Liberty Maven

UPDATE: Chuck Baldwin’s Communications Director posted a comment clarifying his position on a few of the issues. This has modified Baldwin’s overall score. Read the comments for more details.

It is now Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin’s turn to be spun through the Paul-O-Meter. So far we have rated Barack Obama, John McCain, and Bob Barr. Will Chuck Baldwin beat Bob Barr’s current high score of 88? Read on to find out.

For a detailed description of the Paul-O-Meter look here.

NEW: If you’d like to rate the candidates on the Paul-O-Meter please do so on our Paul-O-Meter user rating application here.

Continue reading to see our ratings for Chuck Baldwin.

1. Liberty-based Voting Record – Baldwin does not have a voting record so by default he gets a 3. Score: 3
2. The Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy – Baldwin wants to abolish the Federal Reserve and has advocated for a return to the gold standard. Baldwin’s Communications Director states that Chuck supports competing currencies. Score has been modified to a 5 (see comments for details). Score:5
3. Foreign Policy and Iraq – Baldwin calls for an immediate return from Iraq and switching to a non-interventionist foreign policy just like Ron Paul. Baldwin’s Communications Director states that Baldwin has advocated for bringing our troops home from military bases stationed overseas. Score has been modified to a 5 (see comments for details). Score:5
4. Taxes – Baldwin is perfectly in line with Ron Paul on tax policy. He wants to repeal the 16th amendment and replace it with nothing. No flat tax and no consumption tax. Score: 5
5. Government Spending – Baldwin is exactly like Ron Paul on government spending. He mentions specific departments he would abolish and continually advocates returning our government to its Constitutionally limited size. Score: 5
6. Privacy and Civil Liberties – Baldwin is identical to Ron Paul here. He is against FISA, Real ID, and the Patriot Act. He would leave the definition of marriage to the states. Score: 5
7. Immigration – Baldwin mimics Ron Paul on this issue. He speaks about removing incentives and lashes out against amnesty. He allows for the possibility of a border fence, but isn’t that keen on the idea. Score: 5
8. Gun Control and Second Amendment – Baldwin echoes Ron Paul here as well just about perfectly. Score: 5
9. Internet Regulation – He is against Net Neutrality and has said he opposes federal regulation of the Internet. However, he was given an ‘F’ by the Poker Player’s Alliance for his stance on online gambling and he was not forthright with his answer in a recent interview about regulating online gambling. Score: 4
10. Adherence To The Constitution – Baldwin speaks regularly of restoring the Constitution and obeying the rule of law. Score: 5
11. Religion vs. Public Policy – Being a member of the Constitution Party it is difficult for Baldwin to score high here. Baldwin being a pastor also doesn’t help. In most of his writings and speeches he mentions religion or relates policy to it. This is unlike Ron Paul. Ron Paul rarely mentions religion on the campaign trail. Score: 1
12. Environment – Baldwin is directly in line with Dr. Paul here. He believes global warming is a cyclical act of nature and he advocates using property rights and the court system to handle environment disputes. Score: 5
13. Energy Policy – Baldwin advocates for drilling in ANWR and off our coastlines. He advocates building more Nuclear Power plants. Score: 5
14. U.S. Sovereignty – Baldwin regularly speaks out against the North American Union and advocates for strong U.S. Sovereignty. Score: 5
15. War On Drugs – Baldwin says we need to “rethink” the war on drugs, but he hasn’t advocated ending it. Instead he suggests sealing the border as the solution to our perceived drug problems. He hasn’t advocated freeing all non-violent drug offenders either. These are not in line with Ron Paul. He has however, suggested that medicinal marijuana use be best regulated by the states. Score: 3
16. Education – Baldwin is perfectly in line with Ron Paul here. He advocates abolishing the Department of Education and advocates for school choice and home schooling. Score: 5
17. Welfare Programs – Baldwin advocates for phasing out of Social Security just like Ron Paul. Score: 5
18. Abortion – Baldwin is a twin of Ron Paul on this issue. Even though he is personally pro-life he would support Ron Paul’s “Sanctity Of LIfe” act which would overturn Roe vs. Wade and leave all abortion regulation to the states. Score: 5
19. Health Care – Baldwin is exactly like Ron Paul here. Wants to leave medical decisions to doctor’s and patients. He does not support any kind of government run national health care system. He wants to restore free market competition to health care. Score: 5
20. Ability To Spread The Liberty Message – Baldwin certainly has a liberty message; however, his ability to spread it by getting coverage on main stream media outlets is severely lacking. Score: 2

Chuck Baldwin’s final Paul-O-Meter Score: 88 out of 99 possible points

It was extremely difficult to find Baldwin’s positions on some of the issues. His new web site doesn’t have an “issues” page and many of his columns do not outline his positions in detail. We were surprised to learn he has not come out as a strong advocate for ending the “war on drugs” like Ron Paul has done. We could have easily given him a 2 on that issue. He has criticized the drug war so that earned him some points there. Likewise, we could have given him a ‘0′ or a ‘1′ on his ability to spread the liberty message, but he has such a strong message that earned him some points there.

If our readers can point us to direct quotes that refute some of the things we were able to find through our research we will happily adjust the score accordingly. For instance, with monetary policy we could find nothing about Baldwin advocating for competing currencies like Ron Paul. Also, on the foreign policy issue we could not find any direct quotes from Baldwin on removing our troops from our bases stationed overseas. (NOTE: Baldwin’s Communication Director responds to these questions in the comments. We have adjusted his score accordingly.)

Stay tuned for next time when we measure stalwart independent Presidential candidate Ralph Nader.