Ron Paul is the best republican candidate

I think that I will conceed on the first point because, though I still believe that if you want to take a moral stand you have to take that stand completely, that puts Congressman Paul in an impossible situation where he would not actually be able to participate in government or something and the just doesn't make sense. He answered the question on Meet the Press basically the way that you did and I will go ahead and give him that one. However, I feel the last part of his answer to the question ties into my second point where he simply said, "I vote against everything." This highlights how he has never actually had to get together with others to get stuff done. That is really the point that we need to be asking ourselves, who can get stuff done in government, who can successfully change the way things are. If you look back into history at who the last really principled president was, I would say Carter, and look what happened to him. His presidency was horrible. I dont see how you can say that if he was elected, like minded leaders would also be elected because that just isn't the case. The left would respond with hard nose liberals who could get stuff done and over ride the president. Just think what would happen if another terrorist attack happened. Look what happened to the democrats when the republicans pointed at them as the reason for the attack. If you have a government that does nothing, all that does is make people angry. You stated that an effective leader does what is right and acts according to principles. Although I believe that to be true, I think it is only half of an effective leader. The best leaders also realize that there may be more than one right and that you have to find a middle ground between other people principles and your own. This was a constant struggle during the founding of our nation. Everything from the representation of states in the legislature to the creation of a national bank. I think to simply state that we have to get back to the founding principles of this nation is very simplistic. The founding principles of this nation depended on who you talked to. One of the greatest travesties in our nations history, the extermination of Native Americans, started, in part, because George Washington was not able to get the state governments to go along with his plans for a strong federal answer to the problem. The answer isn't to vote for the most principled candidate who "doesn't vote for anything." The answer is to find someone who is willing to look at both sides fo the issue and then expect more of them. You can make broad sweeping changes with the help of everyone, and I think that is proven when we look at the history of our country. As for what I disagree with Ron Paul on, well, that is for another debate. The most basic difference that I hold with him is that I am ok with an evolving constitution. I may be against some of the ways that it is changed today but I am ok with it changing. If you want to start another debate on that or any other issues of his I will be more than happy to jump in. Even if it is something that I do agree with, I'll play devils advocate just for the fun of it. But that is for a later time. An effective leader is one who does what is right, and acts according to principles, not one who sacrifices them in the name of "getting things done".