Changing the nature of the debate

May 10, 2012 It has been an interesting week, politically. Last weekend I went to Las Vegas to the National Libertarian Party Convention. We nominated former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson for President, and retired California Supreior Court Judge Jim Gray for Vice President. It is a good ticket. Both have campaigned against the insane war on drugs for years, and both are articulate, hard-working proponents of the Libertarian message. As I campaign as a Libertarian for office, I often quote something I heard years ago, attributed to Eugene Debs, the perennial Socialist Party candidate for President. Someone asked him why he continued to run, when he knew he would not win. His response was that smaller parties do not so much run to win as they run to change the nature of the debate. In the midst of the raging debate over the definition of marriage in North Carolina, we were reminded at the convention that we have supported marriage equality for many years. On Sunday, I watched Vice President Biden, in a televised interview. He was aaked his position on gay marriage, and he said he thought it was a fair thing for everyone. On Tuesday, voters in North Carolina enacted a consitutional amenement to ban gay marriage and civil unions. The President waited until after the vote to announce that he has "evolved" to a position of support for gay marriage. It has made headlines everywhere. But we have been there for years. Have we influenced the direction of the debate? YOu bet we have? Can we continue to do it on other issues? "Tes, we can." And, as my secretay said to me last night, "We're winning, aren't we?" Yes, we are. The Libertarian Party has advocated smaller government and less spending for many years alos. Now the so-called "tea party Republicans" claim they invented the idea. In advocating what we have long advocated, they often bring along their ideas of intolerance, however. Thus, while we can be happy about some "tea party" victories, we reject the intolerance exhibited in North Carolina and other places. American needs this third voice, moving the debate in a direction of common sense. I have not been shy about my opposition to the "war on drugs", which has made criminals of a whole generation, and has filled our jails and prison with people who do no harm to society. My two "major party" opponents will preach big government solutions to law enforcement, which will continue this unwise course. I offer an alternative view, and I simply seek to steer the debate in a different direction. I have been interviewed in the last couple of months on four radio stations. The press, however, will mostly try and ignore me. If my friends in the press read this, please consider covering my alternative views. It will make the debate richer, and it may help bring about change, just as President Obama has been moved to "evolve". I must say that it will all be easier with a little money to spend on advertising. My website, www.andrewmccullough.org, and my Facebook page, McCullough for Utah Attorney General, have "donation" buttons. Even a small contibution will help with the effort to bring about change. And tell a friend. The revolution is here.