Below is from a Constitution Party of Georgia e-mail:

If you are an active voter then no doubt your mailbox has been the target of direct mail from candidates seeing your support. 2004 Constitution Party Presidential candidate Michael Anthony Peroutka recently commented on what makes a candidate qualified:

With elections approaching we’ve been asked to examine and discuss what it is that would qualify-or for that matter-disqualify someone who wanted to run for and hold political office. It seems to me that being qualified for office involves at least two levels of inquiry.

The first level of inquiry involves the individual’s character.  Now I recollect that during the Clinton era (and ever since), we’ve been told repeatedly that a man’s character-his personal life-doesn’t have anything to do with his qualifications for office. Not surprisingly, this totally unrealistic approach has resulted in the election, to office of public trust, many men who can’t be trusted-and shouldn’t be.

Our founders would have scoffed at such an ignorant idea. They considered a man’s moral integrity, his private reputation for honesty and fair dealing-indeed his commitment to Biblical Christianity-to be the most important qualification for office. Since the overwhelming majority of actions and decisions made by an office holder are totally out of the sight of those who have elected him, they thought it prudent and appropriate to select someone who had a healthy fear of what they referred to as “a system of eternal rewards and punishments.” After all, they reasoned, if someone will lie and cheat and steal and abuse power and not fear God in doing so… what makes you think he would fear you?

The second level of qualification involves the content of the officeholder’s oath:

• To be qualified for office, a candidate must demonstrate knowledge of how the Constitution defines, limits and divides powers granted to the government by the consent of the people. While this seems to be an obvious requirement, very few candidates have even read the Constitution, much less studied it in an organized way.
• Our candidate must also demonstrate knowledge of the political philosophy on which the Constitution is based-that there is an Almighty Creator God, that our rights are granted by Him and that the purpose of civil government is to protect and secure those God-given rights.
• Lastly, he must be willing to act in accordance with the knowledge and the beliefs that we just described.

And what we’ve just described are the minimal qualifications for a candidate!

It is with this foundation that the Constitution Party of Georgia vets its prospective candidates. The rigorous Candidate Evaluation Process uses a standard questionnaire with open-ended essay questions regarding the position they seek, researches the candidate’s history of public acts as well as private activities relevant to the character evaluation, conducts interviews to follow up on issues needed clarification or explanation, and contacts character references provided by the candidate. Every candidate is required to take an oath or affirmation to God regarding their role as a civil magistrate and willingness to be held accountable to their oath – even resigning from office rather than act contrary to their oath. The goal is to endorse candidates of good character and sound moral judgment who are capable to serve with honor in office. Above all they must be always ready to give glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ in their day-to-day duties.

CP-Ga members can also recommend candidates running on another party’s ticket for evaluation; such candidates may also contact the CP-Ga directly to request a recommendation. These candidates voluntarily undergo the same process as our own party’s candidates. Upon favorable review the CP-Ga will make a recommendation of the candidate to its members and supporters. Such a recommendation is not an unqualified endorsement but rather an opportunity for those who agree with ideals of the CP-Ga Platform to further evaluate the candidate and make the personal decision to support the candidate.

Of the candidates evaluated by the CP-Ga, we make the following recommendation:

Martin Hawley (R) for State Representative – District 46

Our recommendation list will be updated as more candidates successfully complete the process and the updates will be communicated to subscribers of this newsletter.