Already?

I hate to get all political in my second post, but I want to talk about Ron Paul for a minute. And not in the way all of your other Facebook friends are talking about Ron Paul. See, the thing is I'm completely baffled as to why some of my more liberal friends are supporting him and I want to explain why.

I'll start with the positives. Ron Paul seems like a nice guy. I'd love for him to be my neighbor. He's clearly an intelligent man and spent many years as a well-respected doctor, often providing medical care pro-bono for low income people. He is on the right side of the War on Drugs and the Patriot Act. But even aside from the fact that he thinks global warming is a hoax, or that he slapped his name on some racist newsletters he says he didn't write, one issue really sticks in my craw and is the main reason I could never consider voting for the man.

And that's abortion rights. I'm am staunchly pro-choice and a monthly donor to Planned Parenthood (an organization that he wants to ban federal funding for actually) so it may be surprising for you to learn that I understand and respect his stance. I understand the religious (and other) motivations that spur people to be pro-life. I respect those views even though I don't share them, but once they seep over into my rights and freedoms I take issue.

Take a look at the Sanctity of Life Act, which Paul helped introduce to Congress, to get a better idea of where he stands. Not only would the act have defined life as beginning at conception, but it would have rendered Roe V. Wade moot and meant "that each state has authority to protect the lives of unborn children residing in the jurisdiction of that state."  Huh. Well, say goodbye to abortion in Texas. This is the very type of legislation that terrifies my liberal friends, yet they're throwing their support behind Paul. I have a hard time reconciling that.

I understand that's just one key issue. Take your pet cause and extrapolate away. In many cases he may come out favorably, I don't know. But I can't help but fear what would happen to our civil rights if some of the more backward thinking states are left to their own devices. Federal deregulation sounds good in theory but as someone who lives in a conservative state I count on those federal regulations to protect my rights.

Ron Paul is an idealist and when you compare to him our usual crop of pandering, spineless politicians I think that, in a way, that's something to be respected. The problem is that when I take his nice shiny ideas and actually practice some forward thinking about how they'd play out, the result is terrifying to me. He seems to want to be president of the country we wish we had, not the country we currently have. I think the chances of him being elected are very slim, but I feel compelled to speak about him in particular because my liberal friends aren't throwing their weight behind Romney for obvious reasons.

On a related note, I hate to be partisan but with the way women's rights are being eroded on an almost daily basis it seems, I feel that voting a Republican into office is just too risky, especially one that supports getting rid of the few federal protections we do have.  When I was growing up I hated the idea of voting along party lines, insisting that I would always consider each candidate on their own merit. But that would only be possible in the country I wish we had, not the country we do have. For me, as an adult? It's democrat all the way.