Republicans should consider Gerard Bowen, Jr.

Gerard Bowen, Jr. is the best, and probably the least known, of the Republican candidates for the 4th District congressional seat. He is possibly the best candidate of either party. Qualifying is next week, and we still have two months to go until the first Republican primary on September 6.
As opposed to the other Republican candidates, Dr. John Fleming, Jeff Thompson and Chris Gorman, Bowen stands out as someone who more closely holds the values of our founding fathers, and one who would fight to protect our rights.
Remember that Benjamin Franklin said that anyone who would trade their liberty for security deserves neither.
We have traded too much liberty, and our representatives (of both parties) have been part and parcel of this outrage. If we don't preserve the rights that our forefathers fought for, nothing else matters.
A good example is the Patriot Act. After 9-11, both parties were anxious to retaliate, and understandably so. At some point that retaliation got off track and became a fool's mission to reform the entire middle east, except for the country where most of the terrorists came from, Saudi Arabia. The so-called Patriot Act was voted in, supposedly to help with this effort, and our rights were compromised.
I know, it sounds good, the Patriot Act, who wouldn't support that?
You can put lipstick on a pig, dress her up and take her to the prom, but she is still a pig.
Bowen has stated that he would not vote to make the Patriot Act permanent. That's a big check-mark by his name.
This is a candidate who truly believes that smaller government is beneficial to all of the people. Bowen says "Oil is traded world-wide in US Dollars. Therefore the price of a barrel of oil goes up as the value of the dollar decreases. We need to start putting a big dent in the $9.5 trillion national debt, so that our dollar is worth something to the rest of the world."
Another check mark.
Bowen would stand up to the powers that be and would not sell us out with political deals to increase his own power. A lot of candidates give lip service but when the rubber meets the road, they vote party line, and that always means that the people are paying through the nose in one way or another.
Consider Jim McCrery, our retiring congressman. McCrery is the ranking member of the House Ways and Means committee, and would have been chairman if the Republicans hadn't messed up so badly that the people threw them out of power in both houses of congress.
To McCrery and his ilk, the ways and means simply means that government has the ways, and the people have the means. In Washington, there are a lot of ways - but only one means.
Dr. Fleming, Jeff Thompson, and Chris Gorman are estimable individuals. They are just the wrong answer for our state and our nation at this time. We don't need another cookie-cutter party politician representing our district. For example, Chris Gorman told the State Central Committee that he is a Bobby Jindal Conservative. This as Jindal was in the process of lying to the legislature about lying to the people. That's enough for me. I don't much like Bobby Jindal conservatives. They aren't conservative.
On the Democratic side, John Milkovich is clearly one who would protect our rights. I may sound like a broken record, but this is important. Anytime you surrender a tiny portion of your freedom to the government, it is gone forever. Washington, Jefferson and Madison warned us of this. We should listen.
Paul Carmouche hasn't given us enough to work with. We want to know where he stands on the issues, but apparently he is not ready to tell us.
We have two months to make a terribly important decision. If you are a registered Republican and will be voting in the primary, please give Gerard Bowen your ear. Look at the candidates, not only at what they say, but at what you believe they will do once in power.
Franklin also said, in answer to a question as he left Constitution hall, 'we have given you a republic - if you can keep it."
Let us all work together not only to keep it, but to restore it to what it once was.
Consider Gerard Bowen.