by Scott Hill

Widener University Political Science Major

On February 22 there was another GOP debate in Arizona. The first half of this debate seemed to be a fight of who could claim the title of “the most conservative”. During the primary, Republican candidates will try and prove that they are conservative because they know the people that vote in the primaries are the most active and generally most conservative.

Ron Paul attempted to show that Rick Santorum was a “fake” conservative during the debate based on his activities as a Senator. The issue arose from an audience question on what the candidates would do about No Child Left Behind. Santorum voted for the No Child Left Behind Act and during his answer he said he would repeal it. One of the issues is, why vote for something that you do not believe in? During his response, he said that politics is a team sport and even though it was against his principles he still voted for it. While I do agree that not much can get done without support but do we want someone who will go against what they believe in just to go along with their party?

I believe that Ron Paul is right when he says that the problem is that the people in Washington are just going along. They shouldn’t follow the obligation of the oath to the party but the obligation of the oath to the people. If something is against your principles do not vote for it. It is easy to make excuses but it is hard to follow what you believe. I think Ron Paul shows that best in his argument against preemptive warfare. He is against it and while his view might not be the most popular, he has his reasons and believes firmly in them. If we are going to send troops into war where soldiers will die we must go to the people and we need a declaration of war by congress who represent the people to get it.