How Can I Help II?

There are so many ways to help the Kole Campaign, or any other campaign for office, all of which fall below the answer of "write a check for $1,000".

1. Walk your home precinct on behalf of the candidate. This is a very effective method a impressing upon your neighbors that the candidate you support is worthy of their vote. Precincts are small enough chunks of neighborhoods that a committed walker can get the whole area covered in a few weeks, walking less than two hours per evening.

2. Take and use the candidate's bumper stickers and yard signs. Some people don't like affecting the re-sale value of their car by marring it with stickers. No problem- tape the sticker to the inside of the window. Driving with a single bumper sticker on your vehicle makes it a moving billboard. Parking it in the same lot every day creates the repetition necessary to generate name recognition. Placing the yard sign in your yard tells people you support the candidate. Placing a yard sign at a busy intersection merely tells people that the candidate has plenty of money to toss into the breeze. The personal support of a sign on your property is a meaningful statement to your neighbors.

3. Donate to the campaign. Small contributions are important! Many small contributions add up in meaningful ways. If all you can afford to contribute is $20, don't hold back. That $20 will become at least two radio ads, which will then bring the message of smaller government to several thousand people. Combined with similar contributions from hundreds of other supporters, suddenly there is money for a major media buy that can blanket the entire state. Besides, the supporters of big government won't be holding back. They contribute and their message gets out. There is no good reason that their message should be the only message being heard. Follow this link to donate.

How Can I Help?

I am very grateful to be getting an increasing number of inquiries of people asking this question in regards to my campaign. Here are three things that would be most helpful:

Sign up for the Libertarian Party of Indiana's state convention. This is where all statewide candidates are nominated by delegates from across the state. Friendships are built here as is the momentum the newly minted candidates will ride. My nomination is not a foregone conclusion. Any Libertarian who recalls the 2004 national convention in Atlanta also recalls that someone can come from relative obscurity to win a nomination. I don't take it for granted, so please- follow this link and sign up today! The early bird discount for registration is today, so don't miss out.

Host a Meet & Greet at your home. The single most effective way for any candidate to leave a positive impression on people is to meet them personally. It's the most effective when the candidate is being introduced to the family, friends, and co-workers of a trusted person. You are that trusted person! Host a two-hour event- a coffee, a sports on TV night, a poker night, etc.- where I can be introduced to those close to you. You don't have to spend a lot of money to have a very successful event.

Donate to the campaign. Most of the money any candidate spends is on advertizing, and the Kole Campaign will do likewise. The ads we run will be designed to put pressure on office holders- Republicans in particular- to reduce the size of government and taxes. With so many dissatisfied fiscal conservatives across the state, there is a huge opportunity for the Libertarian Party to successfully move policy in our direction via political pressure, win or lose. And of course, Secretary of State is the Libertarian Party's ballot status race. 2% means continued ballot access, but 10% means major party status. This is our minimum goal in 2006, while winning is our ultimate goal! Follow this link to donate.

I thank you for supporting me and my campaign!

Let The Overruns Begin

The financing hallmark of a publicly funded stadium is the massive cost overruns. The Lucas Oil Stadium will apparently be different- the overruns are starting way earlier than usual under the oversight of the Daniels Administration. From an Indy Star staff report:

Seven months into construction of the Lucas Oil Stadium, building officials already have drained half of the contingency fund set aside for unexpected expenses.

So far, $26.4 million of the stadium's $50 million contingency fund has been used for bids that came in higher than expected and for contaminated soil found during excavation, according to budget data released at this week's meeting of the Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority.

About $350 million in contracts have been awarded for the project, which has a budgeted price tag of $675 million. That includes construction costs, the $50 million contingency fund and "soft" costs such as design and legal fees.

Wouldn't it have been nice for the state to have gotten even a third of that $121 million in naming rights, instead of having it all gone to the Colts? It would look good in buffering that contingency fund right about now.

The Stadium Authority can watch millions dribble away on "soft" costs while they fail to meet the terms of the NK Hurst Company. I would declare it amazing if it weren't rather predictable. Every publicly funded stadium project in the USA goes like this.

Common Sense Prevails

The case of a young man who made an honest mistake in bringing a knife to school and turned it in when he realized he had it only to be suspended has been made right. The school cancelled the expulsion hearing that was days away. From the Indy Star report:

Today the district administrators cancelled an April 10 hearing that would have considered expelling Elliot, and the school board said in a letter that "we can all learn from this incident and in the future apply some common sense when interpreting rules."

Well, the school board positions are part of the May 2 Primaries, so that might have inspired the reversal. A little national embarrassment couldn't have hurt. Word is that Hannity & Colmes covered the story.

Thanks to Kevin for his tip on Indiana House Bill 1093. As he pointed out, this law is not yet in effect. From the State of Indiana website:

HOUSE BILL No. 1093

Synopsis: Possession of knives at school. Makes possessing a knife on school property or on a school bus a Class B misdemeanor. Makes the offense a Class A misdemeanor if the offender has a previous unrelated conviction and a Class D felony if the offense results in bodily injury or serious bodily injury to another person.

Effective: July 1, 2006.

Good management = rewarding good behavior, punishing bad behavior. Never deter young people from pursuing good behavior.

Radio Alert

I will appear on the "Abdul in the Morning" show on WXNT 1430-am, Thursday, at 7am. Set your DST-altered alarm clock!

Abdul will be asking me about the Libertarian Party's upcoming state convention, how Libertarians fill our ballot and the Primaries, and issues of the day.

Be sure to tune in! WXNT is an Indianapolis station, but they stream their signal for the world to hear. Go to their website and click the black, vertical bar that reads, "listen live!".

Out With The Old...

Here comes a new poll. But first- the results of the last one:

Do you want local or statewide candidates to talk about Federal issues?

35% Yes - I want to know the whole range of positions the candidate takes

0% Yes - I am a single issue voter (abortion, war, etc.) who only votes for candidates who match my views on my top issue

60% No - If you are running for dog catcher, talk about being a good dog catcher

5% Who cares? I'm going to vote my party no matter what they say or do.

Well, readers here just aren't average voters. We knew that, but at the polls in November, the single issue voters and party-line-toers will be out in force. I appreciate the intellectual integrity of the soul brave enough to admit that he will be voting party line. I just hope you're one of ours.
The new poll is interesting in that I expect the Libertarian Party of Indiana to be part of the 2007 Primaries, by virtue of having gained Major Party status via a 10% statewide finish for Secretary of State. The Republicans and Democrats doubly burden Hoosier taxpayers, by making them pay for political party business, and by giving so many government workers a paid vacation day on Primary Election day.

I expect that most Libertarians will want the LPIN to take the moral high road by opting out of the Primaries, while shaming the Rs & Ds for continuing to participate in them.

What say you? The new poll is at the right.

A Little Common Sense, Please

What do you do with a young man who makes an honest mistake, and reports his honest mistake to the correct authority immediately?

a) Thank him for his forthcoming behavior
b) Thank him for his forthcoming behavior, but slap his wrist gently
c) Throw the book at him! Rules are rules! To the gas chamber- go!

I think you see where this is heading. From today's Indy Star report:

A Far-Eastside couple say they are stunned that a Warren Township Schools principal suspended their son and recommended his expulsion for possession of a
pocketknife even though he turned the knife in to the office as soon as he arrived at school.

After turning in the knife, the eighth-grader was suspended from Stonybrook Middle School for 10 days and may be expelled.

Elizabeth Voge-Wehrheim and Frank Wehrheim, the boy's mother and stepfather, have hired Indianapolis attorney Lawrence T. Newman to represent them.

"This young man made the most responsible choice under any policy possible," Newman said of the boy, Elliot Voge. "They are treating him as the most irresponsible student under the circumstances."

A or B are acceptable outcomes. It's fine to send the message that actions have responsibilities, even if the actions are accidental. Slap the wrist if you must. But throw the book?

(Principal Jimmy) Meadows, in his expulsion-recommendation summary, wrote: "Realizing that the knife was an item he should not have on school property, Elliot immediately went into the main office and handed the knife to our school treasurer."

Meadows noted in his summary that "throughout the entire investigation and student due-process, Elliott (sic) was a model student."

So there is no reward for model students for are forthcoming with the truth. That's a fabulous message to send to teens. The principal will get to reap what he has sown, as other kids learn that it is better to run the risk of hiding contraband rather than surrender it. Poetic justice for him, but very bad for the other students and teachers.

I do hope we have a few school board candidates in Warren Township!