Across the country, as we head into election day, we hear reports of Libertarian candidates who have made a difference in their race. At the same time, voters are looking for candidates who will bring reason to the offices for which they aspire.
In the last election cycle, voters clearly demonstrated they want change … but now they realize they didn’t want the “change” that has been delivered.
Voters want the change Libertarians will bring.
As an example of one candidate’s impact, we received this from David Nolan, one of the founders of the LP, inventor of the World’s Smallest Political Quiz, and candidate for John McCain’s seat in Arizona:
“September 26, 2010 may go down as a turning point in the history of our efforts to restore liberty to America. On that date, I participated in a televised four-way debate among Arizona’s candidate for U.S. Senate – and I won! You can watch the debate online.
“Throughout the debate, John McCain and Rodney Glassman spoke in generalities and platitudes, while I gave hard-hitting, specific, principled answers to each question. And in the online poll conducted by KTVK-3TV, 53% of the people who participated said that I won the debate! This was an unscientific poll, to be sure, but it was open to anyone. My campaign made no attempt to “pack” the vote, because we did not even know that there would be one.
“Think about that for a moment. In a ‘level field’ debate with three other candidates, a Libertarian got a majority of the votes from people who watched and participated in an open poll. The news media did not report this, of course.”
Everywhere, our candidates are helping to shape the debate. With that, we are already making a difference. Wouldn’t it be nice if those 53% actually voted for the candidate they believed “won”?
Don’t forget to vote on Tuesday. Don’t be bashful about suggesting to your friends that they vote for Libertarians. Particularly if polls show a race is not close.
If the polls show that one candidate is well ahead, suggest to your friends that a vote for that candidate or their “R” or “D” opponent is a “wasted” vote since the race is already decided. In such a circumstance, they can vote their conscience and be sure their vote truly gets “counted.”
Explain it this way: if the race is not close (for this illustration, we will assume the Democrat is the presumed winner), a vote for the “D” is wasted since he will win anyway. Likewise, a vote for the “R” is wasted since she will lose anyway. So, to have a vote truly count, one should vote for the “third” party that most closely aligns with their personal beliefs. This because once all the dust settles, and the professionals analyze the results, they will see that the Democrat received, say, 53% of the vote, the Republican 41%, and the various third parties 6%.
What must the “Rs” or “Ds” do; how must they reshape their voter appeal, to bring in that other 6%?
Weekly TidBits:
*Our comment on ethanol in the Weekly TidBits two weeks ago continues to draw comments. Frank G. from Breaux Bridge, LA points out, “You forgot to mention that 10% ethanol causes lots of problems with small engines and costs a lot of money on repair bills. Also not a single small engine is made that can actually use 15% ethanol. If it is made mandatory, all small engine equipment will be useless. No lawnmowers, weedeaters, boat motors, etc. will be useable.”
*We have received many good responses to our musings on a constitutional amendment to improve our Republic. Unless a more pressing issue presents itself, next week, we will look at some of them. If you wish to include your thoughts in this discussion, you can find it here.
