'America's Revival': Leading pledge keeper speaks out
An interview with Will Duffy
September 28, 2007
Helen Weir, RenewAmerica analyst

"I want to do everything I can to get Alan Keyes the nomination, and to convince the Republican leadership that he can win," Will Duffy insists. Thirteen additional signers have taken the Pledge for America's Revival due to his efforts, more than any other signer has gathered to date. And, as far as this pro-life activist from Littleton, Colorado, is concerned, he has only just begun to fight.

"If abortion is the murder of innocent children — which I believe it is — then we have the worst holocaust in the history of the world on our hands," Will explains. "Given that reality, we have to make the protection of the right to life the Number One issue, when it comes to selecting candidates and voting. When I talk to Democrats, I find that they make abortion their first priority. They refuse to support anyone who isn't 100% 'pro-choice.' Yet, when I make abortion my top issue, I am made to feel bad about it. Well, no more!"

Will first heard about the Pledge through his work with Colorado Right to Life. He signed up, and then used the website's "Tell a Friend" feature to forward the news to all of his friends and associates. "I used the suggested message, didn't change a thing," he notes. "I emailed everybody — maybe 150 to 200 people — even liberals, on the chance that this would get them talking about it. Then, I plan to follow up with a phone call, to explain to people how exciting it is to have a pro-life Christian running for President."

It will be instructive to see how this personal contact increases his results, but Will's thirteen enthusiastic signers took the Pledge before receiving any phone call at all. This demonstrates that a great many people understand what Will himself does: that 2008 could prove to be "one of the most important elections ever."

Will Duffy is 24 years old. He and his wife Danielle have been married for two years. He works for a Christian talk radio host, teaches Biblical Greek and adult Sunday School, and sidewalk counsels at Planned Parenthood every weekend. "The biggest thing I'd like to get across to people," he emphasizes, "is that I voted for Bush the last time around, and I regret that vote. I wasn't educated. He really isn't as pro-life as he seemed."

This time, Will is putting his energy and support behind the one candidate he believes will truly represent his principles as a pro-life American. "I'm really concerned about the number of people who say they are willing to vote for any Republican, even Rudy Giuliani," he says. "That's horrendous, to me. They say we have to vote for the candidate with the best chance of winning, but we did that before, and what did it get us? If Alan Keyes gets the nomination, he has as much of a chance as anyone else" — as much of a chance, in fact, as dedicated Pledge Keepers like Will are able to give him.

In electoral seasons, we generally hear more than we can stand about the need for "change." What has actually changed is that, in past elections, voters have almost wholly been dependent on the "unGodly media," whereas now, we have the necessary tools — through the Internet — to participate proactively in the political process, and to "make" the news for ourselves, as Will's success is beginning to show.

"The people who say to me, 'There's no point in supporting Alan Keyes,' don't understand there is actually no point in continuing to do things the old way," Will believes. "The Democrats keep on going further and further to the left, and the Republican leadership is doing nothing but following them. We Republicans compromise. They don't."

The antidote to this pernicious political drift is to anchor ourselves once again in the sure haven of Declaration principles, as championed and articulated by the contemporary figure who represents them the best — Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes.

© Helen Weir

 

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They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. —Isaiah 40:31