Read more here: http://savejersey.com/2012/01/non-interventionism-and-fiscal-conservatism-a-case-for-ron-paul/

Do you think your property taxes are too high?  Are there issues with your school district or garbage collection service? How about a lack of jobs and new development in your town? Is the crime rate going up and are your neighbors having a hard time selling their homes? These are just several of the many issues that local politicians are charged with dealing with.

Too often, I hear people say they don’t care about the local level elections because it doesn’t affect them. This couldn’t be further from the truth! The federal government, and specifically the President, does not have power over many of the areas of these local issues. Do you think President Obama is going to come and specifically fix your school district? Do you think he’s going to care about how many jobs are created in your small town in New Jersey? No, he cares about national issues and while national issues may directly impact your life the fact of the matter is if you really want change in your everyday life, you need to pay attention to your local candidates and make sure you come out and vote this Tuesday, November 8!

Republican Candidates Around Rider:

John Cifelli for Ewing Town Council

Kyle Collins, Falk Engel, and Colette Coolbaugh for Lawrence Town Council (3 seats)

Jonathan Savage for County Executive

Richard Kanka for Senate

John Bencivengo Hamilton Mayor

Wayne Wittman for Assembly

Sheree McGowan for Assembly

For more info and a full list of GOP candidates visit: http://www.mercergop.com

Jon Hunstman- Ever since the Iowa Straw Poll, I have been hearing more an more about him on television. However, his weak showing in that poll I think makes him a weak choice for this MSNBC debate. Suprisingly, I think Jon Huntsman did a good job during this debate. He did a good job covering his talking points, pointing out flaws in other arguments and staying clear of much rhetoric.  He received a decent amount of face time on the debate and made himself more credible than I orginally thought. I think the highlight of his night was when he had stated his views on science. Huntsman said “We can’t run from science.” He understands the importance of not running away from reality.

Rick Santorum- I know very little about Santorum, but from this debate I was able to tell that he can speak well and annunciate his message like a seasoned politician. He has a standard Republican view on social, economic views and even foreign policy. He equates himself to the Reagan days. He doesnt beleive in having exit strategies for wars or even leaving costly wars that have no real end in sight. Santorum’s highlight of the night was when he defended his role in reforming welfare systems in the senate to stop training people to be dependant solely on the government.

Herman Cain – Cain, in my own opinion, might be the most well spoken and articulate person on the stage during debates. He is always very calm and collected with the questions given to him. One thing I do appreciate is that even though people may not understand his plans for economic growth and prosperity, he is not afriad to state and explain what they will do for the United States. Having worked in the private sector the majority of his life, he has a clear understanding of how the free market works and what conditions the market would work to its maximum ability. Cain’s highlight I think was when he said mandates are “not constitutional” and in order to benefit the healthcare system the U.S. should pass “patient centered, market driven reforms”.

Newt Gingrich- Newt was one of the few people on stage that avoided rhetoric, but the only one to point out MSNBC’s attempts to force the candidates to fight against one an other. This was the point in the debate where I almost felt like standing up and clapping in my own living room. I have always noticed the news media trying to pit the candidates against one another and their attempts to silence candidates like Ron Paul and Newt himself. Newt might not be doing well in the polls, but if anything, he is definitely a catalyst in this election period for the removal of Barack Obama. Here is his highlight: http://youtu.be/oT_esEcNeWE

Michelle Bachman- Bachman’s performance for this debate was certainly lack luster. But then again, I always felt that about all her debates. She uses talking points for more than half of her arguments and seemed completely emotionless on stage. I have done some research on why there was such a hype over her since her narrow “victory” at the Iowa Straw Poll. However, I couldnt find any reason why. Maybe its the media creating her image for her, or it is her convictions she makes based on her religious background. However, her popularity seems transparent and ghost-like. Bachman’s highlight was when she defended imigration policies of the 1950s when she said immigrants demonstrated thier desire to be here through showing thier knowledge of American history and the Constitution, English and thier “promise [to] not be a burden on the American tax payer.”

Rick Perry & Mitt Romney- The reason why I am going to cover both Perry and Romney together should be obvious for anyone who actually watched the debate. Their “cage match” was fight of the night. These two had the most time to speak, the best podiums in the library, and the perfect tools (questions) to tear eachother apart. It was clear and has been clear that these two have been the media favorite since Perry jumped in the race the week after the Iowa Straw Poll. From ‘Romneycare’  to Perry’s HPV vaccination mandate, these two had the time of their lives arguing with one another. This was exactly what Newt Gingrich was talking about. The news media manipulated these two into the main event, which I always thought would be saved for the Presidential debate. Well, I guess its time I say something nice about these guys. Well first Romney, he has that presidential look and stature that many of the other candidates dont have. Perry, he has that Texas “swagger” that draws the crowd, but other than that, behind the podium, neither of these men have a true understanding what it means to be a Conservative Republican. If your looking for a guy who has the look but has not followed through as a true Conservative Republican, then these two are your guys. Both are stubborn and rough on the outside, but they are about as soft as a piece of tissue paper on the inside. This bout did not help their image at all during this race. Unfortunately for their performance, the highlight of their fight, was when they werent speaking.

Ron Paul- I have done lots of research on Paul over the past year, and was extremely suprised when he almost won the Iowa Straw Poll. His support grows day by day and it is easy to see why. He has been the most consistant candidate throughout his politcal and private career. Dr. Paul recieved very little time on camera, maybe slightly more than Gingrich and Herman Cain, but only after he successfuly pointed out Perry’s flaw in judgment about Hilarycare. This spurred a little bit of a confrontation between the two that scored Paul a few more minutes in front of the camera. Paul made ample time of his questions even despite thier angle to damage his character. He never used talking points and always had substantiated answers. Paul may be the runt on stage and the laughing stock of the news media, but he has proven himself anything but that to voters during this poll season. Consistantly, he has been scoring in the top 3 in many of the polls. Being that debates are for answering questions and not for deflecting them, and using evidence and substantiated claims to support your views, Paul took first place. It was hard for me to pick a favorite highlight for Dr. Paul, do here is sll of them: http://youtu.be/44S6frKsHtM

This debate might have been the least effecive debate for the candidates other than Ron Paul, who won the MSNBC poll, with more than 50% of the vote at the end of the second day. Bachman continues to lose her momentrum from Iowa and the Perry/Romney championship run could be finally on the downhill.

I grew up in a conservative household raised by my Catholic father. For many liberals that would be enough. “Well that explains it”, they would probably say. It was the seed for my conservative view point yes, but I had done little self-reflecting and thinking of my own to form my opinions. It was around the GOP primaries of 2008 that I considred myself a true Conservative Republican. I found myself really pushing for Mike Huckabee to win the nomination. I was still a relatively religious person and agreed with many of Huckabees opinions. However, aside from politics, my favorite hobby was science, specifically physics. Science is religion’s arch nemesis. It was through the reasoning of science that I began to ask questions that pastors would rather not ask, and ultimately not accept the asnwers to. It really forced me to think about my own existance and how we got here. Eventually, I settled with the explanation that God created the life as we know it through the Big Bang and even God spurred evolution.

But it wasnt until I learned more scientific theories debunking the existance of God that I felt like I could be truely in control of my own fate, destiny and outcome of my life without His assistance. I began to really identify myself as an individual. This was a turning point in my politcal outlook. I began to recognize typical Republican opinion still had flaws in protecting the United States Citizen’s individual rights, socialially and economically.

Around the time of my sophmore year of college I was introduced to a few thinkers and philosophers that really pushed for economic and social freedom. Some of these people were Milton Friedman, Ayn Rand, and Thomas Sowell.  In my opinion, these people understood what it meant to have maximum freedom in all aspects. As I admired these thinkers, I had to find where these values lie in our politcal system. At first it seemed as though I was split between a liberal and a conservative. I heard a friend mention that these were values of libertarianism.

My transition into Libertarianism was a slow process but I feel more comfortable with my self than when I was simply a Conservastive Republican. Although I am socially liberal, I am still a Conservative by definition, but more of an individual than I was before. “I am not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism; and I am not primarily an advocate of egoism, but of reason. If one recognizes the supremacy of reason and applies it consistently, all the rest follows.” Ayn Rand

Too many people have a negative view or connotation of the NRA and having a student body that was largely unaware of the stereotype we were able to recruit some interested individuals to attend our NRA University event and the results were overwhelming. Students who took part in the NRA University overwhelmingly left with a positive view of the organization and were well equipped to see through biases that are often portrayed by the media and unfortunately by some academics.

The greatest example were those who had heard the NRA’s message in varying ways without ever coming directly in contact with the NRA. One is the gun safety mascot Eddie the Eagle. Eddie is one of the areas of the NRA’s education and investment that organizations like Ceasefire do not want to talk about. Eddie the Eagle was introduced as a concept over 20 years ago and is still used as a mascot for Gun Safety in schools throughout the country. The simple message for kids that tells them what to do if they ever find a firearm. “STOP, Don’t touch, leave the area, tell an adult” articulates in a rhythmic song that kids can remember and it is certain to have saved lives and increased safety around gun related accidents significantly. Unfortunately, Anti-Gun organizations do not like to give credit where it is due and will not recognize this success.
The Anit-NRA message is one that is fabricated by regulationists who have nothing better to do then impede upon others freedoms. In realizing this upon attending CPAC in 2011 the Rider CR’s made it a mission to spread the word and get the NRA University segment of the NRA to our campus. We had great results and I had an opportunity to speak with Cam from the NRANews.com about the outcome of the event.