With positions such as the desire to institute the draft for the Iraq war, I was not sure if I could consider Michael Smith as a legitimate candidate. Further investigation showed me a man who is as realistic about his candidacy as he is serious about it – neither he nor I fail to recognize that his candidacy is limited to his home state of Oregon.
I commend him as a person for trying to do something, but I can’t endorse him as a candidate.
UPDATE 12/29/06: In case anyone sees this without seeing the comments – Michael Smith has dropped his position of supporting a draft. I think that was a wise move.
David,Thanks for taking a look. After considerable negative feedback on the draft proposal, I realized that my attempt to highlight an issue was not effective. I’ve removed that proposal from my platform, and from the location you found it. I don’t support a draft.I did have some concerns that our volunteer military was not completely representative of all our socio-economic segments, but recent analysis by the Heritage Foundation refutes that notion. I still have some concerns that a national sense of sacrifice doesn’t seem to surround the war on terror, but the volunteer military seems to be even stronger than when I served in the 80’s and early 90’s.Michael Smith, Republican Candidate for President
Michael,Thanks for the update on that issue. Certainly the issue of what kind of military we have and how they are used (or abused as the case may be) is an important one. It’s good that there are those who understand the military from experience and who are vocal about making sure that it is supported and used properly. That was one aspect of your candidacy that I appreciated.