Posted on 10/31/2004 12:43:54 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
There's more than one Texan on the ballot for president this year.
Libertarian Michael Badnarik — the only third-party or independent presidential candidate on the Texas ballot — is from Austin.
Badnarik campaigned in Houston on Saturday and will spend the rest of his time on the trail in his home state.
"I'm a legitimate candidate from a legitimate party," he said at a gathering of about 25 people at a Clear Lake-area Fuddruckers.
Badnarik is actually on the ballot in more states than Ralph Nader. Badnarik is on 48 ballots. Nader is on 35.
Election Day could be a watershed year for the party, Badnarik said, if it is able to garner 1 million votes.
He's been traveling the country since January; he packed up his place in Austin, put all of his belongings in storage and hit the road.
Within five months he put 25,000 miles on his car.
He tries to get media attention wherever he goes, often doing six interviews a day with local media.
He has been largely ignored by the national press.
Badnarik was arrested in St. Louis for trying to gain admittance to the presidential debate.
"It's been like living on a roller coaster without getting off," he said of his bid for president.
He's spent about $1 million on his campaign, with $300,000 going toward TV ads in a few states, primarily New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona.
Badnarik is running, he said, because he can't vote for President Bush or Democratic candidate John Kerry and respect himself in the morning.
He cannot support a candidate who will continue the war in Iraq or operate government in a deficit, he said.
Badnarik, a computer consultant, stresses individual rights over government intervention, and limited regulation of business.
He says the war in Iraq is a failure and that there is no exit strategy. He has maintained that Libertarian philosophy supports gay marriages, arguing that government should not decide who can engage in a marriage contract.
The federal government's job is limited to three things, he said — national defense, coining money and operating the post office. He says the government should not have a Department of Education, the Food and Drug Administration or the Environmental Protection Agency.
Badnarik says he wants to cost both Bush and Kerry the election, but at the same time he isn't packing his bags for the White House just yet.
"We are just beginning this fight," he said. "We will continue to exist, and we will restore liberty."
kristen.mack@chron.com
Most analysts are predicting exactly this to happen in the GOP regardless of who wins. Here's hoping that the party moves closer to the mission statement of FR.
While I agree with you that the LP's foreign policy is flaky as hell, that argument is a dangerous one. Al Gore and the gun-grabbers use it regularly.
Which means, most likely, he is not taking votes from Nader because Nader is essentially not an option.
Well, now the strong are agents of the Federal Government. Those that get subsidies/protection become big business that end up wiping out the smaller businessmen.
But I gather we are probably not going to agree about government intervention in the economy.
Good, lets hope they resolve the issue of the fringe elements once and for all. Running a campaign solely to be a spoiler for John Kerry pretty much sums it up...they're aren't conservative and they aren't on our side.
Not at all, realizing that we don't live in the era of the founders is far from dangerous. Pretending that the world hasn't changed is dangerous...and very foolish.
Maybe times aren't that different since the era of the founders. Your definition fits Democratic activists trying to win the election for Kerry to a "T". Yes, the pretty much sums up the LP campaign...in their own words.
I shall have to amend my words now. They aren't the willing tools of the left, they are the unsavory willing tools of the left.
True,true,a rather surprising mental disorder no doubt.
Please go to and read your post #65,on this thread. I specifically mentioned that it was your FIRST POST TO CWOJACKSON,wherein you smarmily implied that he was no better than a Dem and worse.Instead of referring to that reply of yours,you now CCP your post to faithincowboys.
You are the one who continues to post one bizarre reply after another,becoming more hysterical,schizophrenic,and mendacious as you go along. I don't know if any of those problems can be treated successfully;however,you PROJECTION COMPLEX can be treated and you really should seek help for,at the least,that mental disorder.
Oh yes,and your obsessive/compulsion complex,displayed by your spamming the same message in each reply,needs attention as well.
Good luck in finding the medical help you so need. :-)
Interesting info...many thanks for posting it.
We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. Going by that logic, one could make the argument that the founders could not have imagined automatic weapons and therefore we should not be able to bear them. I'm going to stick with the Clarence Thomas absolutionist view of rights.
Do you agree that the Founders held small-l libertarian beliefs, similar, for example to the mission statement of Free Republic?
The founders had no concept of how a whole nations wealth can be tied to a couple of buildings in New York City...or how those building could be the target of enemies from the other side of the world...or that our enemies could strike at us in a matter of hours by flying tremendous flying machines into buildings taller then many eastern mountains.
No, you folks simply don't seem to grasp the fact that the world is a very different place today but fixate on single issues.
What's this "you folks" crap? I stated earlier in this thread that I think the LP's foreign policy sucks. I also noted that there was enough to criticize them about without taking an Al Gore "living constitution" argument.
As for single issues, I did notice one of your anti-libertarian friends on this thread arguing for gun-grabbing on another thread earlier today.
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