A post at the
Arkansas Libertarian Party compares the candidacies of careerist Republican politician Jim Holt and independent conservative candidate Trevor Drown in Arkansas's race for US Senate; and, unfortunately, sides with the Republican on admittedly superficial grounds:
Drown, Holt, Lincoln, Root and Associates . . . None of them even comes close to the political caliber of Jim Holt . . .
Jim Holt is a true, reasonably honest politician. Just like Boozman and Lincoln he can take a diverse group of people and make them his friends. You have never meet the others but if you ever get the privileged to “know” these people you would understand that even though you may not like everything they say or do they, just like Holt, can convince both atheists and liberals that having a particular born again Christian or whatever as THEIR united States Senator may not be so bad after all. And just like Holt those two have and are willing to take a stand on unpopular issues even if it means they loose a few votes. If citizens would spend an hour or so researching and reading the back story behind their public votes both of them might seem more like heroes then villains. Indeed given the same set of circumstances and depth of knowledge most of the people reading this personal opinion piece would probably end up marking their ballots the same way.
Trevor Drown may be a better person. He may even become a better politician but just like me he lacks that gift of gab or at least has yet to polish its style. That was plainly obvious when I heard him speak at the Second Amendment Rally. To his credit he is on the ballot but that is more the mechanics of hard work then it is voter appeal. With a crowd of several thousand or at a staged televised event whatever personal advantage he might have will get lost in the two dimensional translation. Bottom line: he aint quite ready for prime time. Yes in these strange times he might actually win but it is at best a long shot.
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7 comments:
I read this same thing yesterday on their site and had to laugh. First of all Jim Holt is a decent guy, but this is his second or third time at bat and there is Jim Holt fatigue. The social religious aspect is what turns a lot of people off. I don't believe he is the religious zealot some paint him. But I can see where it comes off that way. I met a few members of the Arkansas Libertarian Party. Gerdoff, Rob Richards, etc. Nice fellows, hearts' in the right place. Problem is they are on the fringe, they are not the same kind of Libertarian that John Stossall is. Smoking Pot and getting rid of the military are not key issues that are going to win you support in Arkansas. Also the wild leather cowboy hat, frontier, long hair bearded look with a t-shirt that says stop the Fed makes the average person think fringe.
I have met Trevor Drown a few times. I have seen him speak and seen him in action. He is still rough and uses few words when most politicians want to use more. And he is improving more and more everyday and the support shows it. It actually is a pleasure to hear him speak about this country and what an Arkansas Conservative believes in. While he may not be the ultimate answer for our problems in this country, he is a good start and is representative of what I had hoped the Tea Party's would produce, rather than boiler plate Republicans and fringe elements. A run off between Holt, Drown and Democrat of your choice would be an interesting one. In the end it would boil down to the first two and it would be a close one. Regardless Arkansas and the country would be in a better place.
As a member of the Arkansas LP Executive Committee I must take issue with a couple points.
This is one member's opinion, who happens to be the Chairman of the party. Many in the party disagree with his opinions, and I am bothered by the fact that you paint the entire party with this opinion.
As far as the actual party stance, we have endorsed Jim Holt in the Republican Primary and that is all. We were very excited to learn that Trevor Drown was certified for ballot access and we hope to soon have him speak to members of our party and share his views.
As far as you meeting a couple members and painting the entire party with this brush, and referring to us as "fringe"... Hmm.
Why would you have already read our blog posts if we're so fringe? Secondly, had you attended maybe our state convention, you could have gotten a much better view of exactly how mainstream we are as a party. Americans are fed up with the two party system, and we are busy building a foundation to grow our organization into a political force that can WIN statewide elections, not just scream from the rooftops.
Thanks for the comment Anon.
David, I assume the first portion of your comment is directed at the post and title rather than Anonymous's comment. You make a fair criticism. I have amended the headline to specify that the quotation is from an individual and not the party as a whole.
And, actually, in a separate post, I quoted another ARLP'er who opposed the committee's endorsement of the Republican. He made a good case that the endorsement of Republicans is virtually indefensible. As you yourself say, Americans are fed up with the two-party system. Endorsing Republicans and/or Democrats does not help the cause of breaking up the ruling two-party state and duopoly system of government. It sets that cause back.
And thanks for the comment.
David,
I made the first comment on this thread,
Your reponse,
(As far as you meeting a couple members and painting the entire party with this brush, and referring to us as "fringe)
You make a valid point and I apologize in the regards that I didn't maybe explain better. It is perception sometimes that is the killer. I am also an indpendent with the closest ideoligy of the libertarians. My highest belief is the party system, two in our case is our major problem. In order to be considered serious, one must address serious issues. A few focusing on things that either will take years to change or will never change, gives one the fringe impression. Especially, to the uninformed. I know the beliefs on pot, end the military, etc are not mainline issues for the libertarians. But that is what seems to be what the party in Arkansas is focusing on. Not in your material, but in your representatives.
No offense intended. The GOP are a much easier target, ala Doyle Webb and his imcompetence and poor leadership, not to mention his mouth.
Peace Brother!
The way I see it, Trevor Drown is exactly what is needed. Not only for Arkansas but for the country. He is a true Tea Party style, no nonsense dream. The fact that he was able to motivate so many people to gather signatures for him all across the state shows message and leadership. Someone like him could gove the people hope that the common man has the ability to go up to Washington and change something. Like many of my friends in Arkansas, I am voting for anyone that is not of the two-party system. He couldn't do any worse and he could do so much more, including galvinizing the people, limiting government and getting both parties to maybe wake up and quit mortaging our children' s future. For the first time in my life I plan on getting politically involved and handing out material. I encourage everyone to drop their differences and petty singular issues and try and get someone like Trevor into office in their state.
Larry Mountain Home
Right on Larry!
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