Liberty's Blog

Trying to Understand

A friend, whom I'll call Joe told me about this lady who is pretty active in Chambers County Republican Party politics. The only problem is that my friend told me that she could never vote for a Libertarian, "Even Democrats are better than no Government at all". I was a little
flabbergasted. This was to be my base. I have been thinking, without a Republican candidate in the race, "surely most Republicans will vote for me". I asked Joe to introduce her to me.

A couple of days later Joe tells me he has Ms. B. on the line. I asked him if I could talk to her.

Ms. B. was gracious, and straightforward with me. She made it pretty clear she wasn't going to try to pull any punches. I asked her "Why couldn't you vote for a Libertarian?"

She answered, "How do I know that you wouldn't be worse than a Democrat?"

I fired off "I couldn't do any worse. Has Eiland done anything for Chambers County? Has he Represented your views in the State House?"

Ms B. tells me,"I don't know. What are your positions?"

I Say, "Probably not much different than yours. Conservative, Small government and lower taxes. Sorta like Ron Paul. He is still very Libertarian even if he runs under the Republican Party. What do you think of Ron Paul and his politics."

"I've met him and I think pretty highly of him"

Now I'm getting frustrated, This lady is very representative of what I perceive as my voter base.

She asked me for a position paper. I haven't written one yet. and don't know if I will. Commiting to lower property taxes seems like a good idea, but I could not sign onto a deal that includes a large increase in statewide taxes. I am torn between unrestrained property taxes and taking power away from local governments who were elected to represent their people. I do believe in local governments should have their own self determination.

The most Republicans feel that their state government has let them down. The Republicans have been in charge, for several years now, yet things haven't gotten any better. Maybe just maybe if a few Libertarians, other third party types, and independants got in. The Republicans in charge would pay a little closer attention to their constituancy.

Maybe someone can explain to me why Republican faithful would be so afraid of a Libertarian when no Republican could bother to run.

posted by Liberty @ 6:50 PM