Posted 08/29/08

Candidates Deserving of Our Support

Well, this campaign season has certainly become a lot more interesting in the last several weeks. The selection of Sarah Palin for V.P. has infused new life into the McCain campaign and given many conservatives, including myself, hope that the Republican party has not completely lost its conservative moorings. But even if that fails to excite you in the presidential race that doesn't mean we should neglect to become both excited and involved in campaigns where true conservatives are running. In addition to several state representative and state senate races, there are two statewide races for which I hope every home school family in Michigan will, in some way, become involved.

First, if you are not already aware, current Republican State Representative Jack Hoogendyk will be running for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Carl Levin. I've known Jack both as a State Rep. and as a fellow home school dad for a number of years and know he is a true conservative in every sense of the word. But don't just take my word for it. Go to Jack's web site www.jackformichigan.org and read about his background, his family and his accomplishments. Then check out where Jack stands on the issues. You'll find that Jack's conservative stand on the important issues of our day matches your stand. Finally, I'd like to strongly encourage you to click on the "Get Involved" link and volunteer to do whatever you can in your community to help Jack defeat Carl Levin in November. This is a modern day David and Goliath battle in the making. Senator Levin has a $4.4 million dollar campaign war chest while Jack still has very limited funds. But, like David who had just five smooth stones from a brook, I'm hoping Jack will have the massive statewide impact of thousands of homeschool families leading the way with countless grassroots efforts to get-out-the-vote. I'm sure Jack would also greatly appreciate your donation to his campaign, no matter how small.

Second, current Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, Clifford Taylor, will be running for re-election to the Michigan Supreme Court. The current makeup of the State Supreme Court is a narrow 4-3 judicial conservative majority. If Chief Justice Taylor should happen to lose this election the court would become a 4-3 activist (liberal) majority. The non-partisan part of the ballot usually gets little media attention, so people don't typically take time to investigate the candidates to determine who best represents their values and interests. Many conservatives won't vote on the non-partisan part of the ballot because they would rather make no choice at all than to make a bad one. Many people contact INCH in each election cycle to see who we would recommend when it comes to the election of judges. I can tell you unequivocally that Chief Justice Taylor deserves both our support and our vote. Again, I encourage you to visit Cliff Taylor's web site at www.clifftaylor.com to become familiar with his record. Be sure to also click the "Get Involved" link and sign up to help spread the word in your community to re-elect Chief Justice Clifford Taylor.

Yes, I will vote for Senator John McCain for president (as I hope you will too) because I shudder to think of the consequences of our country being led by someone as liberal as Senator Barak Obama. But with Representative Hoogendyk and Chief Justice Taylor I find people with whom I'm not only proud to vote for but also proud to promote to others as individuals they should promote and vote for too. Please join with me, and hopefully thousands of home school families across the state of Michigan, to do all we can to help Jack Hoogendyk become our next U.S. Senator from Michigan and to help Cliff Taylor remain the Chief Justice of our Michigan Supreme Court. Start by forwarding this note to your friends, extended family members, church members, etc. Then go to the web site links above and sign up to become involved in and to donate to their campaigns today!

P.S. The opinions expressed represent those of the author only and have not been endorsed by any candidate.

Dennis