Carlin for US Senate

To all of our volunteers, supporters, friends, and the people of Iowa:

Thank you.

Thank you for believing that this country is still worth fighting for. Thank you for the long nights, the prayers, the phone calls, the door-knocking, the encouragement, the donations, and the faith you placed in this campaign. We may not have won this race, but no fight for freedom and the future of our children is ever wasted.

We were outspent by millions of dollars. We fought the political establishment, the donor class, the consultants, the media machine, and entrenched interests that have no intention of changing course. But we stood anyway, and I am proud of that.

A friend once said to me, “Let them lose.” I think it is time we seriously consider doing exactly that.

Because the truth is this: our only real leverage left is our vote. And if those who claim to represent us refuse to listen, refuse to fight for us, and continue leading this country down a path of moral, cultural, economic, and constitutional decline, then we should not be complicit by continuing to reward them with power.

We are not powerless. We still possess one thing the political class cannot take from us unless we willingly surrender it: our votes. And we must learn to use that leverage effectively, collaboratively, and courageously.

We do not owe blind loyalty to any political party. Votes should be earned, not assumed. If those asking for our support continually betray the values they campaign on, then we have every right — and perhaps even a duty — to withhold that support until representation becomes genuine again.

So let me be direct: I cannot in good conscience ask you to vote for Ashley Hinson. She does not share our values and a Republican label is not enough. It has never been enough. And until our party understands that our votes must be earned, not assumed, nothing will change.

The establishment counts on voters believing they have nowhere else to go. But when citizens stand together and refuse to reward deception, empty promises, and managed decline, real political leverage begins to return to the people.

They have chosen the approval of donors, lobbyists, corporations, and Washington insiders over the voices of ordinary Americans. They love to wear the garments of conservatism and Christianity in their speeches and public pretense, but too often it is only to obtain the votes they need to remain in power.

Hinson is not alone. Look at your ballot this November and ask the same question of every candidate: have they earned your vote, or are they simply assuming blind loyalty?

Christians especially must wake up and discern the difference. We should not conform our votes to a political party or to candidates who openly reject biblical truth on marriage, family, and the protection of children from ideological indoctrination. Christians are too often given lip service by an establishment that has no real intention of defending either the values of Scripture or the principles of the Constitution once elected.

We cannot save a nation while remaining silent about its destruction. We cannot preserve freedom by continually empowering people who do not truly defend it. The freedoms, faith, innocence, and opportunities of our children are being steadily surrendered, and we bear responsibility for what we tolerate.

Perhaps it is time for something new. Perhaps it is time for a Christian constitutional conservative movement or party that actually represents the people who still believe in faith, family, freedom, truth, borders, honest money, and the Constitution of the United States.

And if standing for those things means losing elections for a season, then so be it. Better to lose fighting honorably than to win by surrendering everything that matters.

We were never guaranteed victory. We were only called to stand, to speak the truth, and to fight for what is right while there was still time.

So while this campaign may be ending, the cause is not over. And I believe with all my heart that, through the providence of God, ordinary Americans — courageous Americans — will ultimately be the ones who restore this nation.

To every volunteer who gave your time, every donor who sacrificed financially, every supporter who prayed for us, and every voter who stood with us — thank you. I will never forget you.

May God bless you all, and may God bless America.

Jim and Donna Carlin