndon Johnson handily won the election. Johnson, of course, appointed
a CFR cabinet, gave us the war on poverty and the quagmire of Vietnam —
which led to our defeats on both fronts.
There is no question that if conservatives ever gained control of the
Republican Party — as they did in 1964 — and put up their own
candidate, the internationalists would back the Democrats. But George
W. Bush is quite acceptable to the internationalists and, therefore, he
is getting their support. Under these circumstances, should
conservatives support him?
If our aim is to maintain a Republican Congress and get more
conservative judges appointed to the federal bench, then it is obvious
that conservatives must back Bush, even though we know we are not
getting everything we want. Politics is the art of the possible, the
art of compromise. As much as my heart is with Howard Phillips and the
Constitution Party, my head tells me to vote for Bush. And if Howard is
not on the ballot in Massachusetts, I will have no choice but to vote
for Bush. But anything can happen before November.
Thus, the last thing I want to do is discourage those good patriots
committed to the Constitution Party from doing exactly what has to be
done. The Constitution Party is important because it states explicitly
and uncompromisingly what the issues are. It is the conscience of the
conservative movement and, therefore, its value cannot be measured
solely in terms of votes. We must measure its power in terms of the
principles it stands for. The very fact of its existence provides us
with the knowledge that there is another way, another political road
still open to us. It also serves notice on the Republican Party that
conservative votes should not be taken for granted.
To my mind, the Constitution Party is very much like the homeschool
movement, which represents less than two percent of the student
population but much more in brain power. The Constitution Party has
some of the best conservative intellects among its ranks. Its existence
is a testimony to the hardy souls that keep watch on our government’s
misdeeds. It provides an indispensable educational forum for
conservatives who want to know what is going on. It provides a rallying
point for conservatives who need the fellowship of other committed
conservatives. It provides political experience for young
conservatives.
Howard Phillips understands all of this. He has sacrificed much to
create and lead the Constitution Party. He has a clarity of vision
second to none in the American political scene. He publishes one of the
best conservative newsletters in the country, The Howard Phillips Issues
and Strategy Bulletin (9520 Bent Creek Lane, Vienna, VA 22182). He is a
realist who believes that the political scene in America today is
volatile enough to provide unforeseen opportunities. And we must agree.
In politics, anything is possible.
Samuel L. Blumenfeld is the author of eight books on education,
including “NEA: Trojan Horse in American Education,” “How to Tutor,”
“Homeschooling: A Parents Guide to Teaching Children,” and “Is Public
Education Necessary?” His books are available on Amazon.com.
Brace yourself for Election Day
Patrice Lewis