For the benefit of any libertarians out thee who might be voting in Tuesday's Republican Senate primary election here in Wisconsin, I'd like to quote a comment that the excellent Kirsten Lombard made in a discussion on her Facebook page. As usual with Kirsten, it is logical, principled, and reveals the sort of specific information you can only get from an experienced foot soldier like her:
My vote is going to Mark Neumann.
Mark has worked really hard to get educated on constitutional and related liberty issues that matter profoundly to me. He's the only guy talking credibly about the NDAA, HR 347, state sovereignty, national sovereignty, and a range of other issues.
He's also demonstrated that he'll be accessible to the grassroots. Just one prominent example: A fellow organizer of mine is working on the Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway (FWHP) issue up in the Appleton area. He called Mark up to talk to him about it. After 20 minutes, Mark said, "You know, I think this requires a longer discussion and face time." So Mark asked if this organizer would come with him on the campaign trail one day so that as they were driving across the state, he could explain to Mark more about the FWHP. He has now taken a principled position against it...because he opened himself to being educated on the issue. Educated by whom? By the grassroots.
Same with Agenda 21. He didn't know what it was when he showed up at my group to be vetted. He does now. Once he knew he had a gap in his education, he worked hard to fill it.
He's going to listen to us. Will he always agree with us? I can't promise that, and I'm guessing he can't either. But one thing I know for sure is that he will hear us and consider what we have to say...and on many issues where he's been listening to us so far, there is agreement once he understands.
That is really, really rare in politicians and candidates most of whom just pretend they're listening, dismiss you, or ignore you altogether. Mark is something really special that way. He has truly EARNED my trust. I didn't just give it to him. He worked for it.
As usual, I am open to counterarguments, but now my plan is to vote on Tuesday and to vote for Neumann.
