Incumbents general cruise to victory in Georgia congressional politics but recently Libertarian candidates forced several elections into runoffs where two candidates duke it out without the coattails of their party’s heap in their corners.
How many Democrats voted for Rep. Jim Marshall during the Obama wave last November but could not pick him out of a lineup? Actually, I am wrong about that because TV viewers saw the 1.3 zillion political ads he ran that never connected him to my guy Obama. About Obama, while the president is quick to kiss and make nice we will live in this South while he is planning his presidential library on the side of an Hawaiian mountain or in a Kansas cornfield. President Obama doesn’t have the right to tell me not to be upset that Rep. Jim Marshall never help us get Hillary or him into the White House.
I have been listening to the Libertarians and other “third” parties lately and came to realize that they are often about creating better government and deeper discussions rather than winning elections. A non-Democrat or non-Republican candidate gets into the debates and asks the real questions about what’s what and if the people are feeling that whole truth thing a runoff is needed and all bets are off.
So Rs and Ds are forcing to make better policy and be fiscally sound now because the people will remember in November after the third party candidate constantly reminds them. In the past, Rs and Ds could do whatever they wanted because the only other choice was other considerably different. The Libertarian candidates I have seen in the past, who get their debates suits at Jacque C. Penne, actually thought they were going to win and it turns out they were right because their objective was to improve the accountability of officeholders.
If a few of those Tea Party guys run for congress next year, things will be interesting for the Blue Dogs and GOPers because those cats have a double barrel shotgun of fact checking. If you have a Blue Dog in a runoff with a decent GOP candidate because a third party candidate ran well, history has proven that the Democrat base doesn’t come back out.
On the other hand, the GOP should be concerned about losing supporters who are discovering that our current national crisis is due in large part to Chaney, Rove and congressional Republicans leading W down the wrong path and misleading the people as they planned their cushy post-government careers with elite private sector companies and firms. What if GOP voters start think, “Wait a second, Bush did do all of this alone..where was the congressional oversight from the Blue Dogs and the GOP.”
For sake of full disclosure, my personal problem with the establishment is that I did get my corner office….yet. As rapper Biggie Smalls said, “Call the crib…same number..same hood…it’s all good…and if you don’t know…now you know.” That’s the unsettling thing about third party movements; they can’t be bought.
Project Logic Ga 
In all honesty, as a Libertarian, I do feel that the best way to get better government is to get Libertarians into office. So far, that hasn’t been all that simple for various reasons, number one being ballot access laws. These laws in Georgia were designed to keep out Socialists and Communists, but also succeed in keeping out anyone who’s not in the Big Two Parties (TM).
The question you mention that GOP voters may start to think is a question that I’d like all voters to think about. There is hypocrisy on every level it seems, from both parties. I heard the same arguments against going into Iraq as I heard about Kosovo, and the same argument for going in as well. The only difference is the parties actually making the arguments. It’s like they’re arguing for the sake of being contrary to the White House. That’s no way to govern a nation.
Yes, we Libertarians do try and get our facts straight. We have to. To many, we’re not “viable” (a pet peeve of mine), so we have to show that we’re still the better alternative to either of the other two people…and unfortunately we haven’t really been able to do that just yet. In time, I sincerely hope that this changes. I really believe that we need more than two parties actually governing in this nation. We probably would be well served by 4 or 5 actually. Then, no one group could hold the power in this nation, and members of Congress would be forced to work with one another.
I hear you Tom. The think about change the ballot access laws was a major topic when Helen was on the Herman Cain show recently. I will mention that to her because I think she is researching of corrective options.
I really think that this should be a non-partisan issue. The United States is actually in violation of a treaty (Copenhagen Accord I think?) because of our ballot access laws. It’s in serious needs of overhauling in every state, though most are better than Georgia.
More choice is never a bad idea.
Greetings all,
If you’d like to strike a blow for Liberty and help end Georgia’s repressive ballot access laws, then consider voting for John Monds, Libertarian Candidate for Governor here in Georgia. If John can break the 20% vote total barrier in the 2010 election, the Libertarians will be able to run candidates for the Georgia House and Senate without the burden of petitioning. Then the 141 incumbents who ran in 2008 without an opponent will face a totally different ground game in 2012.
And change just might come to Georgia.
Thanks for the interesting fact about the petition requirement. It is my understanding that Monds is full of knowledge and he seemed deep on HBA’s radio show last year.
We know there is often a difference between what is best for the nation and what the nation actually wants.
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