Mark Sanford, why do you support him or NOT support him?

[trey4sports]

I am really perpleed at all this praise for Sanford here on RPF, and I have no clue why.Ive seen nothing that would make me think he is worthy of the liberty movement.

please explain WHY you support Sanford or DONT support Sanford (at this point in time) in this thread

[Original_Intent]

I don't know enough about him. If Ron Paul endorsed him I would give him serious consideration for any position he sought.

[RSLudlum]

I'm supporting him right now as the governor of my state with the only sane voice on the economy in our state government right now. As far as a presidential run, I really don't know if I would support him.

[satchelmcqueen]

until paul says "no i wont run again for sure" than im with ron paul

however if he doesnt run again ild seriously consider who ever he supports or endorses.

[He Who Pawns]

Sanford needs to come clean about his stance on the failed federal drug war, IMO.

[Brian4Liberty]

He seems to be a fiscal conservative. More so than any other Governor...

[Kotin]

I support him because he has a great track record of being a strong fiscal conservative.. he does not believe in preemptive war.. from what I have seen I believe he would be open to ending the drug war(I could be wrong, however) I like the fact that he refused some of the bailout funds..


remember.. few if anyone will ever be able to stand up to the standards of Ron Paul..

[max]

i'm concerned about sanford being invited to last year's Bildeberger meeting.....doesnt necessarily make hm one the inner core....but he could be naive about it

[trey4sports]

from what I have seen I believe he would be open to ending the drug war(I could be wrong, however)


not to be condescending but what makes you think this? the only thing ive ever seen him say about the drug war is that we shouldnt prosecute phelps. are you sure you think he will end the drug war or do you just want him too so bad that you think he will?

[MRoCkEd]

I like him. I think he'd be the kind of guy where I wouldn't go crazy campaigning for, but would vote for. This is assuming there is no better candidate in the race like Ron Paul.

[Invalid]

I'll support him the primary, but maybe I'll vote Libertarian or Constitutional party in the general election if they have a good candidate. I'm a "cut and run" republican.

Unless Paul runs! hehe

[tmg19103]

Here's the thing - I don't think anybody is immune to the corruption of power that comes trying to be elected president and then being president - except Ron Paul.

Look at Obama. He has already broken more "promises" than you can shake a stick at and he has demonsrated he is no doubt part and parcel of the establishment, but we already knew that.

I can't see anybody being elected president in the near term who is not part of the establishment.

The question with a guy like Sanford is - will he stick to the principles that make him appealing to some now if he were elected president, or would he mostly fold to the power and pressure?

I don't know Sanford well enough yet to answer that. I like his fiscal conservative views. I don't really like his religious right stance, but you do need that to win as a Republican.

It would be nice to have a candidate to actually vote for on the GOP side.

I hope it is Ron Paul, but if not I hope the choice for president is someone I can actually cast a vote for, as opposed to someone likeMcSane - but I'm not going to hold my breath.

However, I'll keep fighting the good fight in the trenches.

[Invalid]

Or we could knock off Jim Bunning in Kentucky, and then we'd have Rand as a heavy hitter too.

Low odds on that but who knows.

[Xenophage]

So far I've only heard Sanford say good things, and I've only read reports of him doing good things.

[Eric21ND]

What his stance on the drug war?

I'm open to voting for him, although I wouldn't be excited enough to campaign or donate to him.

[Elwar]

Mark Sanford voted for the Barr Amendment. This made it so that a vote that was already over in Washington DC to legalize medical marijuana was silenced. They actually had to go in and white out the results after Barr's initiative passed.

Why do people support him because he's a fiscal conservative? So...he's like 80% of the other Republicans?

But is he truly fiscally conservative? Does he want to get rid of the income tax? Or just replace it with a sales tax? Does he want to get rid of Social Security? Or just work on some sort of privatization? Does he want to get rid of most federal agencies, the department of energy, education, etc? Or just not increase spending by too much?

And on the social side? We already know he's all about keeping pot illegal, what other civil liberties does he want to trample?


He supports affirmative action in public employment and state contracting.
Supports laws to tie the hands of parole boards.
Minors should be prosecuted as adults if the crime is violent.
Voted against giving habeas corpus in death penalty appeals.
Voted against withdrawing from the WTO.
Voted Yes for "Fast Track" giving the president more authority in trade agreements.
Voted for the Campaign Finance Reform Act which put restrictions on free speech.
Voted against reducing tax payments on Social Security benefits.


Sanford was receiving a commission in the USAF Reserve as an officer. But when the war was about to start he claimed that since he was a governor he couldn't be deployed...then when that didn't work he ended up having a bad back.

[ChaosControl]

He isn't ideal, but he meets the minimum criteria I would set to vote for someone.
I'd still obviously prefer Paul, but I'd vote Sanford if he is the nominee.

In the end, fiscal positions are by far the most important to me. So as long as someone is good on those I will at least give them consideration. I want drugs legalized and the government out of social issues, but those are not make or break deals for me.

[mconder]

until paul says "no i wont run again for sure" than im with ron paul

Ron Paul will be like 78. I don't have a problem putting someone 90 in office as long as they can do the job and their running mate is a clone of principled goodness. I just think the American people are too into young and not enough about wise.

[MrRichardson]

I can say this, I sure as well wish he was my governor right now. Hell just about anyone would be better than that ass-clown Jay Nixon we have in office right now. With that said I don't think I'd ever vote for him to become president. There's just too many little things here and there that I don't agree with him on.

[Bradley in DC]

When he served in the House, he was very close with Dr. Paul.

As governor, he's stood up to Bush on national ID, bailouts, pre-emptive war, etc.

[Paulitician]

Not.

[Truth Warrior]

Single word: BILDERBERG!

[Elwar]

He isn't ideal, but he meets the minimum criteria I would set to vote for someone.
I'd still obviously prefer Paul, but I'd vote Sanford if he is the nominee.

In the end, fiscal positions are by far the most important to me. So as long as someone is good on those I will at least give them consideration. I want drugs legalized and the government out of social issues, but those are not make or break deals for me.

A politician who is pro-liberty just on fiscal positions exposes his lack of principle.

A consistent No vote against big government shows principles. An occassional No vote shows someone willing to have slightly bigger government in return for some short term political benefits.

I cannot get excited about another politician with no principles. Would I prefer Sanford to Obama...sure...would I vote for him? Only if the Libertarian candidate is another Bob Barr.

[r33d33]

Sanford is against the embargo on Cuba
He voted against the Real ID act in 2005
He is against pre-emptive war
He was against criminalizing Phelps
And he has been spoken out against the federal reserve.

I can provide links to any of the above information if needed. I'd support Ron Paul and Gary Johnson over Sanford but if neither of them are in, I'd vote for Sanford.

[Elwar]

I'd vote for Sanford.

But would you campaign for him? (make signs for him, stand on street corners for him, participate in grassroots efforts for him)

[r33d33]

But would you campaign for him? (make signs for him, stand on street corners for him, participate in grassroots efforts for him)

I'd campaign for him pending on the people who he surrounds himself with, he does have a relationship with Dr. Paul, how close are they? I haven't had a clue. I'm sure Dr. Paul would only say nice things about him.

If he takes a stance against drug the war and is critical of the federal reserve during his campaign with all else being equal on his current positions, I probably would.