When you look at the state of politics today, it really is quite disgusting. Mr. Smith goes to Washington to see how long he can stay, and how much of our money he can spend.  It’s all about that “golden ticket into the Senate”, and then doing whatever it takes to get re-elected every six years; who cares if it’s good for the country (Can you say Mary Landrieu?).

I’m in the middle of reading Sarah Palin’s new book and the story about how she was urged into politics is truly inspiring and should be the reason every politician starts down the road of public service.  She saw that the wants of the people of Wasilla were being ignored by the political cronies and decided she wanted to be part of the group that would ultimately fix that small town in Alaska.  Once in office she went down her list of campaign promises and checked them off as she completed them (one being cutting her own salary).  Are you listening Mr. Obama??  What did that get her; a re-election with over 70% of the vote!  Where are the Sarah Palins of the world?  I can count on one hand the number of politicians that I respect enough to put in her company.  Jim “Term Limits” DeMint is one of them.

I don’t doubt that there are a few good people who get into politics for the right reasons.  However, something happens, even to the good ones.   Over time an almost inexplicable change takes place that is foreign to those of us who are just regular Americans.  Let’s take Mark Sanford as an example.  In 1993 I was living in Charleston, SC and an unknown Mark Sanford decided to run in the 1st Congressional District Republican primary against the well known Deputy General Counsel of the Navy, Van Hipp.  Sanford’s message was so refreshing after two years of the Clinton administration.  He would go to Washington and work hard for fiscal responsibility and would term limit himself to avoid the risk of corruption. During his first days in office he was such a “no-nonsense” guy, he actually slept in his office chambers so he could be at work all of the time.   He kept his promise to be a fiscal hawk, earning a 92% conservative rating, and voted to impeach Clinton calling his behavior reprehensible.  After three terms as representative he returned to South Carolina to mount two successful bids for governor.  Then the wheels fell off.  Anyone who has been near a TV since June knows the story.  The power of politics finally corrupted his soul.  Now, I’m not going to pretend that I know all of the personal details that lead to the fall of Mark Sanford, but I do know that he used the power of his office to commit his “reprehensible” acts. 

We need to get out there and encourage good, moral conservatives to run for office.  We need to fill the “bull pen” so we can term limit all that succumb to the inebriation of power.  Let’s find all of those “Former Mayors of Wasilla” and send them to Washington!