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
I'm a libertarian with a SMALL l, thank you. The national Libertarian Party is run by idiots who every four years waste millions of hard-won dollars for no purpose whatsoever.
And if I had to cast the deciding ballot between Bush and Badnarik, I'd vote for Bush without hesitation. Libertarians like Badnarik don't seem to understand that national defense is one of the few legitimate uses of government power, and that the War on Terror, including the war in Iraq, is an integral part of national defense.
Not if you're drawing only 25 people.
Badnarik TV ads target conservative voters***..."Michael Badnarik is going to bring his small-government message right into the living rooms of 96 million households who have a right to be angry at Bush," said Joseph Seehusen, the Libertarian Party's executive director.
"This ad tells Republican voters that the best way to get the party's attention is to patronize the competition -- and that means voting Libertarian." ...***
A lot of it has to do that the current LP is acting like idiots, and I don't like to associate myself with idiots.
600, 000 is greater than the number of votes Gore got over Bush in 2000. Badnarik-- an Austinite backed by Leftwing money-- could cost Bush the election. This guy is a fraud. It's easy to claim you're a big libertarian when you're really a tool for the Left.
Yeah but another 30 woulda come but they were too stoned to make it.
They aren't even in favor of national integrity when it comes to things like the illegal immigration issue. That floors me. To turn America into the world's doormat is the most insane nihilism. Not that Bush has acted much more firmly, and probably won't until we get another gang of 9/11 style attackers that trooped in through the south door.
If their agenda is to defeat the only politicians running who best represent our views then these groups need to be properly identified and considered for what they really are...not our allies.
They're running on FNC as well and everytime they come on,here,I throw pillows at the T.V.!
If they are consenting adults in their own home I don't care what they do.
I agree with alot of the libertarian ideals - but their leadership is confounded by idiocy.
trooped in => troop in
As the GOP grows stronger, I believe we will see that.
Being out of power for so long takes time to repair.
Running good candidates at the state level and moving them up takes time and commitment.
National Defense (and abortion) would be where I disgree with Libertarians. I think I would be comfortable however describing myself as a fiscal libertarian. Naturally hating big government. Ie. With the NSA, FBI and CIA, why did the US need another monolithic entity like Homeland Security?
How much of the vote will Nader pull from Kerry? Will any of it come from Florida?
Their foreign policy position seems to ignore the fact that we made a commitment. I do not think that we can honorably withdraw support from Iraq and Afghanistan in the near future.
I wonder if the LP's dope initiative sugar daddy Soros is funding their anti-Bush campaign?
Nah, not you nopardons!
LOL
It also ignores the fact that we aren't living in the 1700's.
You said it Chief!
We are being overrun with UnAmerican types and it is time to take a stand; either you are with us or you are against us.
The will (hopefully) be time in the future to settle these kinds of differences. Right now, it is far more important to defeat the terrorists and their international socialist appeasers. The rest of the extraneous bullsqueeze will just have to wait.
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