I am a political fuzzy bear. I’m lovable and huggable and consistently bandied about by ideologues from both extremes while I grumble and snort my way around the middle of most political maelstroms with a gimbaled neck. My head tilts and turns and rotates, looking at many sides of issues, top and bottom, through the pertinent peep holes, using others as mirrors to gauge effect and after-effect.

But that is way more than enough about me.

Well no. There is a bit more.

I am supporting Ron Paul for president, even though many of his views are too extreme to fit into my regular political comfort zone. He is clearly and strongly for things I think people should not be clearly and strongly for. Many of these are issues the Right would call me a “Lefty Lunatic” over, which is something I’ve grown accustomed to. I don’t think government should dictate morality when it comes to birth control issues. Yes, that means abortion as well.

That’s my view. I think the moral issue remains within the mind of the person making the choice. I also think that the reason the issue has been contentious for so long, is because it is a moral dilemma. Moral dilemmas tend to abrogate easy answers. When that happens, I think it best that government get simply out of the way.

So Ron Paul’s stance on abortion bothers me (although, I must say, knowing he was an OBGYN, makes me have compassion and understanding for why he takes that stance). As do a few other things I’ve heard him take stances on. “No student Visas for terrorist nations.” There is one that I can’t go along with. Who gets to decide what a terrorist nation is? And isn’t the point of student exchanges to promote understanding between people’s of the world? Is it not better to continue to promote tolerance by being tolerant, understanding by being understanding? I don’t understand this position at all. It seems contradictory to the grander, broader stances Ron Paul takes.

So I deliberate. In one pile I place the cons. Another the pros. I do a bit of eyes closed mind wandering and I come back with my choice.

Ron Paul’s biggest issue is the one that weighs the most, and it sits firmly in the pro pile.

Less federal government.

That’s the one painted in gold. That’s the ticket that gets me into Ron Paul’s encampment. I hold it tightly in my hand and I proffer it at the entrance. I want in. Yes. I want to belong to the political group that wants to remove power from a centralized monstrosity. I want my local government to have more of my money. I want my State to have more control of my surroundings.

All of the other issues tossed around this election cycle are pale tokens compared to this one idea.

And it is the reason I will vote Republican for the first time ever, and vote for Ron Paul.