Need a conservative: Fred Thompson would make the best candidate

By Ted A. LeGrand

It is time for a true conservative, a Republican standard bearer, to enter the presidential race. It was a short time ago when conservatives Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush captured 137 of 150 states in three consecutive elections. Barring a third-party candidacy lke Ross Perot's, which put Bill Clinton in the White House, the conservative base will meet any liberal challenge.

Republicans lost both houses of Congress in 2006 because they acted like liberals, mistakenly thinking the conservative base would keep supporting them. They wouldn't address illegal immigration, frivolous lawsuits abound, and excessive spending has grown. Big government was OK with them as long as they were in charge of it.

Liberal politicians waste money on things like the global warming hoax, pork-barrel earmarks and the United Nations and get rewarded at the ballot box. Not so for Republicans. Conservatives know that smaller government works better. Put bluntly, a conservative is someone who embraces the genius of the Framers.

The next president will face three huge challenges.

The first is worldwide terror. President Bush realized we could no longer let our enemies attack us without fighting back. We must keep up the fight and eliminate the threat. Only a total and clear victory will bring any hope of a lasting peace. Peace will remain only if our enemies are certain they will defend it at any cost. The Framers made the president commander in chief to avoid the interference we are suffering from the likes of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and others who don't understand the concept of "boots on the ground."

In the past, many Americans felt victories in World War I and World War II made us invincible. That is far from true. America has never before had to fight a war with leaders of a major political party willing and even anxious for our side to lose. The mainstream media have become an enemy of our own troops. Do these defeatists ever stop to think what the world would be like in even one year without the American military?

The second challenge is illegal immigration. In this area, the compassion of President Bush has failed us. We are either a nation of laws or we are not. We either protect our borders or we accept violent and vicious predators making a mockery of our border patrol. How many Americans are aware of the magnitude of the murders and criminal assaults by illegal aliens of our own citizens on our own soil? Why isn't the true harm caused by illegals to our hospitals and schools national news?

The third challenge is government bureaucracy. Many of our enemies would love to see freedom stripped form Americans. That is exactly what government does with countless regulations and red tape. The rugged individualism that built America has been crippled by bureaucrats. Elected officials who want to change Washington soon find the battle is hopeless. Freedom is taken from us through a tax code that is unfair and costs untold billions to comply with. Our inner-city schools keep rotting not because we don't know what is needed to improve education, but because teachers' unions stand in the way of meaningful reforms.

We don't need government to tell us how much water our toilets can hold, how many trees we can plant or cut down on our own property, what to fry our foods in, or where we can buy our prescription medicine. Capitalism will solve problems like health care and energy shortages if the government will step aside.

Former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson is respected. Washington cronyism was not for him and he left. It is time to come back. He will be attacked by the media, and he must have the courage to fight back. When the barrage starts, Thompson should ask reporters what he has done that is worse than joining the Ku Klux Klan, or leaving a secretary to drown while saving your political neck, or stealing sensitive documents from the National Archives, or speaking out against a war while your family makes megamillions from that same war. I'm sure he can think of many more examples. Don't roll over and play dead.

Voters should know what a Thompson administrations will be like. Ronald Reagan could communicate, and American loved him. However, his true strength was the conservative foundation of the principles he so deeply held.

There is an energetic and talented conservative pool to staff a Thompson administration. J.D. Hayworth would make an excellent vice-president and would be a dynamic force in the battle against illegal immigration. Rudy Guiliani would be great as director of homeland security. John McCain's voice should be heard in the area of veteran's affairs. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich can start to dismantle the Washington bureaucracy and point Social Security and health care in the right direction. Rush Limbaugh, Phyllis Schlafly, Duncan Hunter, George Allen, Haley Barbour, Ann Coulter, Ted Olson, Bill Bennett and David Horowitz, all true conservatives, will increase turnout. Many conservative jurists are ready for the Supreme Court.

A suggestion:

When Thompson wins, he should govern like doing what is right is more important than a second term. Washington has become the burden, because staying in office is job now for too many politicians.

America needs a statements like Fred Thompson.

Ted A. LeGrand resides in Advance, Mo.