Yet another excellent article about Libertarian John Monds and his historic run for the Governorship by Terry Lewis down at the Albany Herald. Our guy John has been getting consistent reviews in the state's print media for the last several weeks as the 2010 campaign enters into it's final phases.
My personal favorite this week was the story that Kyle Wingfield over at the AJC put up that looked at the nuts and bolts of Georgia law concerning ballot access for political bodies. The comment trail on that particular piece is spectacular as it showcases some of the best rebuttals I've read on the wasted vote syndrome, the lesser of two evils syndrome and and this stellar example by The Ultra-Humanite:
October 3rd, 2010
9:58 am
9:58 am
Seems to me a vote for either Barnes or Deal would be the wasted vote.So if you’re going to waste a vote anyway – and there’s absolutely no way that you can convince me that voting for Barnes or Deal would not constitute a wasted vote, why not turn that ‘wasted’ vote into a vote that sends a message?
I’m not saying Monds is the greatest candidate Georgia has ever seen. I’m not saying that he’s got a magic wand that he’ll wave upon being elected that will fix everybody’s problems and turn Georgia into a utopia. But my God, look at the alternative! Can anybody make any sort of halfway serious case that Nathan Deal is the kind of candidate that inspires confidence or respect? Can anybody say with a straight face that Roy Barnes will display anything less than the bad ideas and political cowardice that marked his first term?
Actually, a vote for Barnes or Deal would send a message – that all the talk about being fed up, about being tired of big intrusive government and corrupt politicians is just talk. It’ll send a message that, when it matters, when it counts, Georgians are more than happy to keep the system grinding along, grinding up the lives and wealth and productivity of the state, grinding up the state’s future, in the name of maintaining that all-important, all-powerful two-party system. Though, if we’re honest with ourselves, we know deep down inside that it is a one-party system with two faces working for pretty much the same goals.
Why not at least try something different? Why just submit to the inevitable disappointment? Have we as Georgians become so cowardly, so cynical, so firmly entrenched in political dogma that the mere mention of a fresh political perspective must be met with hoots and derision? Is the idea of less government intrusion and more freedom of choice truly so intimidating? Is the Libertarian ideal of ‘live and let live’ really such a crackpot notion? I would like to think that we are not yet so far gone as a society that people can only think of political candidates in terms of who they will control or what they will plunder in accordance to our wishes. I would like to believe that there are still a vast number of Georgians who believe in quaint notions such as individual liberty, limited government, fiscal responsibility, governmental accountability, and political integrity. A vote for John Monds is a vote for all of these.
Let’s not waste our votes this time around on a repeat of the same old establishment candidates that promise only to continue the cycle of corruption and increasing government power. We have a chance to try for something better. Let’s not waste it.
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