An American for America

 by M. Richard Maxson*

  The year was 1968. The war in Vietnam was raging in full force. There were riots in the streets of major American cities. Assassination of politicians had been controlling this country's future since 1963 and it was an election year. The Democrats were running Hubert Humphrey who was the current vice-president who promised more of the same. This infuriated many which was evident as riots broke outside the Democratic National Convention.
   There was a third party, the American Independent Party who had Gov. George Wallace of Alabama as their candidate. His platform was that of pro-segregation and to returning America to the past.
   The Republicans had a number of candidates with Richard Nixon, Nelson Rockefeller, Ronald Reagan, and the early front-runner George Romney, the father of their current front-runner. George Romney was a  four term Michigan governor who had a fatal problem for a politician, he told the truth!
   Initially a  pro-war candidate he had his suspicions so during the campaign Romney personally went to Vietnam. His return was momentary historic. Romney stated that, unlike the propaganda that the American people were being fed, we were losing the war! Romney told a news reporter that he had been "brainwashed" by the military and the diplomatic corps about the Vietnam war. The remark set off the shadowy American press to destroy his campaign. After weeks of ridicule in the national news media his popularity fell and he dropped out of the presidential race.
   In 1992  under the heading "An American for America," he begged voters to "subordinate their partisan affiliation and economic interests to their God-given responsibility as citizens."Romney offered a 10-point manifesto spelling out in precise language the principles that would return America to greatness.
                                    
                     Still relevant, it should inform his son's campaign.

- Our principal problems are within and not without.

- America's unprecedented success has spawned unprecedented problems; in particular, horrendous social problems.

- Too many of our children are not being educated and trained for the future.

- To remain great we must emphasize politically, economically and socially those basic methods that made us great in the first place.

- It is the individualism that freedom permits that makes superior American teamwork possible.

- It is free competitive enterprise that produces the greatest economic progress — not, primarily, government regulation and control.

- The power of monopolies and excessive special interests stifle education, economic growth and social problem solving.

- It is people helping people, not money, that most effectively solves social problems.

- Excessive reliance on government to solve social problems has become counterproductive.

- No family, no enterprise, no government can continue to spend beyond its income, as we are doing, without becoming dependent, bankrupt or impoverished.

   From father to son, a gift: A message to help Mitt Romney clarify his vision for the country and rally Americans to the simple truths that would set the nation on a better course.

*With thanks to Nolan Finley.