Lincoln Day Dinner Speech

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Richard Ford, I am a candidate for County Commissioner, District 1. A father of 12, business owner of 30 years, and a Pastor for 15, but I don’t want to take this time to talk about me, my qualifications, my successes, and certainly not my shortcomings, but rather to encourage us in our shared vision.

It is an honor to stand before you tonight, surrounded by so many people who care about the future of our community, our state, and our nation.

When we gather for an event named after Abraham Lincoln, we are naturally reminded of the challenges he faced. Lincoln presided over a nation literally torn in two, and he led the struggle to end the ultimate form of government-sanctioned tyranny: slavery. He broke the physical shackles that bound human beings, declaring that no man has a right to govern another without his consent. In our darkest hours, Lincoln's focus was always on preservation, restoration, and ultimate unity, famously reminding us that "a house divided against itself cannot stand."

But freedom is not a battle won just once. It must be defended by every single generation. Today, we face new, more subtle forms of coercion and control that threaten the very fabric of our society.

Where the physical whip once compelled labor, today we see a modern form through overreach, crushing regulation, excessive taxes, and endless fees. This bureaucratic burden has become the modern whip, compelling hard-working citizens to work longer, harder, and faster just to keep what is rightfully theirs and stay ahead of the state's demands. When the government takes more and more of the fruits of your labor through regulation and taxation, it chips away at your economic freedom, slowly encroaching on the independence our founders fought for.

At the same time, we have watched government programs systematically replace the traditional pillars of our communities. For generations, the family—led by a father and a mother—was the ultimate safety net, the provider, and the foundation of character. Tragically, a deeply flawed welfare system has replaced the father in the homes of many with a government check. Instead of lifting people up into independence, it has too often trapped generations in a cycle of state dependency, weakening the nuclear family and eroding the dignity of work.

Decades after Lincoln, another great leader of our party faced a fractured nation and championed the antidote to this growing government overreach. In 1966, Ronald Reagan reminded us that to fight these massive cultural and political battles, we must first be united. He championed a principle that became the bedrock of his political philosophy: the Eleventh Commandment:

"Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican."

Reagan didn't introduce this rule because he thought we should all agree on every single issue. He knew that vibrant debate, different perspectives, and passionate disagreements are necessary for a free society. He understood that we are a party made up of independent thinkers, business owners, agricultural producers, and hard-working families, each with our own unique experiences.

But Reagan also understood a fundamental truth: our shared principles are more powerful than our minor disagreements. When we turn our focus inward and allow healthy debate to degrade into personal attacks, we do the work of our political opponents for them. We lose sight of the bigger picture.

The Eleventh Commandment is a call for civility, respect, and unity. Unity doesn’t mean being the same; it means moving in the same direction. Which means that when the debates are over, and the votes are counted, and the primary races are decided, we stand shoulder-to-shoulder. It means we look at the person next to us and recognize them as an ally in the fight against government mandates, the fight to restore the family, and the fight to keep our people free.

As we look ahead to the critical choices facing our communities, let us recommit ourselves to that spirit of unity. Let us debate with passion, but let us govern and campaign with grace. If we can honor Lincoln’s vision of a unified house, and if we can practice Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment with sincerity, we can break the cycles of dependency, rein in government spending, and ensure that freedom remains for future generations.

 Remember we are stronger together, louder together, and ultimately, we are Better Together.

Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.