I miss Larry Hayes. Reading his stuff on The Journal Gazette editorial page woke me up better than three cups of strong coffee. (“What an imbecilic editorial! Liberal claptrap! Moron! Idiot!!!) I like to think I made his evenings as interesting. These days, I have to content myself with an occasional swipe at Tracy Warner:
The Libertarian Party is fielding candidates in eight of the nine City Council races. The board declined to interview the Libertarians in these races because, at least for now, the party has failed to yield competitive candidates for local or statewide offices. In last year’s election for Indiana House District 80, for example, the Libertarian candidate received less than 4 percent of the vote. In the 2004 presidential election, the party’s presidential candidate received less than 1 percent of the vote in Allen County.
So The Journal Gazette isn’t interviewing the Libertarians because they have “failed to yield competitive candidates”?That sounds like, “They have no chance of winning, so we can’t be bothered with them.” Does that mean the JG isn’t interviewing for the 6th District, in which there is a snowball’s chance in hell that Democrat Glynn Hines won’t be re-elected, or for the 2nd, in which Republican Don Schmidt has cruised easily to victory election after election? I don’t think so.
I am not a big-l Libertarian, but I have a lot of little-l libertarian instincts, so take this for what it is worth. You’ve heard of the dilemma of young people trying to get that first good job. They can’t get hired unless they have experience, but they can’t get the experience unless they get a job. Libertarians are now trapped in the political equivalent of that Catch-22. Tracy Warner apparently wants to keep them in that rut.
The News-Sentinel did invite the Libertarians to interview for the privilege of our political endorsement (for whatever that is worth these days), along with the Democrats and Republicans. I can’t say yet whether we will endorse any of them (see the editorial page next week for our picks), but they have earned the right to be taken seriously by getting involved in the political process.
Libertarians have already had the kind of success the Socialists did early in the last century. Socialists never won many elected offices, but their ideas became core planks in the Democratic Party platform. Libertarians haven’t won many offices, but their ideas have had a great impact on the Republican Party. Whether the Libertarian Party succeeds on its own and becomes the serious alternative to the two major parties will depend on how it does in local elections. Fort Wayne Libertarians have eight candidates in the city election — contesting every race except mayor, city clerk and the 4h District City Council race. That deserves more respect than The Journal Gazette is willing to give.
Opening Arguments 
October 17, 2007 at 12:47 pm
The deck is clearly stacked against third parties, in both the electoral system and in the media.
For example Ron Paul who is gaining on the front runners in fund raising, wins nearly every internt poll and has the “buzz” is barely noticed by the MSM
October 17, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Thank you, Mr. Morris. This will be a building year, yes, but we certainly aren’t going away.
October 17, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Ron Paul wins internet polls because the Paulnuts vote 1000 times each. His fundraising is miniscule, he’s not gaining on anybody, and his followers especially make the REAL Libertarians look foolish by association. Just because a guy has one or two good ideas doesn’t mean you can disregard the other 98 whacked out ideas. I sincerely hope the local Libertarians fare well, as I like some of them and respect their opinions, but grabbing Pauls coat-tails will only get you stares and looks of bewilderment.
October 17, 2007 at 10:27 pm
I see you are as misinformed as usual Mr Zank
Paul raised 5 million last reporting period – more than McCain and all the second tier guys and as much as Romney not including what Romney chipped in on his own. Hardly miniscule
No question Paul has the “buzz” factor, if you haven’t noticed you clearly arent paying attention.
in fact paul’s ideas look quite sane when compared to some of the tin foil hat stuff of most libertarians.
October 17, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Forgot to mention Leo – I had the exact same reaction to Warner’s article as you.
I miss hayes too but probably for different reason 🙂
October 18, 2007 at 11:30 am
I’d like to hear what the litmus test is for a campaign to be considered legit. How does a newspaper ignore eight candidates and still claim to consider and understand all facets of a campaign?
That’s a big void.
October 19, 2007 at 6:57 pm
Leo, as I said in our meeting, its refreshing that the News Sentinel took the time and effort to not only listen to our views and platforms, but to also seriously consider endorsing some of the Libertarian candidates. It will not go unnoticed!
October 20, 2007 at 3:21 am
I too was shocked at the arrogance of the JG in their refusal to interwiew the Libertarian’s running for city council. If there was some tin foil hat Green party canadite running you know that they would be interviewing them and endorsing them for public office. This tells you one thing for sure; they are scared..real scared. They know that all their liberal and RINO buddies on the counsel have done, they have messed up real good and are about to pay the price. It is time for Fort Wayne to rise up and take back our City from the people who use it as their private playground using our money in the process.
Tom Henry’s folksy radio ad is a joke, he blames the property tax mess on the state, while Grahm Richard can’t hand out checks to buy property and give to outside consulants fast enough. If you don’t think that effects your property tax you need to take off your tin foil hat and tune into reality.
Come on people let’s do something different, let’s elect some true fiscal conservatives into office, vote Libetarian in the city elections this year.
October 22, 2007 at 8:09 am
Most media treats elections as a horse race. They focus on people instead of on issues, despite it being a nation of laws and not of men. Warner is in this mold.
That goes a long way to explaining the “Paulnuts” Tim Zank refers to. Of course they stuff the electronic ballot box. If you aren’t perceived to be on course to win, you won’t get coverage in the horse race. It’s the only logical option they have.