This charming film about an undersized Notre Dame Football player harkens as much to another film about Notre Dame, Knute Rockne, as it does to our desires to see a renewed dedication to the conservative principles realized by the Presidency of Ronald Reagan, the Gipper.

Reagan’s theme was simple:  Return to the principles of our forefathers, the author’s of our Constitution and The Declaration of Independence.  These principles succeeded for over 145 years, prior to their abandonment in the age of the New Deal.  From a man, once a faithful Democrat and defender of the New Deal came a message that repudiated all that the New Deal stood for, Government rescue from the free market.  By 1980, it had become clear that the cure was worse than the disease.

Ronald Reagan pursued the return to liberty, via Free-Market economics vigorously, reducing taxes, regulations, and government control of Americans’ daily lives.  However, his mission was left incomplete.  Other distractions drew his attention away.  The cold war was not yet over.  In defeating the Soviet Union, President Reagan used up much of his political capital with Congress.  Not enough was left to complete the task of liberating America from the Nanny state.

Likewise, President Bush has found it difficult to make the strides promised in fixing Social Security, Medicare, and out-of-control Federal spending.  Too much political capital had to expended in staying the course in the war on terror.  It will be the task of the next president to follow through on both the war on terror AND the Conservative vision of smaller government.

The question is:  Who should that next President be? 

Who, among the various candidates, will lead us against these challenges?  Well, first of all we can rule out any of the Democratic candidates.  After all who among them is not calling for more government spending and control?  But what of our Republican candidates?  Who among them most passionately believes and embraces these core principles of lower taxes, smaller government, peace through strength, and moral conscience drawn from our common Judeo-Christian heritage?

All of our candidates share our common faith heritage, whether Catholic, Baptist, Episcopalian, or even Mormon.  Each has emphatically defended maintaining a strong National Defense, if not the war on terror.  However, only two remaining candidates have stood strong and fast on the fundamental principles of smaller government.  They are Ron Paul and Rudy Giuliani. 

Ron Paul, while a staunch defender of smaller government, lacks a clear vision of how to achieve this goal, and has so far failed to win a single primary. 

Unfortunately, while Rudy may have a plan, he also has yet to win a primary.  This is truly a dilemma for conservative Republicans.  Rudy is vilified for his lack of conservative principles by social conservatives.  Let’s start alphabetically with Abortion.  Rudy has openly acknowledged his support for a woman’s right to choose.  He clearly will not be supporting an amendment to the constitution for the Right to Life.  However, even if he did support such an amendment, it is highly improbable that it would ever be accomplished, since we lack the support in Congress from which such an amendment must originate.  More importantly, Rudy has pledged to support the appointment of strict constructionist judges to the Supreme Court and all other federal judgeships.  For social conservatives, this is the most critical point of focus.  For it is the Federal courts that have been the instrument of our undoing, going back to the Scopes Monkey trial, the “separation of Church and State,” to the more recent Lawrence vs. the State of Texas, establishing a “Right” to commit sodomy.  Furthermore, strict constructionist judges will do more to protect the second amendment right to bear arms, than all of the trips to gun shows by the other candidates combined!  With Ted Olsen as his legal adviser, Rudy’s pledge comes with a degree of trustworthiness that his critics appear unwilling to grant.  Perhaps it is time for them to reconsider. 

While lacking military experience may seem a weakness, let’s not forget that our revered Ronald Reagan also had not served.  Reagan’s lack of service, in no way weakened his resolve, nor undermined his judgment on the decision of when to deploy our troops.  Based on his performance during 9/11, is there any doubt that Rudy can remain cool under pressure?

The MSM has attempted to aid the Democrats by distracting the American Public from the fact that the Surge is working and instead focusing on the economy.  Senator McCain’s own self-admitted weakness in the area of economics removes him as a champion for smaller government.  Governor Mike Huckabee has been all over the map with economic policies ranging from the Fair tax to opposition to school vouchers and had once proposed a national smoking ban, hardly the stuff of a small government conservative.  Finally Mitt Romney, while clearly demonstrating incredible business acumen, has failed thus far to demonstrate a philosophical dedication to the principle that the government that governs best, is the government that governs least.  However, successful his Massachusetts Health Care Plan may appear to be, it is fundamentally in opposition to this core conservative principle.  Just as many conservatives have been critical of our current president’s no-child-left-behind act and its intrusion by the Federal Government into what we believe to be a local affair, Governor Romney’s willingness to engage the Federal Government as a solution to our health care woes poses a far greater threat to our individual freedom.

Finally, in the case of lower taxes and smaller government, no one has outlined a more clear and concise plan the Rudy Giuliani.  With Steve Forbes as his advisor, Rudy has garnered the support of the Club for Growth.  From reducing corporate taxes and capital gain taxes, eliminating permanently the estate “Death” tax, and the equally despised Alternative Minimum Tax, Rudy has outlined a real stimulus package designed to strengthen our economy by eliminating the very tax burdens that make America less competitive abroad.  These changes will do more to restore economic growth and encourage companies to keep jobs in America, than anything proposed by any other Republican candidate, let alone the Democrats.

Sincerity and truthfulness matter.  Rudy remains consistent in his stand on issues. Rudy has not flip-flopped on any issue since the start of his campaign, well over a year ago.  What other candidate can legitimately make the same claim?

The appointment of strict constructionist Judges and the shrinking of the Federal Government will do more to restore our ability as social conservatives to maintain and strengthen moral values, than all of the pledges to support a right to life amendment will ever accomplish.  As Ronald Reagan said, “Government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem.”  No candidate embraces this core principle with greater zeal than Rudy Giuliani.