Ron Paul only real GOP candidate

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Editor, Register-Mail: When I was a kid, I loved John Kennedy as our president. I guess you would say I was a Democrat. That didn't last very long. Lyndon Johnson's policies and his war quickly changed me to a Republican.

When I was old enough to vote, I grudgingly voted for Nixon and Ford since they were not Democrats. Reagan was my dream candidate. I loved what he said and how he said it but I became disillusioned with the fact that he did not reign in the free spending Congress.

Since the time of Reagan, I have voted exclusively for the Libertarian presidential candidates. They didn't win, but at least my vote was not wasted on a candidate I didn't believe in.

Today, government is too big. Most government programs don't work. Government spends too much. It taxes too much. It regulates too much. It has its nose in places that would make the founders of our country roll over in their graves.

The Republican party of Barry Goldwater and the party that Ronald Reagan spoke of stood for limited government, low taxes, freedom and liberty. That is not the case today.

The modern Republicans have been growing government as fast as the Democrats. I describe them by saying that they spend like a bunch of drunken Kennedys. I can't vote for any or them.

After viewing this year's debates, I have to say that there is just one real Republican running, Congressman Ron Paul. I think he is the only real Republican left in the country. Ron Paul is the only candidate running for president from either of the two old parties that I could vote for with a clear conscience.

I urge citizens who have been turned off by the politics of the corrupt old parties to look at Ron Paul. If you like what you see, get yourself registered to vote and vote for Ron Paul in next year's Republican primary. - Fred Johnson, Knoxville