Former Republican Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, a candidate who more than most other Republican candidates vying for the U.S. Presidency has professed an intense hatred for government and finished a very close second in Iowa on Tuesday. And he is not alone; GOP Representative Ron Paul of Texas who also preaches on the “evils” of government did quite well, finishing third. Together, they accounted for 46% of the votes in the Iowa Caucus.
This brings to question the reason why such persons even run for governmental office.
Of course the reason why Santorum and Paul, like so many others in the GOP run for public office is so they can either consciously or subconsciously prove their self-fulfilling prophecies on the lack of effectiveness, veracity and efficiency of government to be true.
On a side note directed to Republican candidates: regardless of the office involved, self-fulfilling prophesies do not prove you right, they merely prove your capability to sabotage, vandalize, and demean what is supposed to be, as President Abraham Lincoln stated in the Gettysburg Address, “government of the people by the people for the people.”
Still, what makes less sense is why the so many voters would vote for such candidates. Elections, after all, are just a way of selecting someone to provide a service, similar to selecting a lawyer, or a doctor. Would someone hire a doctor who did not have confidence in the medical knowledge and techniques which they apply? Would the services of a lawyer who detested the law ever be secured?
The answer in these cases is of course a resounding no. So, why would someone willingly and gratefully gaining the advantages of successful government programs (through farm subsidies, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, education, highway grants, security, and the list goes on…) elect a person into office to run government who wants to dismantle the institution?
That is indeed the question many liberals cannot fathom, and I am willing to bet if many conservatives truly opened their minds and thought about the question, they would have to rethink many of their positions on the governmental issues facing today’s society.
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