I'm voting for Brian Carroll for president. Here's why.

We're a few weeks away from the Presidential election.

There are probably a lot of you out there who are like me. People who want government that is small, but competent. People who want taxes that are low to allow people to prosper and balanced budgets that stop our burgeoning national debt. People who want a strong national defense to protect our country. And people who respect a culture of life.

Who to vote to best support those interests becomes a more challenging exercise these days.

This year, I'm supporting Brian Carroll for President.

You've probably never heard of Brian Carroll, nominee for the American Solidarity Party. You've probably never heard of them either. A newer party, the American Solidarity Party can be best described as a "Christian democratic" party; conservative on social issues and more middle-of-the-road on financial issues.

I spoke with Carroll about his campaign on this week's episode of The Duckpin Podcast.

Carroll himself is a long-time middle school teacher who subscribes to the "whole life perspective", meaning respect for all aspects of life. This is particularly true of his support of protecting the dignity of every life from conception to natural death, which is the most important issue of his from my perspective.

Particularly heartening is Carroll's stated supported of a constitutional amendment to ban abortion and, in the interim, laws that restrict abortion and abortion funding. These are things Republicans often say they support, but never emphasize in their campaigns or do anything about once elected to office. Additionally, he opposes capital punishment, assisted suicide and euthanasia. He's 100% pro-life from top to bottom.

There are positions that Carroll and the ASP support that I do not necessarily support; after all, no candidate or party is perfect.

But what I do know that Brian Carroll is a good man who is running for president for the right reasons. Nobody seeks the presidential nomination of a third party without understanding the mountain you're trying to climb. From ballot access to media coverage, it's a hard road for candidates from the "larger" third parties to say nothing of newer parties like the American Solidarity Party.

But by voting for Brian Carroll I can wake up the day after the election and look at myself in the mirror without being ashamed of who I voted for, like so many will.

When you look at the rest of the field, supporting Carroll becomes relatively easy.

Republicans have renominated President Donald Trump. However, his record his hardly a conservative one; bloated spending and deficits, a weaker national security posture, and insouciance toward the pandemic has created a vacuum of national leadership.

Democrats have nominated Joe Biden, a career politician and the consummate creature of Washington. Biden may be a decent man, but as a fellow Catholic I can never go along with his support of abortion or his selection of Kamala Harris, who earlier this year attacked the Catholic Church and Catholic organizations.

Libertarians nominated Jo Jorgensen. Though nominated by the third-largest political party, Jorgensen's support of pardons for Edward Snowden and Julian Assange are disqualifying.

Don Blankenship is the Constitution Party nominee. If you know anything about Don Blankenship it's his disgraceful comments directed as Sen. Mitch McConnell and his family.

Kanye West? It's a publicity stunt.

The American Solidarity Party does not have ballot access in Maryland, so you will need to write-in their ticket to vote for them. Take a stand and cast a vote you can actually be proud of. This year, write-in Brian Carroll for President and his running mate Amir Patel for Vice President.

Brian Griffiths is the publisher of The Duckpin, available for free atTheDuckpin.com, and host of The Duckpin Podcast, available on YouTube. Contact him at [email protected], on Twitter@BrianGriffiths, or on Facebook at facebook.com/briangriffithsmd.