I have this idealistic view that enough people will someday show so much interest in political contests candidates will be forced to provide real information about their understanding of issues and political philosophies.  We will get better and better governance the closer we get to my ideal.  However, the reality is so many people base their votes on party affiliation, the article they read that day, the candidates first name or the order they appear on the ballot that the votes of those that take a deeper look are drowned out and rendered inconsequential.  That's why our candidates spend their campaign dollars on 15 to 30 second ads with an unflattering picture of their opponent next to an oil slick and they don't spend their money building up educational content for their web sites.   Given the importance of an educated electorate, in order to convince our congressman to participate in the process, we have to convince enough people to vote for the Libertarian candidate. 

There are two legitimate questions you might be asking yourself:  Why not just vote for the "best candidate" and wouldn't voting for the Libertarian make it possible that the "best" candidate might not win.  The answer to the first question I already answered above.  First the incumbent candidate is the best candidate if he just barely wins.  He is our worst choice for congressman if he wins by a substantial amount.  The reason for this is because a close contest will convince him to treat his constituents as interested partners because the only possible way he doesn't get 70% of the vote would be because of this campaign to get our elected officials to treat us like interested adults. The second question is in reality moot.  I'm advertising this page a little and others may pick up the theme but even if I convinced everyone that comes to the site to vote for the Libertarian the best I could hope for is a 5 or 6% influence.  But I'm counting on this being enough to help the political process and hoping you will join me in this effort

Since I'm asking you to vote for the Libertarian candidate let me talk a little about what I know about him.  First I have talked to him a couple of times on the phone.  He seems nice enough, politically interested and sincere.  I have no further insight into moral character.  The last time I talked with him he said he was looking into starting a website but I haven't been able to find it yet.  He has taken the time to fill out some of the infinite number of surveys "interest groups" send out to candidates.  You can find his responses via Google searches.  His sincerity shows in these responses and I get the impression his comments reflect his true opinions.  I'm not sure they reflect a true "Libertarian"  philosophy as depicted by the mainstream press.

What happens if the democrat wins?  Suppose I'm exceptionally successful and the election outcome turns out that the democrat gets 30%, the republican 29%, the libertarian 29% and the constitution candidate gets the rest.  Then the democrat would end up being our representative.  What happens then?  First, I've talked with the candidate in one lengthy phone call.  Based on a that one on one conversation and his background I would feel comfortable voting for the man.  However, the message I get from the website and article quotes I get the impression he is willing to take the "good" advice of professional campaigners.  I appreciate that novices should learn from experts but in this case the experts are wrong and it's the insincerity that comes across in managed campaigns that is fueling the grass roots efforts of the day.  So even though there is a chance the man could be a good congressman there's no indication he would express anything but a standard Democrat Party line.  At times I wonder if we wouldn't get better governance if one party had a super majority and gave those willing to lead a chance to break away from their standard party line.  For instance in the healthcare process if the Democrats had 70 Senate seats I believe we would have had a better chance at getting good legislation because the reasonable Democrats could have held the legislation up until the major problems were addressed.  As it turned out it became us against them Democrat versus Republican.  Believe it or not giving one party a super majority should work the same or better than splitting power between parties.  It's impossible to expect the democrats to get their house in order enough to gain that super majority so if the democrat wins in this race it will be a wash.

How about the Constitution Candidate? I've looked at this man's web site.  It is an interesting read.  I recommend it.

Why not vote for the incumbent?   I ran in the Republican Primary against the incumbent.  I believe I would be a better congressman and I hoped I could convince you of that, but that doesn't mean the other guy doesn't bring positives to the position.   I like the fact the man doesn't submit earmarks.  If he is chosen as Speaker of the House he may stick to his guns and not bring wasteful spending into the district (which I applaud) and we can be assured some other Speaker won't be bringing home the bacon for their district either.  However, look at his web site and listen to his campaign materials and note that he doesn't believe it necessary to treat us like knowledge seeking and interested individuals.  In order to get him to change that attitude, I'm hoping to get you to vote and campaign for the Libertarian candidate.  With luck 30,000 of us will make that choice and in doing so ensure we get the best possible congressman.

Consider my endorsements

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