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Ron Calzone's Primary Picks 2016

 

People have been asking for my personal take on the statewide races, so I thought I would be proactive and send one letter to the several thousand folks who have worked together to promote constitutionally limited government through the LibertyTools online witness form and other tools I've developed.

Here are my picks. I will explain my rationale in greater detail below.

Governor's Race (Details)

Attorney General Race (Details)

Lt. Governor's Race (No Details)

Secretary of State Race (Details)

Treasurer's Race (No Details)

 

I Want Leaders Who Understand Justice

I believe the statewide elections are of prime importance this year – particularly the race for governor and attorney general. There is a fierce battle for the very soul of America right now, and I believe our only hope is to win that battle one state at a time. People from far away with values vastly different than ours want to control our faith, the education of our children, our health care, our economy and our right to protect ourselves.

I want candidates who have the principles of liberty written on their hearts – not just parroted by their mouths. Those are the type of people who we can count on to defend Missourians.

To me, the first task in considering the candidates is to contemplate what should be the most critical and overwhelming desire of anyone in public office – that is, to “do justice.”

The Bible tells us that is what God expects from wise leaders. By [wisdom] kings reign, And rulers decree justice. (Pro 8:15)

Remember how God was particularly pleased with Solomon when he prayed, "So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?" (1Ki 3:9 ) Well, he was praying for the wisdom needed to “do justice”!

God said to him, "Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you.” (1Ki 3:11-12)

All throughout history, God has been particularly displeased with governments that failed to promote righteousness and justice. And in America We the People are ultimately responsible for the government we select, so I'm, more than anything else, basing my votes on evidence that a candidate will promote righteousness and justice – the bulwarks of liberty – if elected.

 

Dirty Campaigning And Justice

Those who think “justice” is merely about punishing bad people have a one-sided view of justice. In fact, as presented in the Bible, it is probably more often about protecting the innocent from those who would oppress them. It seems to me that candidates who spend an inordinate amount of time bragging about prosecuting criminals are the very ones who will promote public policy that oppresses the innocent, too.

So, how can we tell if a candidate is likely to “do justice” if elected? Of course, they have to have policy positions consistent with promoting liberty, especially a willingness to fight unconstitutional and unjust federal intrusion, but I also want a “sincerity metric” through which I can attempt to peek into their hearts to see if these principles are “written” there.

Unfair treatment of others, whether it is a thief stealing someone's belongings or a slanderer stealing their reputation, is an injustice.

The heart of a candidate is often revealed by the choices he or she makes while campaigning, especially the treatment of his opponents. I have no problem with plain speaking campaigns that honestly expose evil (see Eph 5:11), but exposing evil in an unjust way is an unbecoming juxtaposition.

I said all of that to make this one point – candidates who run unjust campaigns will not get my support.

Again, there's nothing wrong with using applicable and verifiable facts, in context, to define one's opponent, but spreading information that is outdated, inaccurate, or that hasn't been verified is character assassination and is the sort of thing Jesus was talking about in Mat 5:21&22.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Many of the worst ads are not from candidates, but from political action committees (PACs). Be careful not to blame a candidate when it is really a 3rd party slinging the mud.

 

Dirty Campaign Consultants – Jeff Roe

Remember that this year's race for governor started with the suicide death of State Auditor Tom Schweich and some unscrupulous campaign tactics from mega consultant, Jeff Roe. Google Jeff Roe and you'll see that his treatment of Schweich was not an isolated incident.

I promised myself, back when all of this happened, that I would not support ANY candidate who used Jeff Roe as his consultant – period. What sort of commitment to justice is demonstrated by a candidate who hires consultants who have clear reputations for unjust tactics?

Two of the statewide candidates that I know of are using Roe, so they are automatically disqualified, from my point of view. They are Catherine Hanaway and Will Kraus.

 

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Details About My Picks

I am actually only excited about two statewide races, and I am very excited about them, because they are the positions that are key to defending and promoting liberty in Missouri. Of course they are the governor and attorney general races. Fortunately, we have two good men to fill those positions – John Brunner and Josh Hawley.

Here's why I think those men deserve my vote more than their opponents.

 

The Governor's Race (Go to Top)

Chris Koster will be hard to beat. Has raised a ton of money he can save for the general election while the Republicans are blowing theirs beating one another up. In this year of the outsider, constitutional voters need to think about who can beat him. I don't think it will be another career politician – either one who has already had a long career or one who is starting one.

There are other considerations, though, that cause me to eliminate all but Brunner.

 

Eric Greiten

Eric Greitens gives me the most concern of all the candidates, including Koster. He is quite obviously using the governor's race as a starting point for what he hopes will be a long political career. He even reserved ericgreitensforpresident.com. That is particularly troubling in light of the fact that he was, by his own admission, a Democrat just a few years ago. He supported things like the globalist agenda, and the climate change movement, It's hard to say where he stands on those issues now because he spends very little time talking about actual policy, instead choosing to rely on his Navy SEAL credentials, credentials some of his fellow SEALS are saying he overstates.

My very first thought about someone we know so little about is that he should run for a lesser office and prove himself before asking to become the chief executive of the entire state.

What we do know is that most of the $8 or $9 million he has raised comes from out of state interests and some of them support those issues as well as things like allowing transgenders in the military.

The fact that he has taken so much money from out of state sources – sources that are not subject to disclosure like normal political donations – causes me to question his sincerity about his claims he will clean up the ethics problems in Jefferson City. And the fact that he accepted an almost $2 million donation from another out of state source just last week hurts him in my estimation even more, since Missouri law clearly forbids it under these circumstances. If he does happen to win the primary, there will almost certainly be an ethics charge that will make it even harder to beat Koster.

The clincher for me with Mr. Greitens is his involvement in the grossly unconstitutional Franklin Project, where is sits on the Leadership Counsel. This FDR New Deal style federal program seems to be a remnant of Greitens Democrat days. If Greitens' recent conversion from Democrat to Republican is genuine, he could demonstrate it by denouncing the Franklin Project and resigning from their Leadership Counsel.

 

Catherine Hanaway

Jeff Roe is Catherine Hanaway's consultant, so I have automatically disqualified her, but I'll supply even more reasons I don't support her.

Catherine may be the most intelligent and well-spoken of the four candidates. I don't think the accusations that she is a “career politician” have been just, since she only spent six years in elective office. But she HAS been connected with government longer than that, since she worked a federal prosecutor, too. Her current position as a partner at the huge law firm of Husch Blackwell doesn't help, since they are among the state's foremost purveyors of mercantilism, including transferable tax credits, TIFs, and private use eminent domain.

Catherine had not struck me as a devotee of limited government and free-markets. Her support of PPPs (public / private partnerships) fits well with the Husch Blackwell theme.

She is quick to brag about all the people she prosecuted as a federal prosecutor, but when one considers just how few federal laws are constitutional, you have to wonder how many people she put in jail unconstitutionally, and unjustly. Her office was also involved in civil asset forfeiture. I want our next governor to stand against unconstitutional federal intrusion, not someone who has been part of that problem.

Evidence that she's not the one I feel like I can trust to fight the feds is her statement of support for “a limited PDMP” in a video interview with the Post Dispatch. Any prescription drug monitoring program is government surveillance. No “limited” government program stays limited for long and Catherine is smart enough to know that. She is also smart enough to know that the federal agencies she once worked for would love to have PDMP surveillance of Missouri citizens.

Peter Kinder

Peter Kinder is my second choice for governor, although the polling doesn't indicate that he had much of a chance of winning.

There's no doubt that he has taken a stand against some of the things that matter to me, like the attempted federal takeover of Missouri parks and recreation areas. How hard he worked on that issue and how much effect he has is hard for me to estimate. My impression has been that with Peter, whom I like, there is often more smoke than fire.

That, perhaps is the main reason I'm not excited about his candidacy, there just doesn't seem to be a lot to show for his three terms as Lt. Governor, at a time when opportunities to fight back abound. Of course, it is harder for a Lt. Governor to establish a record than, say, a legislator.

As a citizen activist while Peter was the first Republican president pro tem of the senate in decades, I felt like a lot of good opportunities were missed – particularly fighting mercantilism. In fact, Peter was part of the problem with his support of things like subsides for the St. Louis ball park in 2002.

More than anything, I think it's time for someone who truly is a career politician to spend some time in the private sector.

 

John Brunner

John Brunner not only has my support, he is also a great source of hope to me. I really think that, with John as governor, we could see a return to constitutional governance. I may have missed it, but John is the only one who calls himself a “constitutional conservative.” Too often, today's “conservative” politicians don't acknowledge the constitutional limits on their own power, and that's why government has grown larger and more intrusive, even in Missouri where “conservative” Republicans have been in control of the legislative process for many, many, years.

I know John personally, and really do believe that he has “liberty” written on his heart. I know that he has a heart to serve and he is the one candidate that is most likely to acknowledge God. That means a lot to me.

The idea of an older man who has raised a family and spent almost all of his adult life in the private sector appeals to me. Not only has he not created government intrusion like two of the others in this race, he has had to struggle with it in his business life, like you and I.

John understands how “law” has been co-opted by the well-connected to plunder taxpayers and property owners. His first hand private sector experience and his studies give him what I think is a better understanding of free-market principles. In fact, the first time I met John, I tried to give him a copy of Frederic Bastiat's great essay, “ The Law”, but he said he had already read it. And he has studied Austrian Economics, the true free-market school of economics.

With John Brunner as governor, I think we will see new respect for economic freedom and liberty, and with the help of the right attorney general, he will lead Missouri in the fight against unconstitutional federal intrusion from dictates about allowing boys in girls locker-rooms to the use of wood buring stoves.

 

The Race for Attorney General (Go to Top)

Josh Hawley

Of the two Republican candidates in this race, I have the most hope for Josh Hawley.

In his campaign, Josh is saying and doing the things I suggested to his opponent, Kurt Schaefer, many months ago, about the need for the A.G. to focus more on defending liberty than locking people behind bars. The fact is, there are plenty of local prosecutors trying to catch criminals. It's a fallacy to suggest that the state A.G. should be the state's chief prosecutor when his greater responsibility is making sure the People's rights are protected from unscrupulous prosecutors and unconstitutional federal intrusion.

Josh has implemented the advice that Senator Schaefer decided not to take, but not because I suggested it, Hawley figured it out on his own. That leads me to believe that he, too, has liberty written on his heart. That's just the sort of A.G. I would like to see teamed up with Governor Brunner.

Kurt Schaefer

As a senator, Kurt has done several things that looked very promising. He exposed a lot of mischief by bureaucrats, like the release of the conceal carry permit holders to federal authorities. But too often he didn't seem to follow through once the publicity value of the situation had been extracted. More smoke than fire.

A sad example of that was his sponsorship of SJR 36, which the voters overwhelmingly adopted as Amendment 5 to the Missouri Constitution in 2014. That amendment should have given Missourians the strongest gun rights protections in the country, but the Missouri Supreme Court gutted it a decision that said the amendment actually did nothing to strengthen the right to keep and bear arms.

Kurt Schaefer helped the Court arrive at that opinion. The Court cited legal briefs submitted by Schaefer in which he made the same claims about his own amendment. He told the court that the new amendment simply affirmed what the U.S. Supreme Court already said about gun rights. The most troubling thing is that Schaefer had previously crisscrossed the state telling voter and potential supporters of his A.G. race that his amendment did wonderful things to protect their gun rights. He told the People one thing and the Court something totally different.

In his briefs he said something else that is troubling from someone who wants to be A.G. He said that convicted felons who have done their time and paid their debt to society aren't considered citizens.

Keep in mind, that “felons” include people who have committed “crimes” like importing an orchid, or tailing to put “ADV:” in the subject line of an unsolicited commercial email, or writing a bad check. (There are over 11,000 ways to be convicted of a felony in Missouri.)

These things makes me wonder if we can trust Kurt to make “doing justice” the cornerstone of his A.G. office, should he win the election. Remember, protecting innocent people oppression is a more important part of “justice” than locking up bad guys.

Perhaps the most troubling of all is the fact that Schaefer sided with the Court's opinion that the Court, itself, couldn't be held to the long standing definition of “strict scrutiny” when analyzing laws that impede fundamental rights. That opinion greatly undermines our ability to challenge liberty stealing unconstitutional laws. For an A.G. who wants to focus on putting more people in jail, that might be a good thing, but for an A.G. whose focus is protecting the People's liberty from unjust and unconstitutional government actions, that opinion presents tremendous obstacles.

And on top of all of that is the fact that his campaign continues to run anti-Hawley ads that have been proven to be unfair and unjust. I just do not have any confidence that Kurt Schaefer will truly make “doing justice” and upholding the Constitution the cornerstone of the A.G.'s office.

During the 2016 legislative session, Senator Schaefer scored only 5% on Missouri First's Constitutional Integrity Score Card.

 

Secretary of State Race (Go to Top)

I don't have a lot to say about this race. In my opinion both the major candidates fail the justice and fairness in campaigning test. As I said, above, Will Kraus is automatically disqualified from my consideration simply because he hired Jeff Roe. His ads have been typical of Jeff Roe tactics – short on substance and long on shady facts that are immaterial to the race.

The fact that Will scored only 5% on the Missouri First Constitutional Integrity Score Card, does not help.

Jay Ashcroft has not been innocent of campaign injustice. For instance, one ad conjured up a vote will made while in the House of representatives 8 or more years ago – a vote on one amendment to a bill, no less – and on that vote claimed that Kraus supported Medicaid expansion. Not only is that unjust, it makes you wonder if his opponent isn't so bad if you have to dig that deep to find something bad to say about him.

I will not vote for either of the gentlemen. Perhaps if I can find out more about Roi Chinn I'll case a protest vote for him.

 

Well, those are my picks, based on what I know about these individuals and the climate in Jefferson City. Please make and informed choice when you vote -- a lot depends on this election!

For liberty,

- Ron Calzone

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