WHAT I THINK....MURRAY SABRIN

TWO HUNDRED years after the Declaration of Independence was signed, a Republican physician from Texas was chosen by the voters in his district to head to Congress in a special election. Of course, 1976 was a presidential year, and incumbent President Gerald Ford was actively working to shore up support from the Republican Party to earn the party's nomination for a new term.

So Ford called this freshman congressman into the Oval Office, congratulated him on his victory in the special election and then asked the young doctor for his support in the Republican presidential primary.

"I'm sorry, Mr. President," said the man in 1976, "but I cannot support you. I am backing Ronald Reagan."

That courageous man was Ron Paul, and now, 32 years later, he himself is seeking the Republican nomination for president of the United States. And the platform on which Paul is running would make Ronald Reagan proud, because it represents a return to the limited government principles that made the Republican Party great, and can make it successful again.

Paul calls himself a "champion of the Constitution." His record in Washington, where his votes against runaway federal government spending have earned him the nickname "Dr. No," shows that he is more an heir to the legacy of Reagan than any other candidate running for president.

Quite simply, Paul does not equivocate on the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. He forcefully rejected the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform package, which trampled on our political free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment. He has been one of the most strident advocates of Americans' Second Amendment gun rights and a steadfast defender of the Fourth Amendment, voting against the depredations of the American people's privacy by the federal government.

Paul has also been the most vocal critic in Congress of the Federal Reserve's "legalized counterfeiting." Since the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, the U.S. dollar has lost more than 90 percent of its purchasing power. And since 1971, when President Nixon ended the last link between the dollar and gold, the U.S. dollar has lost about 80 percent of its value.

To some, that may sound like complicated economic theory. But it's actually quite simple. When we live beyond our means as a nation, we must borrow money from others to make ends meet. When we can't borrow any more, and our government lacks the courage to cut spending, we have no choice but to just print more money.

Sooner or later, this causes the price of goods to increase, especially imports, and the middle class will be squeezed.

President Paul will not allow that to happen.

Paul served this country for five years in the Air Force during the Cold War. So he is strongly attuned to the need for a formidable national defense. That is why he voted in favor of invading Afghanistan in 2001, in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, and why he wants all terrorists brought to justice.

He will never compromise the integrity of America's borders, and has taken a hard line against illegal immigration, calling for an end to benefits for those who enter this country illegally.

Paul believes that if we continue to subsidize illegal immigration, we will invariably get more of it.

So if you miss the principles of Reagan that made the Republican Party so strong, and you believe that we need a president who will restore the federal government to its constitutional size, then Paul is the only choice.

He backed Reagan in 1976 because he foresaw the great legacy in advance – America prospers when government gets out of the way and allows the wealth and talents of the American people to flourish. Ron Paul is the only Republican who has recaptured that spirit, and that is why he is our best hope for president.