The Voice of Reason: Obama, if you are listening...

Dear President-Elect Obama:

Congratulations on your historic election to the nation's highest office. You ran a very effective campaign, and the people have spoken by choosing you as their commander-in-chief for the next four years. I trust you do not take this responsibility lightly. As you face the most challenging job any American can hold, I wish you well. Of course, you were not my first choice for President-you didn't even make my list. However, let me assure you that as my future President, you have my support.

You have my support, but you do not have my blind allegiance. No candidate ever will. I am much too cynical and analytical to possess blind loyalty for any politician. I will exercise my right to respectfully disagree with you should the occasion arise… and I'm sure it will. You and I disagree on just about every major policy position. However, I promise to respect your office, even though I may disagree with you. Most importantly, I promise to hold you accountable. Leaders who are not kept accountable to the people for their actions will be corrupted quickly. Now that I have given you my support, I would ask for a few things from you.

First, I ask that you uphold the principles that our founders fought to preserve. I ask you to uphold the principle that the government exists to protect the life, liberty, and property of its citizens. I know many Presidents before you have moved away from this principle, but you promise "change," so I believe you can reverse this trend. In protecting life, I urge you to protect all lives-not just lives that society has deemed valuable. In protecting liberty, I urge you to protect the liberty of every citizen. This will not be accomplished by inventing rights (like jobs, housing, or education) but by protecting the liberties that the Constitution affords. In protecting property, I urge you to protect every citizen's property. This will not be accomplished by taking property (money) from one citizen and giving it to another citizen but by preventing the government from engaging in legalized plunder. And in case you, President-Elect Obama, are not a student of philosophers like Frederic Bastiat, legalized plunder is when people use the government to take the property of others. After all, the government should punish plunder-not sponsor it.

Second, I ask that you surround yourself with people who will challenge you. Sure, it would be easy (and well within your right) to choose advisors who will act as yes-men. However, I urge you to choose people who may not think like you do on all the issues. You would go a long way in reassuring Republicans if you would choose some conservatives to act as advisors. The problems facing America are complex problems and will not be solved by excluding differing opinions. Your record does not demonstrate a tendency to reach across the aisle, but I request that you lay aside that record for the sake of my country's future and my future.

Third, I ask that you become a champion of free market capitalism. Many people (myself included) have criticized your proposed policies as being nothing more than a stepping-stone to socialism. I plead with you to prove me wrong. I urge you to utilize free market solutions for many of the problems facing Americans. Don't you believe that the American people can decide how to manage their lives much better than the government can? A bureaucrat who doesn't know my needs or me should not be deciding how I handle my affairs. Give me power-not the government. Empower me by letting me determine my future. Empower me by letting competition and innovation reign in America. Empower me by reducing (or eliminating) bureaucratic interference that eats up my hard-earned tax dollars. I know socialism or socialist-leaning policies are easy to implement…they are currently in vogue nationally and internationally. Please, don't be a populist president. Be a president driven by principle.

Finally, I ask that you honor your Oath of Office when it comes time to appoint federal judges. In January, you will swear (or affirm) to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. You will break your oath if you appoint judges who believe in a living Constitution. You will break your oath if you appoint judges who legislate from the bench (as they are violating the constitutional principle of separation of powers). The Oath of Office is the first promise you make to America as President. Please don't break it.

I again congratulate you on your victory. I entreat all Americans to unite. United we stand, divided we fall. However, Mr. President-Elect, understand this: our support does not equate blind loyalty. We will challenge you. We will disagree with you. We will hold you accountable. Be the hope and change you promised to be-but make sure it is the right hope and the right change. Too many people are counting on you. Don't let us down.

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