ORLANDO, Fla. — In a speech today to the Tea Party’s Constitutional Originalist Society, presidential candidate Mitt Romney affirmed his commitment to defend Third Amendment rights if elected. The $500-a-plate crowd gave Romney a standing ovation as he firmly declared his opposition to the forced quartering of soldiers during peacetime.
“President Obama has done more than any president in history to roll back Third Amendment rights,” alleged Romney. “If elected, I will make sure that no American has to take care of current and former soldiers against their will.” Romney also used the occasion to clarify his opposition to the Stamp Act and Tories of all kinds.
Liberals have long decried the third amendment as archaic, a holdover from the Revolutionary War era with little relevance in today’s America. Conservatives have called these allegations “judicial activism” and argue that the framers envisioned robust Third Amendment rights for all Americans.
Romney’s speech was interrupted three times by audience applause. Perhaps the most positive reaction came when Romney addressed care for our veterans. “When I see a homeless veteran,” said Romney, “I don’t see a callous failure to honor those who have sacrificed so much for us. I see freedom – an America that loves its Third Amendment so much that it isn’t afraid to completely ignore its servicemen and women.”
Sources within the campaign say Romney plans to make Third Amendment rights a cornerstone of his platform in the last month of the election season. The Romney campaign website plans to sell bumper stickers with the slogan, “Support our troops (but not because you have to).”
Still, Romney’s speech drew fire from critics within the GOP who worry that the party nominee’s position is not strong enough. “Governor Romney’s position is a good start,” said David Schneider of the conservative Liberty Foundation, “but a true Reagan Republican would make it illegal to house or feed any member of the military, even voluntarily. And that includes their families.”
