Post Campaign Thoughts - Part II

Continued from Part I:

From the outset, Curtis would tell me that our prayer needed to be that God would breathe life into what we were doing, that we would stay behind Him and let Him either give life to what we were doing and find favor with it, or we would know that it was not meant to be. In earlier blogs I described to you instances that reveal the true godly character of Curtis, one titled “Observations Worth Considering” and another entitled “Conjecture Or The Rule of Law”. I encourage you to take the time to read those, not so you can find out more about Curtis, but rather so you can see what kind of traits you should look for in a candidate.

When it became clear to the other candidates that the Bostic campaign was beginning to surge, things began to happen that one should I guess expect in a political campaign but nevertheless became a real eye opener for me. We began to take fire, lots of fire. Polling told us we were climbing through the ranks, but the heat from the other top tier candidates was an even greater indicator. I have always considered facts and truth to be fair game to use against another candidate. But probably the most difficult thing for me was to watch flat out lies and mischaracterizations being hurled at my friend. What was even harder to take was the source of most of it, definitely not where I expected it to be coming from. Politics and the quest for power can bring out the worst in individuals and I got to see it firsthand. Conversely, from our side we did everything we could to just run on our record and let the chips fall where they may. It is difficult to do that when the record is continually distorted and you don’t have the means to use media to combat it the way that the other larger political machines could do.

At the outset of our campaign, we were given little to no chance of making much of an impact. I learned a tremendous amount about running a campaign for elected office. Candidates that I thought were men of integrity at the outset, severely let me down with their action when they came under pressure or perceived that they saw the election slipping away from them.

As for me, I have given the last 15 years of so of my life pouring my time and passion into teaching and mentoring high school kids about the United States Constitution and limited government from a biblical worldview. In the last few years I have developed courses and seminars to be taught in churches or other local activist groups so that adults that have never been taught these “1^st Principles” of the founders can be equipped to elect good, constitutional, limited government candidates and so they can have the knowledge and understanding to hold them accountable once they are in office.

I knew what Curtis stood for and I knew that we shared the same heartbeat for bringing our nation back to the Rule of Law. I stood shoulder to shoulder with a man of enormous integrity in the face of withering personal attack. The undertone in a lot of this attack was nothing more than anti-religious bigotry, although those that perpetrated it would probably never admit it. It’s almost as if today, we see so little of what people like Curtis Bostic represent, we see so very little of it, that when it shows up, people feel like it’s just too good to be true and have to tear it down.

I’m disappointed that we lost an opportunity to elect someone with what I consider to be the most important qualities necessary for federal elected office; strong biblical worldview, mastery of the United States Constitution, and the rock solid integrity to execute the office that would be entrusted to him. Before we wrapped things up at the campaign office  this past Tuesday night, Curtis asked me if I would do it all over again. Without hesitation, I told him that I would. Our Constitution, our nation, and our hard fought liberties are worth our time, efforts, resources, and toil.

There are a few people you meet in life that you know you could charge the gates of hell with using a water pistol; Curtis Bostic is one of them. It was an honor to team with Curtis in this campaign. In my opinion, for whatever its worth, he might have been one of the best candidates for federal office I have seen in my lifetime. If I have one regret it would be that I was unable to convince more people of that fact.

Post Campaign Thoughts - Part I

It was a little over three months ago that I determined that it was not the right time for me to run for Congress and that I would, at the request of my friend Curtis Bostic, team with him to help him become the next United States Congressman from the 1^st Congressional District of South Carolina, the seat previously held by our mutual friend, now Senator Tim Scott.

You can read all about the events leading up to that day by reading my previous blogs in recent weeks. What I want to do here is paint somewhat of a picture of what has happened since then.  When Curtis and I determined to team up for this run, we had been friends for about six or seven years. Over the last three months, through the good pleasure of our great God, a deeper friendship has been forged in the trenches of an extremely fast paced political campaign that was sometimes exhausting, but more oftentimes a blessed experience. From the first meeting we had together, Curtis made it very clear that he wanted a true teammate, the joining of our skills, our expertise, our love for Christ, our desire to return our nation to the Rule of Law under the United States Constitution, and our like-mindedness of vision for what the founders intended for a member of the “People’s House”. It was absolutely amazing to watch God work out his ways in the building of a true grassroots effort of the people, people with the same vision.

People from literally all over the district came to join this effort, people we had never met before that saw what I saw, the opportunity to put up a superb “peoples” candidate. From Charleston to Beaufort, people were energized for the opportunity to help elect Curtis Bostic. Over 50 local pastors from all over the district were bold enough to openly individually endorse Curtis Bostic. Think about that, think about what it means about a candidates integrity and reputation when that many pastors are willing to place their reputations on the line to make a statement about a candidate for political office.

Early on, we knew that we needed to develop a true grassroots effort. In a field of 16, our strategy quickly became clear; we needed to get in front of people, lots of people. With that in mind we devised a strategy to get into people’s homes, living rooms, and community centers. We attended as many of the forums as we could, but frankly…we quickly realized that those were nice, but most of the time the same people showed up…and it was very obvious most already had their minds made up. On advice from our mutual friend, a certain United States Senator, we made a tactical decision to forego a few of the smaller events and focus on getting into homes and in front of everyday people. In essence, bypass the political machinery, and take our message straight to the voters and everyday folks. That is, “grassroots” grassroots if you will. Scores of awesome volunteers opened their homes and invited hundreds of friends, neighbors, and family members to come out and meet the candidate. We published these events on our facebook page and on our webiste. Some groups were small, some were large, but we did this almost every night of the week for three months, and we did it as a team. Curtis would explain his positions and answer questions and with my passion for Biblical Worldview and the United States Constitution, I would talk to the people about the unique qualification of this candidate. People got to meet the candidate in person and get their own questions answered without having to depend on a moderator asking their question. We were criticized heavily for this, some of the other candidates that realized what was happening, began to grumble about us and then started to float the idea that “Bostic is avoiding the forums and avoiding answering questions”. The funny thing is that the exact opposite was true; because of the dozens and dozens of drop-ins and meet and greets, no candidate was more accessible to the masses and answered more direct questions from voters than Curtis Bostic. Anyone and everyone that wanted to find out about Curtis positions were able to find an event to attend to meet the candidate and ask him their own questions.

In a campaign with an unprecedented 16 candidates, it was certain from the outset that there would be no clear winner with over 50% vote in the primary, so everyone knew there would be a runoff.  The polling suggested that Gov Sanford would be a lock for the 1^st position, the same polling however showed him vulnerable in a runoff. The Bostic campaign was written off very early and given little chance to make the 2^nd position, in fact most political pundits cast us as a 2^nd and in some cases a 3rd tier candidate. Therefore, we considered if we could find a way to get a 2^nd place finish, it would be a huge win for us and we felt confident that we had a good shot of beating Gov Sanford in the runoff.

To be continued in Part II....

Election Day Thoughts

Just over three months ago, on a Saturday morning, the Saturday before Christmas to be exact, I saw a notification come up on facebook announcing that Curtis Bostic was considering a run for Congress in the recently vacated seat for the 1^st Congressional District. It caught my attention for two reasons, first, I had already announced to many of my circle of friends that I was considering running for this seat, and secondly, Curtis Bostic is a friend of mine who holds what I would consider to be the three very most important qualifications for holding federal office. Without hesitation or thinking, I reached for my phone and dialed his number. Curtis picked up the phone on the other end and after exchanging greetings, I asked him if he was serious about running for this seat. I explained to him that I had also been contemplating a run for this seat. We talked that day about both of us running and committed to begin to pray for each other. He and I discussed the possibilities of both of us running…incredible if you stop and think about it…two potential candidates speaking openly about their strategies…but that’s the level of trust we have come to have in each other. For the next three weeks we discussed this many times and continued to pray for each other, truly for a decision that it would be led by the Lord. That was the desire of both our hearts.

After much prayer, thinking, and seeking some very wise counsel, Patti and I came to the conclusion that God was making it clear to us that the timing was not right for me to run in this election. I had known Curtis for about six years; and have known him to be a Godly and wise man with an incredible heart for serving God. When Curtis told me that he was considering this race, I immediately knew that if I determined not to run, he was the ONLY person that I could energetically and enthusiastically support. Those of you that know me know that I have been speaking out very forcefully about the need to make sure we DO NOT elect anyone to federal office that does not have the basic requirements. I have made the case to you that these requirements include what I refer to as a command understanding of the United States Constitution, the framers intent of Limited Government, and the Christian Worldview that is needed to put it all together for service under the Rule of Law. I want you to know that I have spent many hours with Curtis discussing the things that you know are VERY important to me. What I say next I don’t say lightly. Not only is Curtis Bostic the best candidate in this field for this Congressional seat, he is the ONLY candidate in this field that has the entire package of what I have been talking about and teaching about what we need in candidates for federal office.

But I want you to know more about this man and this campaign that I have poured my life (time), fortune (money), and sacred honor (my name) into for over three months now with almost every waking hour of my day beyond my own fulltime job. Many of you don’t know this, but after Patti and I made our decision not to run, Curtis and I met to chart a course forward as a team. It was during that meeting that God solidified the conclusion that Patti and I had made not to run. I sat in Curtis’s office one Saturday morning and my good friend Curtis told me that if I determined to move forward with a campaign, that he would not run. Not only would he not run, he told me that he would “stroke me the first check” for a campaign donation. I was floored. The humility of my friend astounded me. I left there that day and went home still humbled by my friends offer. Later in the afternoon, Curtis called me back up and told me that he wanted to reiterate to me that those were not just words, he told me again that he meant what he said, that if I determined to run, he would not run against me and that he would be the first to offer financial support. It was at that point that God clearly spoke to me. I could take him up on his offer, take his support, and at the end of the race, I could “feel” good about running in a United States congressional campaign, and I would have effectively removed from the running what I have concluded might be the best candidate for federal elected office that I have ever come across.  As stated above, I have been teaching and speaking about what we need as the “right” kind of candidate for a VERY LONG time, so for me to say that someone might be the “best candidate I have seen” is a VERY, VERY strong thing for me to say.

Let me conclude by saying that, during these three months, my conviction about Curtis being the best candidate has been absolutely confirmed. From the time the first distortions, disparaging attacks, and outright lies about my friend began to be aired I have seen my friend again and again, stop and remind me that we would not “return fire”.  We had determined from the outset that we would run this campaign on Curtis record, on his name and integrity and let the chips fall where they may. There have been times where we were on the road campaigning, and we would stop to pray and I have heard my friend praying for his opponents. When the attacks ramped up, we would have been well justified to set the record straight and expose the perpetrator. We both knew that we would have been entirely justified in doing so. Curtis would tell me “Bob, we can’t do that and keep a clean heart before God”. He simply felt that even though we would be justified in exposing the truth, he was concerned about what would be “in our hearts” when we did it.

I could go on and on with event after event where I have witnessed firsthand the character and integrity of my friend Curtis Bostic, but I will leave it at that. Curtis would be the first one to tell you that he is only a man, a fallen man, and no different from the rest of us. But friends, character matters, integrity matters, and when the pressures come from those that would disregard and hold our United States Constitution in contempt; I want this man representing me as our United States Congressman.

Whatever happens at the end of the day, we will hold our heads high tomorrow and give praise to almighty God for his marvelous works. To Him be the Glory!

Living Life Upside Down

"A sample of Mars drilled from a rock by NASA's Curiosity rover and then studied by onboard instruments "shows ancient Mars could have supported living microbes," NASA officials announced Tuesday in a statement and press conference."

Ok, so let me get this straight, so we're supposed to get excited about the remote possibility that maybe...somehow....some kinda way...there "might have been" a microbe on a planet that is 33.9 million miles away from us. But at the same time, we have fully formed little children, that just happen to be growing in the womb....separated from us by just a few centimeters of flesh and we not only dont get excited about them...we celebrate the butchery of them....and call it "personal choice".

Tell me we are not living life upside down.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/03/12/mars-could-have-supported-life-nasa-says/

Conjecture or The Rule of Law?

Periodically I have taken the time after one of our Bostic for Congress campaign events to write a little about what I observed to kind of give you an idea of why I am working with Curtis. Last evening at one of our drop in events I observed a perfect example of why Curtis Bostic is the best candidate by far for us to elect as our next Congressman to represent the 1st Congressional District of South Carolina. An individual asked Curtis a question about his views on gun control.  This is where there is CRYSTAL CLEAR separation between Curtis Bostic and ALL the other candidates in this Special Election.  I'm not necessisarily  referring to his pro 2nd Amendment position, becuase most of the candidates are or at least purport to be pro 2^nd Amendment. Coincidentally, I might add...it's rather silly for us to even say someone is "pro 2nd Amendment" because it really doesn’t matter if someone is “pro 2^nd Amendment” or not.  The 2nd Amendment is part of our nations Rule of Law.  The United States Constitution (which includes all 27 Amendments) is not supposed to be subject to the whims of men.  The reason I stated above that this is where we find CRYSTAL CLEAR separation between Curtis and the other candidates has more to do with his understanding and ability to accurately articulate the principles behind this liberty to those that do not have understanding in this area or any other constitutional area for that matter. This issue really goes to the core of our campaign and what we believe.

Curtis answered this individuals question by explaining that he would probably lose their vote once they heard his answer, but that he was going to tell her the truth of his position. Folks, I’ve been out on these events almost every night for the last two and a half months and I have seen the other candidates in action. Many will tailor their answers to questions like this to whichever audience they are talking to….the clear mark of a politician.  This individual tonight wanted to know what Curtis’s “thoughts” were pertaining to banning certain firearms and certain types of firearm magazines in response to recent events. I put the word “thoughts” in quotations for a reason. I want you to see something that I notice very often on the campaign trail and at candidate events and what I hear from the other candidates.  People want to know what they “think” of this issue or what they “think” of that issue.  Now, I’m not implying that there is not a place for having thoughtful positions on important issues.  We need to have well thought out positions on the issues.  However, when the issue in question is an issue that is already settled in the Rule of Law (Constitution), then it’s really not up for debate or conjecture what anyone’s “thoughts” are on that issue. The only way we can have a discussion about our “thoughts” on an issue that is already enumerated in the Constitution is if we are having a discussion about changing something through the deliberative process outlined in the Article V process for amendments.

I listened tonight as Curtis explained all of this to this individual and explained that as a United States Congressman, his oath and therefore his responsibility would be to uphold the Rule of Law. This fact is either completely lost on most in office today or they simply have no regard for that fact.  In this field of 16 candidates I have heard all of these candidates many times over…and none of these candidates has this grasp of the principles of liberty like Curtis does. Indeed, I can honestly say that few have any grasp of this at all because I have heard them explain their positions and in most cases those positions are more in tune with their “thoughts”, “ideas”, and conjecture more than they are with the principles and enumerated powers outlined in the federal Constitution.

Friends, first principles, the principles of Liberty and the United States Constitution are in my "wheelhouse", this is my expertise...so I know it when I see it.  This is why I am teamed with Curtis Bostic...not simply because he is my good friend, indeed there is another candidate in this race that is a friend of mine. I'm teamed with Curtis because I am convinced that he is exactly the type of candidate that we MUST elect if we want any chance at pushing this government back inside its constitutional fence. We have a rare candidate for this Congressional seat in the 1^st District of South Carolina right now, men like Curtis Bostic that have a grasp of these first principles and mastery of our Constitution coupled with rock solid integrity are very hard to find these days.  The ability to articulate these principles is crucial for a congressman in order to be able to explain it to his colleagues in the United States Congress as well as the citizens of the 1^st District.

Let’s get it right on March 19^th, vote for Curtis Bostic to be the next Congressman from the 1^st Congressional District of South Carolina.

Observations Worth Considering

Ok, going to write something here that will risk some folks taking it the wrong way, but I believe in giving Glory to God in all things so I will share this little anecdote with you. Most of you that read my stuff on facebook and my blog know that I am teamed with my friend Curtis Bostic to help get him elected to Congress. For those of you that may not know Curtis well, but wonder why I am working so hard for him, permit me to share.  I have already told you about the fact that this guy has great integrity, he has great command of the Biblical Worldview, and he has great command of the United States Constitution. What you may not know about him is his walk with Christ.  If you’re not interested in that, stop reading now. But if you are, let me share with you what I observed recently up close.

Curtis and I were in another city nearby for a campaign visit where we would be meeting with a large group of folks and where Curtis would get a chance to share his testimony and a little about himself. We stopped in abandoned parking lot so that we could pray and ask God to go before us, and to ask him what we always ask him, to breathe life into our efforts and to help us to be thankful no matter how things turn out in the end. So we pull over and begin to pray, and my friend starts praying for the other candidates that we are running against. That God would bless them. Then we get this opportunity for him to speak about his testimony and about himself and about our campaign for Congress. He had a limited amount of time with these folks. He shares how he came to Christ and then spends the rest of the time sharing the life giving message of salvation with these guys.  He knew that he was eating up the time he had allotted and would not be able to talk about the congressional campaign but he spent all of his time telling that group about how they can have a relationship with Christ. He simply told me afterward that he sensed that there were folks in the room that did not know Christ and that he had to tell them and that was more important than our campaign. I’m telling you all of that because otherwise you would never hear about it. Just he and I praying, and he getting his opportunity to speak about the campaign. And he will never tell you he did that.

Friends, Curtis Bostic is the kind of guy that will obey his oath…that’s why I share this with you. Those of you who know me, YOU know how SICK and TIRED I am of sending representatives to Washington D.C. that place their left hand on a bible, then raise their right hand and take an oath to submit to the highest law of our nation, the United States Constitution. Then they summarily dismiss or ignore that oath.

Christian brothers and sisters, I will make no bones about it, we have a unique opportunity to elect a guy that “gets it” on the Biblical Worldview, he “gets it” on the United States Constitution and the Rule of Law, and friends…this guy “gets it” on his priorities and allegiance. Don’t fall for the idea that someone has to have some specific prior “experience” with the system or politics, have we not had ENOUGH of that to make us want to puke already??

Let’s “get it” right and not miss this opportunity to vote for a candidate that has the right qualifications.

Oversight vs Liberty

Those of you that know me know that I have been teaching Constitutional Law and American Government to home high schoolers now for almost 15 years. Indeed I have taught over 120 students my year long course in that span of time, many of them your kids.

Permit me to explain some Constitutional principle, and what we call “First Principles” to you, and if I might use a now overused descriptor, let me “unpack” a bigger issue surrounding something that one of our state representatives said yesterday. This particular state representative made the following statement in response to a query about legislation (H3478) introduced on 2/5/13 that will eviscerate a large portion of South Carolina’s homeschooling statute. He stated the following: "The issue with the third option is that of the three options available it has very little oversight". Friends, this statement is fraught with HUGE problems. I suspect that he is just parroting the word “oversight” that I hear is being used by the primary sponsor of H3478.

The founders of our nation unequivocally intended the default position on government to be towards liberty, not against it.  In other words, liberty is assumed, and constrainment and regulation of the people’s liberty is to be the exception. We see this in the construct of the United States Constitution and it is woven throughout the fabric of our Republic and the Rule of Law.

So when the sponsors of this bill or any other like it for that matter use the word "oversight" what they really mean is "Government Control". His use of that word and his reasoning highlight his absolute and utter misunderstanding of liberty and the intent of the founders. The United States Constitution by its very design was constructed to constrain the government, not the people. Indeed, one of my favorite quotes of Jefferson is when he refers to the Constitution as a set of chains on government (“Put not your faith in men, but bind them down with the chains of the constitution”.)

You see friends, the founders/framers of our great nation and its chartering and governing documents REALLY understood human nature and the desire of men to control other men. They set up a system wherein GOVERNMENT would be constrained by “oversight”, to use the representative’s word. The founders/framers view was quite the opposite of what we hear from this state representative and frankly most elected officials today. The founders/framers view was to weight everything on the side of liberty…and then create a Rule of Law (Constitution) to RESTRAIN government.

Now, to be clear, I’m not just trying to pick on him, but since these were his words, it really made me think about the broader issue that I have been speaking about over and over again lately especially as I have teamed up with my friend Curtis Bostic to help elect him as our next United States Congressman from the 1^st Congressional district of South Carolina. This issue would be the qualifications that we use to select our representation. Friends, the truth of the matter is this, the pool of candidates that really understand, and I mean REALLY understand First Principles is very small today. We continue to elect men like that representative I mentioned above to office with absolutely NO understanding of the principles of liberty and limited government. This is evidenced by their visceral reaction to something they know nothing about, to curtail liberty. In this case it’s far beyond curtailment, its out and out elimination of an entire statute of law created to codify parental rights in the state of South Carolina.

Since 1996, literally tens of thousands of South Carolinians have homeschooled their children under the statute known by most of us as Option 3. Tens of thousands of kids educated under the auspices of their parents have been educated at home with absolute success, have gone on to excel in College and University settings and are now productive members of society. I remember the day my eldest daughter came home from school after her first week attending Charleston Southern University (on full scholarship I might add) and told me what she had observed in just one week; public schooled students that had no work ethic, students that had no idea what their assignments were, that had no clue what a syllabus was and how to use it, needed to have their hands held for just about every little detail of an assignment. I don’t say that to disparage the public school system, they don’t need my help in that; I do say it now to make a point and to add some personal context to what I am saying. The success of homeschoolers is so well documented that I have no intention of wasting any more space here to reiterate it.

I mention those tens of thousands of successfully homeschooled students to make the following point. This state representative also went on to say that because of what he called lack of oversight; he cited two instances of some sort of abuse. So you see what he’s doing here folks, he’s taking anecdotal examples, of which he provides no context other than “abuse”, or if it even was related to homeschooling, and he takes those examples and uses them to make the case that the General Assembly needs to wipe out liberty for thousands of South Carolinians that are successfully educating their children at home and producing well rounded, WORKING citizens for our society. Friends, do you see the problem with that? The absolute worst thing a legislator can do is legislate away the people’s codified liberty in pursuit of fixing either a nonexistent problem or a problem that is the exception and not the rule.

Let me return to the discussion about First Principles. The 9^th and 10^th Amendments to the United States Constitution work together to enable the states to retain the vast majority of powers and to enable the states to “codify” (make statutory law) certain rights that the citizenry of those states thought necessary for their state. This is also linked to the principle of Federalism whereby the states would be sovereign to make laws that would protect specific liberties not specifically enumerated (listed) in the Federal Constitution.

In 1992 and 1996 respectively, the citizenry after years of threats and persecution, families that wanted to direct the education of their children won very hard fought victories to codify into state law the statutes that give us two of the best laws in the entire 50 states pertaining to Home Education. Those two statutes known in the actual state code of laws as 59-65-45 (Option 2/SCHAIS) and 59-65-47 (Option 3/Association of 50 or more members) provide great liberty to South Carolinians to determine what is the best course of action for them in the education of their children. These laws were hard fought victories folks, victories that codified our liberty.

The reasons for this frontal assault on our liberty is mostly driven by money friends, usually always is. In this case it stems directly from the fact that every child in South Carolina that is not under the public school system costs the state of South Carolina federal dollars. The state gets federal dollars for education based on the number of students enrolled. So when some legislators come along with an axe to grind against Homeschoolers for whatever reason, it needs to be answered at first by educating them as to the fact that we understand our liberty, we understand the founders intent for our liberty, and we understand that our founders intended for our elected officials to defend that liberty, not attack it. These legislators need to understand that only as a last resort, do you turn to restrictive measures against the liberties of the citizenry, especially the fundamental right of parents to direct the education of their children. But if they don’t get this message, they need to know with no uncertainty that we are amassing literal ARMY of opposition the likes of which they have not seen, and they better count the political cost VERY carefully before deciding to forge ahead on the legislative field of battle.