FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
If you're an analyst, why would you want to do this?
The simple answer is "because I'm tired of it". Like so many of the people that I have talked to, I am tired of -- year after year, cycle after political cycle -- trying to get excited over the lesser of 'who cares?' I'm tired of trying (and usually failing) to find a political candidate who can speak intelligently on the issues in complete sentences rather than poll-tested and cliched sound bites. And I'm really tired of office-holders who are more interested in striking poses and playing 'gotcha' than in actually serving the interests of the people who elected them into their office (regardless of the office itself).
Is that naïve? Perhaps, but then I've never been accused of being worldly. I've been called a lot of things -- most of which are not printable -- but "worldly" is not among them.
"Because he was human, because he had goodness, because he was moral, they called him insane."
Why the Libertarians instead of one of the Old Parties?
As I started to become more politically aware after leaving the service, I started to realize that many of my centrist views on political topics did not fully mesh with what I have come to view as the political extremism of the two major political parties -- the "Old Parties". Some of my views aligned behind one party's platform, but some of them aligned behind the other's. As a result, I realized that I could not fall into step with either of the Old Parties because I don't believe in their platforms enough to support either of them. To me, partisans of these groups are "scheming demons dressed in kingly guise beating down the multitudes and scoffing at the wise."
The Libertarians, however, support most of my politically centrist views, and while I may not be (as one Libertarian put it) as strident in my positions as other Libertarians may be, their platform is one that I can support.
Why should I support you? What makes your campaign different from any of the other candidates for that seat?
In a word: compromise.
Libertarians refer to the Democratic and Republican parties as the "Old Parties". They are sedimentary behemoths who do not believe in compromise (despite all of their rhetoric to the contrary). And because I am not hampered by (nor limited to) the rigid ideological perspectives of either Old Party, I have the ability (and if elected, the responsibility) to find avenues in which most citizens can agree without alienating those who don't agree.
Compromise allows us (you and I)
- to work together on our crumbling infrastructure to build and repair bridges, roads, and even schools.
- to have both tough border security AND a hard-working immigrant/citizen population.
- to lead the world in clean energy production AND protect our environment for future generations.
- to drive down healthcare costs, keep private insurance AND ensure that no one (regardless of citizenship status) goes without adequate healthcare.
- to protect our rights under the Second Amendment AND ensure that dangerous weapons are withheld from those who should not have them.
"Some world views are spacious, and some are merely space."
Do you honestly think that you have a real possibility of winning?
Yes, I honestly believe that a Libertarian can win a seat in the Texas state house. Here's why:
- Straight ticket voting has been eliminated. That means that a voter cannot simply vote for every candidate within a single party with a single button-press.
- Statistically, in each cycle, an increasingly larger count of voters find that they do not identify with either of the Old Parties, making a Libertarian bid not only possible, but entirely likely.
- It's already been done. Wyoming Representative Marshall Burt won his seat against a Democrat in 2020.
"It's a Cinderella story on a tumble of the dice."
How is this not a waste of time and money?
I will agree that the track record of Libertarians being elected to any office is less than stellar, so spending money -- anyone's money -- on a Libertarian campaign is probably not the smartest investment option. But to me, that's still not a very good reason to completely avoid the fight. As a Marine, it's not the losing that bothers me; it's the idea that no one is willing to even gear up for the fight that needs fighting. In my opinion, the continued lock-step extremism of the Old Parties and their respective platforms has been wholly detrimental to both the political discourse of this country, and to the soul of the country itself.
"... and the men who hold high places must be the ones who start..."
