Quoth Allen Rice: > Yes, mentioning Olivier's feeble election returns was a cheap shot. > Intentionally, and, in my opinion deservedly, so. > > If an action is being suggested, in this case temporarily switching > registration to vote for the most effective libertarian candidate in > the Presidential race, it should be sold on its merits, and not > because some supposed "leader" tells us we should do it.
I think you're misinterpreting the purpose and value of such endorsements. Yes, the case for re-registering Republican to vote for Ron Paul has to be sold on its merits ... and Art Olivier is the kind of guy whose endorsement of that case is likely to cause those who hear of it to look into the case and its merits. Yes, Olivier turned in an underwhelming performance as the LP's 2006 candidate for governor of California (although, as I point out, that performance is an improvement on recent performances as a percentage of the overall third party vote, and possibly even the marker for a reversal of a 20-year downward trend for the LP in that respect). But: Olivier has served as an elected Libertarian on the city council of, and as mayor of, a reasonably large polity. He has served as the LP's vice-presidential candidate, and turned in a very credible performance in that role (I was impressed with his speech when he visited St. Louis as the VP candidate). I don't agree with him on everything by any means (and I supported Kubby rather than him for VP in 2000), but he's the kind of guy I'm inclined to lend an ear to when he wants to bend that ear. He's been more successful as an LP candidate than most LP candidates, which just might mean that he has useful knowledge to impart or that he has a perspective worth HEARING before accepting or rejecting. Regards, Tom Knapp
