Now, about Clinton...

(December, 20, 1998)

As a believer in limited government, there was no way I could, in good conscience, support Bob Dole for president. In the 1996 presidential debates he looked in to the camera and told God and the American people that, if Bill Clinton were re-elected, the government would grow by 20 percent, whereas if Bob Dole were elected, government would grow by only 14 percent. (Dole spoke of himself so much in the third person, you might might mistake him for a gangsta rapper.) In other words, Bob Dole did not think that Bill Clinton had given us enough socialism in his first term.

Bob Dole's campaign was so feeble and lacking in conviction, that a friend commented that "the only way Bob Dole could win this election would be if someone in the Dole camp produced an 8 1/2" x 11" glossy of Bill Clinton with a gun in Vince Foster's mouth."

Bob Dole had been in Washington voting for higher taxes and bigger government ever since Bill Clinton was a high school freshman. In 1996, National Review pointed out that Bob Dole had been the go-to guy in the Senate for the three largest pre-Clinton tax hikes in American history (1982, 1983, 1990). If you liked Bob Dole, you should love Bill Clinton.

In 1992, Bill Clinton beat George Bush, a man just as intellectually bankrupt as Bob Dole. George Bush's three major accomplishments in office were raising taxes, expanding government, and starting wars. How can a believer in limited government support such a man? Indeed, it was Bush's record, and the way in which Republicans rallied around him, which prompted me to leave the Republican Party for the Libertarian Party. If you liked George Bush, you should love Bill Clinton.

In short, I do not at all feel that by voting Libertarian I contributed to the ascendancy of a Bill Clinton. The Republican Party is led by men who are almost as committed as Bill Clinton is to America's bobsled ride into socialism. If you vote for the lesser of two evils, you still get evil. Day to day life in these United States would have been no different under Dole or Bush than it is under Clinton. Taxation would have continued to be oppressive. Regulations would have continued to eat away at our economic freedoms like so many termites. Disregard for our God-given rights as guaranteed by our Constitution would have been as reckless as it has been in the last six years. If you don't believe me, just look at the legacy of the Republican House and Senate majority.

Bill Clinton is not the problem here. He is, no doubt, a problem, but he is more a symptom than anything else. When the American people start turning back to God, and His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, we will start electing leaders who will reflect this goodness. (II Chronicles 7:14) Until then, we will get the lousy leadership we deserve. When enough of us do turn back to God, a lot of things will change for the better without any "help" from government. And people will stop asking Washington, DC, America's most godless city, to make them godly again.

Bill Clinton is a bad guy, and the House was right to impeach him. Although, it will by itself make little difference in the overall direction in which this country is headed, let justice be done. Let the Senate convict Bill Clinton and put him out of office. But do not expect it to change your life in any way.

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The Clinton Files *** Freely Speaking: Speeches and Essays by Doug Newman