Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Libertarians flock to Pierres

I went to the anti smoking-ban event at Pierres last night.

I saw a total of seven Fort Wayne Libertarians at the event. Jennifer Griggs and the Allen County Libertarian Party did a great job handing out Libertarian literature at the event and getting the word out that Libertarians oppose this smoking-ban since it is a violation of the property rights of business owners.

NOTE: The smoking ban was approved by the Allen County Commissioners, all of whom are Republican. The smoking ban was then approved by the Fort Wayne City Council. FOUR Republicans and THREE Democrats voted in favor of the smoking ban. One Republican voted against the smoking ban and one Democrat abstained... The Democratic Mayor supports the new smoking ban.

There are seven candidates who spoke at the event. I am going to summarize how I feel about each candidate after hearing their opinions last night

In alphabetical order by last name:

Marty Bender. He is running for City Council at Large and he is running as a Republican. I thought Bender did a good job. I think he is either a moderate Republican or possibly a small government Republican. If I vote in the Republican primary I well might vote for Bender...

Councilman Didier. He is currently the 3rd District City Councilman. He is the ONLY City Councilman to vote against the current Fort Wayne smoking ban. My opinion on Didier has not changed. I think Didier is a moderate Republican. I like him and I think he is an honest and good man. My opinion of him has improved over the last four years...

Karen Golder. Karen is running for the 2nd City Council District and she is running as a Democrat. She is running to be my City Council representative. My opinion of Karen is unchanged, I will be voting for Karen Goldner in November...

Kurt Gutman. Kurt is running for City Council at large as a Republican. Kurt definitely struck me as a moderate Republican. If I vote in the Republican Primary I might vote for Kurt.

Matt Kelty. Matt is running for Mayor as a Republican. I am even more supportive of Matt Kelty today then I was yesterday. Matt truly is a "Goldwater Conservative" and he just might be able to fix the Allen County GOP. The Allen County GOP consistently stands for larger and larger government each and every year. Matt Kelty wants to limit the size and scope of government. I am definitely talking to people about Matt Kelty and I suggest people vote for Matt Kelty for Mayor. If I vote in the Republican primary, the first thing I will do is vote for Matt Kelty... Heck, I am also considering working the polls for The Kelty campaign.

Adam Mildred. Adam Mildred is running for City Council at large as a Republican. I had a fairly positive opinion of Adam before last night. I think Adam Mildred is a small government Republican. If I vote in the Republican primary I WILL vote for Adam Mildred for sure. If I vote in the Republican primary I will vote for Matt Kelty, then I will vote for Adam Mildred, and the rest is not decided yet...

Denise Porter Ross. Denise is running for City Council at large as a Democrat. I thought she came across well. I especially am encouraged by the fact that she has doubts about moving a baseball stadium downtown. I do not know enough about her to form an opinion; however, I thought she performed well last night and I thought she made a positive impression.

I will be posting the rules about voting in the primaries in the next couple of days... I am not sure if I will vote in the primaries or not... As I said I will post more about this soon; however, the basic rule is that you can declare yourself a Republican IF you plan on voting for a majority of Republican candidates in the November election and you can register as a Democrat if you plan on voting for a majority of Democratic candidates in the November election. Libertarians do NOT have primaries. We will be selecting our candidates at the Indiana Libertarian Convention which will be held in Fort Wayne on May 19th, 2007. The Convention will be at The Grand Wayne Center...

Mike Sylvester

9 comments:

Robert Enders said...

The current LPAC chairperson is now known as Jennifer Jeffery. She has adopted the surname of her new husband, which is a common practice in many Western cultures. This also means that all three party chairpeople in Allen County have names that are alliterations.

Anonymous said...

Does Allen County have a Republican Liberty Caucus contingent? He sounds like the kind of Republican that the libertarian wing of the party would gladly endorse. You could join their yahoo group and definitely find a forum for Mr. Kelty to bounce his ideas (or yours) through. Check out their website...

http://www.rlc.org/States/in/

LP Mike Sylvester said...

KDA:

At this time we do not.

I toyed with the idea of joining the Republican Liberty Causus until I talked to their leader Eric Dondero...

He was too intolerant for me...

Mike Sylvester

Anonymous said...

I have communicated with Eric. He is not a "leader" in the caucus. I agree with him more often than not, and though he is active, but don't mistake him as being the leader of the RLC. At least, best I can tell from my dealings with them.

LP Mike Sylvester said...

KDA:

It sounds like you more more about them then I do...

I think they have an interesting approach...

I am just not sure that the GOP can be saved anymore...

Mike Sylvester

Anonymous said...

Valid. I just look at the LP electoral record, and don't believe they're very effective at getting lawmakers elected (at least nationally). Like you said, I guess I'm willing to give the GOP a chance. Even if it doesn't happen by 2008, this big gov't version will have to "Remember Goldwater" if they ever expect to gain a majority again, IMO. I'm pinning my hopes on the RLC to help the GOP get it. The Democratic Party is long gone in my opinion.

Anonymous said...

All of that said, tipping Mr. Kelty off to the RLC may not be a bad idea. Good luck...

Anonymous said...

Mike,

Interesting Political point. I am not looking for an argument and I am certainly not intending to criticise Kelty. I am just posting as a political buff. You state that Kelty truly is a "Goldwater Republican", but he really is not. Goldwater is obviously the father of the conservative political movement, but Goldwater, as you know, was very libertarian on social issues. His views would not be in line at all with most of Kelty's social views.

Sam T.

LP Mike Sylvester said...

Sam:

You are 100% correct!

Matt Kaelty is definately a social conservative and Goldwater was NOT.

Thanks for pointing that out Sam!

Mike Sylvester

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