Socrtease
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Posted: Sunday, October 14, 2012 12:00 am | Updated: 3:57 pm, Sun Oct 14, 2012.
By THOMAS J. LUCENTE Jr. tlucente@limanews.com 419-993-2095
Posted on October 14, 2012
by Thomas Lucente
Anyone paying attention to the presidential campaign has to admit the former governor is the best candidate in the race.
When the two-term governor left office, his state was only one of four in the nation with a balanced budget. He created more than 20,000 jobs and he reduced the state’s workforce by 1,200 government jobs without firing anyone.
Yet, despite his obvious qualifications, the media won’t cover him and he wasn’t allowed to participate in the debates.
Yet, if Gary Johnson had a R after his name instead of an L, the Libertarian Party candidate would probably be leading the race right now.
That little letter after his name is truly the only thing standing between him and the White House.
This is the problem with our electoral system today.
The R’s and the D’s have run the government for so long that they have written the rules to exclude candidates who belong to other clubs. Simply getting on the ballot is more difficult if you don’t belong to one of the two evil parties.
For example, in Pennsylvania, the Republican and Democratic party candidates only have to turn in 2,000 signatures. Other parties, such as Johnson’s Libertarian Party, have to turn in about 10 times as many this year. In past years, because of the way the law is written, that number has been as high as 30 times more signatures.
Then, after the minor-party candidate turns in his or her signatures, one of the evil parties will challenge the signatures and sue the candidate to keep him or her off the ballot. That is exactly what happened this year with Johnson. The Republican party has gone to court to challenge the signatures. Of the 49,000 signatures turned in, the GOP challenged 44,000 of them.
The reason for the court challenge is to push the minor-party candidate out. Very few minor parties actually have the financial resources to fight against the legal challenge. And even if they do fight the challenge, that is money they can no longer spend on campaigning.
In other words, the GOP and the Dems use their huge war chests to keep a candidate off the ballot.
How is that fair? Where is the justice in that?
The two parties are using legal thuggery to silence a voice and to keep a choice from the people.
It’s time to bring an end to this monopoly. As much as the two major parties argue in public, they have formed an unholy alliance to battle against giving the people an alternative choice.
Don’t be their victims.
Cast a responsible ballot for the candidate best suited to the position. That, of course, would be Johnson. His track record as governor of New Mexico puts former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney’s record to shame. And it is far superior to Obama’s record as president.
Indeed, Johnson’s experience is far more extensive than Obama’s was when he became president. Johnson was a successful governor, Obama was a community organizer.
I hear two arguments against voting for Johnson. Both are faulty.
The first is that a vote for Johnson is a wasted vote because he won’t win. I could say the same for Obama. Obama is going to lose so a vote for him is a wasted vote.
Seriously, I can see no sillier argument for not voting for someone.
Besides, Johnson is likely to be on the ballot in all 50 states. As, I said before, the only thing standing between him and the White House is that L after his name. And this silly argument plays right into that mentality.
The D’s and R’s work hard to convince you that you are wasting your vote when you vote for Johnson or some other third-party candidate.
Don’t be fooled. The only truly wasted vote is not voting for your conscience.
The other argument is equally silly. It goes something like this: “This election is too important and I don’t want to risk Obama winning because I voted for Johnson,” or some such nonsense.
But isn’t that the case in every election? Did I not hear that same argument four years ago?
Don’t be an automaton. Vote your conscience. Vote for Gary Johnson. Be Libertarian for one election and you won’t regret it. And if you don’t like it, you can always go back to voting for big government and perpetual war in 2016.
Live free.
Posted: Sunday, October 14, 2012 12:00 am | Updated: 3:57 pm, Sun Oct 14, 2012.
By THOMAS J. LUCENTE Jr. tlucente@limanews.com 419-993-2095
Posted on October 14, 2012
by Thomas Lucente
Anyone paying attention to the presidential campaign has to admit the former governor is the best candidate in the race.
When the two-term governor left office, his state was only one of four in the nation with a balanced budget. He created more than 20,000 jobs and he reduced the state’s workforce by 1,200 government jobs without firing anyone.
Yet, despite his obvious qualifications, the media won’t cover him and he wasn’t allowed to participate in the debates.
Yet, if Gary Johnson had a R after his name instead of an L, the Libertarian Party candidate would probably be leading the race right now.
That little letter after his name is truly the only thing standing between him and the White House.
This is the problem with our electoral system today.
The R’s and the D’s have run the government for so long that they have written the rules to exclude candidates who belong to other clubs. Simply getting on the ballot is more difficult if you don’t belong to one of the two evil parties.
For example, in Pennsylvania, the Republican and Democratic party candidates only have to turn in 2,000 signatures. Other parties, such as Johnson’s Libertarian Party, have to turn in about 10 times as many this year. In past years, because of the way the law is written, that number has been as high as 30 times more signatures.
Then, after the minor-party candidate turns in his or her signatures, one of the evil parties will challenge the signatures and sue the candidate to keep him or her off the ballot. That is exactly what happened this year with Johnson. The Republican party has gone to court to challenge the signatures. Of the 49,000 signatures turned in, the GOP challenged 44,000 of them.
The reason for the court challenge is to push the minor-party candidate out. Very few minor parties actually have the financial resources to fight against the legal challenge. And even if they do fight the challenge, that is money they can no longer spend on campaigning.
In other words, the GOP and the Dems use their huge war chests to keep a candidate off the ballot.
How is that fair? Where is the justice in that?
The two parties are using legal thuggery to silence a voice and to keep a choice from the people.
It’s time to bring an end to this monopoly. As much as the two major parties argue in public, they have formed an unholy alliance to battle against giving the people an alternative choice.
Don’t be their victims.
Cast a responsible ballot for the candidate best suited to the position. That, of course, would be Johnson. His track record as governor of New Mexico puts former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney’s record to shame. And it is far superior to Obama’s record as president.
Indeed, Johnson’s experience is far more extensive than Obama’s was when he became president. Johnson was a successful governor, Obama was a community organizer.
I hear two arguments against voting for Johnson. Both are faulty.
The first is that a vote for Johnson is a wasted vote because he won’t win. I could say the same for Obama. Obama is going to lose so a vote for him is a wasted vote.
Seriously, I can see no sillier argument for not voting for someone.
Besides, Johnson is likely to be on the ballot in all 50 states. As, I said before, the only thing standing between him and the White House is that L after his name. And this silly argument plays right into that mentality.
The D’s and R’s work hard to convince you that you are wasting your vote when you vote for Johnson or some other third-party candidate.
Don’t be fooled. The only truly wasted vote is not voting for your conscience.
The other argument is equally silly. It goes something like this: “This election is too important and I don’t want to risk Obama winning because I voted for Johnson,” or some such nonsense.
But isn’t that the case in every election? Did I not hear that same argument four years ago?
Don’t be an automaton. Vote your conscience. Vote for Gary Johnson. Be Libertarian for one election and you won’t regret it. And if you don’t like it, you can always go back to voting for big government and perpetual war in 2016.
Live free.