Down Went Garton

Many may remember the Indianapolis Star plastering Senator Bob Garton's stunning defeat in the primaries early this month. What most don't know and should is that his replacement is not very electable. Greg Walker has drawn the ire of both sides, partly for his part in bringing down Garton, and partly for unusual statements he's made in the past (like supporting public flogging of felons).

Rising as a very credible alternative, possibly in just the right place at just the right time, is Kenn Gividen. Kenn last ran in the gubenatorial race against Daniels and Kernan. I had the priviledge to meet Mr. Gividen at our local county fair and was very impressed with him. Indiana has a tradition of having truly excellent candidates step forward from the ranks of Libertarians, not the least of which include Mike Kole who's currently running for Secretary of State and Andy Horning, who ran against Julia Carson and also in other local elections.

Unfortunately, Indiana has another tradition they share with most states. Its citizens tend to vote for the party that dominates local elections. In Lake, Marion and Monroe counties, that is usually Democrats. Elsewhere, except some southern counties, it's Republican. So even if the candidate has little or no redeeming values, or doesn't really run a campaign, all they have to do is have the D or R after their name in the right place and they get elected. This has left some truly excellent candidates out to dry when they should have been serving you in the halls of government.

A unique opportunity exists in Senator Garton's old district. With Republicans defecting en masse to make sure he fell in the primary (following my advice, it would seem), but unwilling to see a Democrat get the seat, there are two choices. They can back Walker, who really has lukewarm support at best among the base, or they can look to Gividen, who has legitimate views that really do connect with the average Bartholomew resident (property taxes come to mind).

I had hopes with Andy Horning, and certainly I think Mike Kole will make a great run at the SecState seat, but to see such a strong candidate like Kenn have such a clear shot at a fairly strong seat in the Indiana Senate is more than I thought we'd see for the Libertarians in the immediate future. A gain at that level would be a unique and exploitable breach in the two party stranglehold currently on the legislature.

I wish him well and urge those who live in and around Columbus to give him a second look, or even a first look. You'll actually have a chance to elect someone who is as concerned with you about bloated waste in government and whose cornerstone philosophy is to reduce your tax burden. If that isn't worth five minutes to consider, then how do you justify even going to vote? Do yourself and your fellow citizens a favor, consider the issues in this one, and really take into account what Kenn getting elected might mean for the legislature.

Good Luck Kenn and Mike and all the Libertarians running in the election. They didn't pay me or buy me dinner or anything. I just think they're candidates who have the right ideas for Indiana and this being my blog, I thought that worth sharing with you all. Although if they want to buy me dinner, Papa's in Fishers is pretty good. :) Only kidding. Good luck guys.