Justin Amash for President in 2020? YES! YES!! YES!!!

Conservative voters — by that I mean conservatives, not the Trump faux conservative Nationalists — were given reason for hope Tuesday when Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI) announced he was forming an exploratory committee to seek the Libertarian Party’s nomination for president.

I’m stoked! If he succeeds in getting the nomination, Amash will give America a legitimate alternative to the tired and broken binary lesser-of-two-evils choice we’re fed every four years by the Republican/Democrat duopoly.

For the faux conservatives and the congregation of worshippers in the Trump cult ready to repeat the worn-out lie about how a third party candidate can’t win, Abraham Lincoln called, and he’s says you’re wrong. And for everyone calling me a bandwagoner, I wrote an article expressing my support of Amash for POTUS in 2020 over a year ago when he was still a member of the Republican Party.

I’m a long-time fan of the congressman and I’ve used him as a source many times over the years. I admire his courageous and unapologetic defense of liberty and how he has boldly held Trump, the GOP, and faux conservatives accountable for violating the trust of the American people and called them out for their cowardice when it comes to protecting and defending the Constitution.

Unlike the last “conservative” to run for president, Gutless On Principles Hall of Shame enshrinee Ted Cruz, Amash has stayed true to his conscience and his principles.

Amash resigned from the House Freedom Caucus he helped found when it abandoned its commitment to “support open, accountable, and limited government, the Constitution and the rule of law, and policies that promote the liberty, safety, and prosperity of all Americans.” And he left the Republican Party when it abandoned conservatism to embrace Trumpism, and he became an Independent.

Trump immediately attacked Amash. I know, big surprise.

Trump and his gang of sycophants have been attacking Amash ever since he called out Trump and his “Mr. Fix-It” Attorney General Bill Barr for whitewashing the Mueller report in a desperate attempt to avoid impeachment.

Parroting their Dear Leader, National Review — I call it Nationalist Review now that they have abandoned the conservative values of William F. Buckley to embrace Trump’s nationalist rebranding of conservatism — wrote a piece yesterday ridiculing Amash’s decision while Republicans of all stripes threw principles out the window as they lined up to accuse him of being a negative influence on the 2020 election.

Of course, this can mean only one thing: Trump, his cult, and the GOP establishment are running scared.

Even some of my allies in the fight to take back our country from tyrannical government have been unenthusiastic about an Amash run for the White House, saying that the system is simply too broken to put our hope in one person. While I agree with the broken system part, I disagree that we should let the broken system keep us from doing all we can to give Amash a shot. In the words of an old Chinese proverb:

On the Amash for America website — where you can go to donate — we get a taste of the motivation behind the man:

WE’RE READY.

For something new. For a government that secures our rights. For equality before the law. For an end to cronyism. For a government that fulfills its purpose and recognizes its limits. For practical approaches based in humility and trust of the people. For an honest, principled president who will defend the Constitution and put individuals first.

I’m ready too! Let’s get this party started!

 


David Leach is the owner of the Strident Conservative. He holds people of every political stripe accountable and promotes conservative principles over political parties.

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