Libertarian gives Indiana voters a third presidential choice

Indiana voters who do not like the major party choices have a third option on the ballot this election year. Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik is the only name appearing on the presidential ballot besides Republican George W. Bush and Democrat John Kerry in Indiana. \nWhile he will appear on the ballot in at least 48 states, according to www.lp.org, Indiana cast the second greatest number of libertarian votes in 2000. For that reason, students should be educated as to what the libertarian party stands for, said senior Nicholas Blesch, president of the IU College Libertarians.\n"With any (political) race, if you vote for a third party ... you're saying 'I don't like the options,' and if you have 5 percent of the vote, you're saying to them they need to look at who they're running," said Blesch, who said that Badnarik stands for a smaller government and individual responsibility.\nAccording to www.vote-smart.org, Badnarik supports gay marriage, abortion rights, legalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, discontinuing affirmative action and allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons. He would also like to eliminate government funding for agriculture, arts, education, international aid, medical research, welfare, space exploration, scientific research, research and development of new weapons, public health services and national parks. \nHe also supports eliminating the income tax. When given room to comment on the choice, he called for a "repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment. ... Operate the federal government on low, uniform, Constitutional tariffs and excises."\nDoctoral candidate Joshua Herring, another member of IUCLs, said government spending is the most important issue to him in this election.\n"Badnarik is the only candidate in this election who is serious about reducing the size of the government by eliminating a lot of agencies we can live without. I'm not excited about going out into the world and getting a job just so that a third of my paycheck can pay for the Republicans' and Democrats' pet social programs -- programs that, more often than not, are counterproductive."\nBlesch supports Badnarik because "he's the only one who offers anything different ... Kerry says we're going to stay in (Iraq) and do it right. Bush says we're going to stay in and do it right ... Something needs to change. Seems like we ought to start at the top."\nContinuing study student Barbara O'Leary said she is also concerned about the situation in Iraq and that is why she will vote Kerry. \n"He can't say that he's going to take us out of there because he wouldn't get elected, but people shouldn't not vote for him because he doesn't come out and say it," O'Leary said. \nJunior Heather Dent said that she, too, would vote for a third party this year but instead has decided not to "take votes from Kerry."\nWhen asked to respond to this sentiment, Herring took the question very literally. "Every citizen is entitled to exactly one vote -- including Sen. Kerry. No one can 'take' votes from him that never belonged to him in the first place." Herring said. "(But I) doubt the third-party option will make much of a difference in this election ... It's a shame because the two major-party options are even worse than usual this time around."\nJeff Smith, Indiana state coordinator for the Badnarik for President Campaign, said that Badnarik's strongest issue is "bringing the federal government back in line with the Constitution and reducing it to 20 percent of its current size." He also said that Badnarik is an expert on the Constitution and just wrote a book called "It's Good to Be King."\nSmith said Badnarik believes the issue of the legalization of marijuana falls under the heading of Constitutional rights and self ownership. \n"Our most valuable property is our body. If you can't choose what goes into your body then you've lost ... basically everything."\nThe Libertarian Party, is cited as the largest third party in the United States, according to its Web site, and currently has 590 Libertarians holding public offices. In 2000, the Party ran 1,430 candidates nationwide, which is more than twice the combined number of all other third parties.\nBadnarik ran in two elections prior to the current one, both for Texas State House of Representatives, according to www.vote-smart.org. He was born in Hammond, Ind., and attended IU from 1972 until 1977. For Blesch the choice is an easy one. \n"I would never vote for a party I didn't agree with," he said. "I don't care for coffee or tea. If someone offers me the two, I'm not going to drink."\n-- Contact staff writer Janice Neaveill at jneaveil@indiana.edu.