With a pocket-sized Constitution tucked into his breast pocket, Republican Sean Salazar, who is challenging U.S. Sen. Patty Murray in the November election, introduced himself as a “simple, Constitution-based guy” at a question-and-answer session at the Redmond Regional Library last Saturday afternoon.

Salazar used an example from his military background as an explanation as to why he is running.

“In the military, they teach us that if something needs to be done, you just do it,” he said. “You don’t wait to be told—you just do it. That’s what we’re trying to do here.

“Part of my entire concept of my campaign is first understanding how we got here, and then how are we going to fix it.”

The Washington state native believes the main problems that need solving today involve immigration, debt and public education.

“One of the ways you solve the problem with immigration,” he began, “is shutting off public funds. Simply because we have no money left. We need to get back to basics. … It’s not just an immigration issue, it’s a national security issue. We need to know who’s here right now … and follow the rules. We have laws to follow.”

Coming from a half-Mexican family and having lectured on immigration at schools in Mexico, Salazar has first-hand knowledge of the issue.

“When I talk about immigration I have to go back to where it started,” he said. “How did we arrive in a situation like this?

“In a perfect world, part of my plan would be to re-install a new version of the guest-worker pass. The problem is, when you get a lot of radicals into the Hispanic community, they make the hardworking Hispanics look bad. It’s a bit of a struggle there.”

When asked about public education, Salazar responded, “Public education is failing our kids.”

“There are several things I don’t think the government should be doing,” he continued. “One of them is education. We have a distant government. When the country was founded, they thought Massachusetts was far (away).

“Ronald Reagan said we have to get rid of [the Department of Education]. All education must be local,” he said. “Every community has its own needs—specific needs. No community is alike. If it’s all local, we can save $68 billion.”

Parents in the room, including two who are home-schooling their daughter, asked Salazar to elaborate on the problem.

He explained, “If you don’t like what your kids are being taught in school, you can’t stop it. You can complain about it, but they aren’t going to listen to you. You don’t have any choice—it’s being dictated from a distant capital.”

Salazar revisited this “distant capital” point several times throughout the discussion and explained the need for “10th Amendment” initiatives—or those that will place decisions at the state level.

“Let Washington state decide what it needs,” he said. “Our government has gotten too big. … I want to start with the state level. Let the states design and let the people of the state decide. It’s the 10th Amendment rule. Give the people a chance.”

The 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Salazar encouraged his audience to “have faith that the people can decide what’s good for the people. The government does not solve your problems.”

However, if elected, Salazar will have to confront the national debt. Part of his solution to this problem involves controlling spending, which he feels has been out of control in recent times.

“When I say we need to shut up public funds,” he said, “I’m not just talking about immigration.

“In 2009, we brought in to the federal government $2.9 trillion. We spent 3.1 trillion. Why is it that we always have to spend a dollar more than we bring in? I can’t find out why that happens.”

Salazar believes government needs to be more conservative with its spending and refrain from becoming too liberal.

“The problem with society today [is] you have too many people that are convinced that their pursuit of happiness is socialism,” he said. “My pursuit of happiness is to talk you out of it—is to educate. And explain why socialism has failed everywhere it’s gone. “

Even as a conservative running in a blue state, Salazar has hope for the upcoming election, and he says he will release more detailed versions of his plans in the coming months.

Above all, he emphasized “believing in our Constitution. This gives us the rights to believe what we want to believe. It allows us to be who we are. It enables us to be different.”

Chelsea Randall is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.