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
Nader won't pull many votes at all this year.He isn't even on the ballot in many states. He's just about irrelevant;but far more relevant than Badnarik or the even less relevant Constitution Party candidate.
Nader is NOT on the ballot on Florida.
Probably.
Actually the private sector could make better highways than government, they contract 99% of the work out anyways.
Always taking the high road, when you are dealing with lowlifes, is one of the major reasons this country has nearly gotten to the point of no return. In the name of tolerance and diversity, we have allowed those that seek a socialist utopia to nearly seize control of the country.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Just look at the MSM this election cycle. How in the world did they degenerate to the point where they are openly and unashamedly supporting one candidate over the other?
As to Nader, he is so far left that he is off the scale. The only votes he will syphon off from the Rats is the truly-principled loony-left.
That's a pretty serious accusation. Do you mind posting your proof? Not assertions. Proof.
And if you don't have proof, please post your apology.
Without proof, you are no different than the Democrats who throw charges around. And what's really funny is that while you call Badnarik 'a tool of the left', you overlook the the growth in government, infringement of liberty, and cost of government under Bush. Those are all characteristics of the left, aren't they?
No, I admit I don't know the details. Just seems silly there are so many agencies - not including ATF and local law enforcement.
I suppose we need homeland security, but I rather have a more aggressive offensive strategy than a defensive one. For example, as Savage suggested, tell the Saudis to hand over Bin Laden or Medina will be turned into glass.
Well, yes, though contractors really are just another arm of big government. My definition is fairly specific - highways, interchanges, lights.
WASHINGTON -- The Libertarian Party launches a TV advertising campaign on Thursday that could boot George Bush out of the White House by appealing for votes from disgruntled conservatives.
"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."
The television ads, paid for by the Libertarian National Committee, start running Thursday on the No. 1-rated Fox News Channel, which appeals to a largely conservative audience.
The 30-second spots, titled "Send A Message," feature a couple sitting at their kitchen table agonizing over their choice on Election Day. After agreeing that Bush has betrayed his small-government promises, and that they can't vote for Kerry, they resolve to "send a message" by voting Libertarian. The ads can be seen at:
[deleted]
With Bush and Kerry running neck-and-neck, just a few thousand votes for Badnarik in key states could tip the outcome of the election, according to outside analysts.
Recent polls by Rasmussen Research have shown Badnarik drawing 5 percent in New Mexico, where former Vice President Al Gore beat Bush by 366 votes in 2000, and garnering 3 percent in Nevada, which Bush won by 4 percentage points in 2000.
Political science professor Lawrence Jacobs of the University of Minnesota says: "The Libertarians are drawing somewhere between 1 percent and 3 percent -- not big numbers, but in these very close races like the presidential contest, they could well be the margin of difference. They pose a genuine threat to be the kingmaker in several swing states."
Bush is especially vulnerable in swing states where Nader is not on the ballot, such as Oregon, Ohio, Missouri and Arizona. According to Jacobs, Badnarik's presence on the ballot in those states "creates a drain on Republican voters that the Democrats aren't experiencing."
Notes Seehusen: "In 2000, it's likely that Nader cost Gore the election by getting enough votes in one key state -- Florida," he said. "In 2004 Badnarik has the potential to Naderize Bush in several states.
"This ad campaign is designed to teach an important lesson to lying politicians like George Bush: If you don't start keeping your promises, you won't be keeping your job."
What's "SILLY,is basing your opinions on no knowledge at all,except what you hear from some idiot talk show host,who has the intellect of a dead slug and is so emotional,he belongs in a loony-bin.Immediately stop posting and just read until your eyes feel as though they are falling out of your head.Go to FR's archives and start there.I can't get you up to speed on my own and have neither the time,patience,nor inclination to do so.
It should be easy for you to be able to post your proof. You do have proof, don't you? Or are also making baseless charges?
I think we need to privatize all roads, and the post office and just about everything else.
LOL ...smart move!
I wasn't going to make it cheaper for Soros by linking to his ads...oops, I mean the LP's ads.
Soros and his sons haves lately poured money into the coffers of Dems in N.Y. State.They also have spent a huge amount of money to influence all sorts of pro-dope legislation there.Since the LP also supports this cause,it is only logical to assumes that he has poured money into this rancid add campaign as well.
You've already been mortally wounded,from asking the first query and hurling your venom at another poster.Your predicament,is that YOU have less than NO knowledge about the add;however,many of us do.
And if anyone on this thread sounds exactly like a LIBERAL,it is YOU. :^)
The problems with the Libertarian Party are almost to innumerable to do justice with a brief post. But let me try:
1) They make the perfect the enemy of the good;
2) They are unduly obsessed with drug legalization - to the extent that for a good portion of LP members, it appears to be the only bit of liberty they really care much about;
3) A good chunk of them (maybe a third or so) are anarchocapitalists in the Murray Rothbard mold who hold a philosophy that can ONLY work in a world where it is shared by 100% of the population;
4) They refuse to deal with the fact that until Libertarian Nirvana has descended upon us, nation-states DO exist, and therefore, such functions of the state as managing borders and providing a national defense are liberty-advancing, not liberty-diminishing activities;
5) They embroil themselves in interminable rambling debates on such wonderfully useful subjects as privatizing the military and the private ownership of nuclear weapons;
6) Too many of them fail to understand that there are some areas of public policy (e.g., abortion and the death penalty) with respect to which a libertarian framework of analysis simply isn't dispositive. That is, libertarians can properly take either view depending upon their personal and religious views.
7) Lots of them smell bad.
LNGOP'r
The Post Office has so much compition now,many people no longer write any sort of letters,and there isw the net,that the PO may soon die anyway.
I think times have changed enough to at least let private roads get another chance. Remember they used to think nobody but the government could deliver a package
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