Today's Voting In Fishers

What a difference a year makes. Last year, I was a candidate for County Council, and stood freezing outside my home polling place. There were Republican candidate supporters handing out literature at least during the peak hours. The traffic was moderate at best during the peaks, and flat the rest of the day.

Today, there were only three contested races, and no Libertarians on the ballot. Although the weather is delightfully warm, only one candidate had supporters handing out literature. I was the only voter in the building when I showed up to vote today. Two others showed up as I was ready to leave. I voted for Democrat Joe Weingarten, for Fishers Clerk-Treasurer. If he wins, he would provide some measure of check & balance on the Town Council, which has long been a little Republican clique.

Today's was a fairly unsatisfying ballot, especially since there weren't any Libertarian candidates. I don't know why suburban Libertarians are so loathe to run for office, but they are. My only conclusion after many years of involvement here is that life isn't so disagreeable as to inspire challenges to the status quo. On the other hand, the Democrats only fielded two candidates out of a possible eight, so maybe it's a sense of futility in trying to unseat Republicans, or just plain apathy.

Local races seem not to be sexy enough for most folks. We never have any shortage of people considering runs for Congress. Even the state level races are challenging to find candidates for. I've never had a Libertarian candidate to vote for in either the Indiana Senate or House. I could have run for House on three occasions, and Senate on one, but I was on the ballot for other seats in two of those House years, and in the Senate year.

Next year's ballot should be sexy, being the fullest ballot of the 4-year election cycle- everything from President on down. I know there will be Libertarians for President, US House & US Senate, but I really would like to see candidates for the Indiana House & Senate. There's a lot we can contribute to the discourse in the run-up to the election, and even more if we're elected. But first, we need to run.

Pal-Item Endorses Hisrich

I used to be far more connected to Libertarian candidates around the state. Running for statewide office and actually campaigning statewide will do that for you. In 2006, when I ran for Secretary of State, Libertarians were improving in many aspects of their campaigns, but endorsements from media outlets were very few.

This has been changing of late. I found that the Richmond newspaper endorsed Libertarian Matt Hisrich for his bid to win a City Council seat in District 1- in favor of a long, long-term incumbent.

Matt Hisrich, Libertarian candidate for the District 1 Richmond Common Council seat, served on this newspaper's editorial board for a time. He left behind a lot of good impressions as a thoughtful, intelligent, caring individual who knew how to ask the right questions, challenge conventional wisdom and, in so doing, advance the best interests of his community.

When he ran last year for office in Wayne County government, we regretted that his single-issue zeal against the economic development income tax rendered him less than effective on a host of other issues facing county government.

But, oh, what a difference a year, and a failed campaign, can make. Hisrich is back, articulating a host of positions, including jobs, which should render him attractive to residents of District 1 and the entire city.

That is a tall order in a district where Jack Elstro, the Democrat, has served with compassion and dedication pre-dating the 1968 Richmond explosion. This then is a bouquet, a thank you, to Jack Elstro for that record of service as much as an endorsement of the challenger whom we think possesses the talent, know-how and commitment to help move this city forward.

One thing I found interesting is the preference for a wider platform rather than a narrower one. For many years, Libertarians have been trying to simplify message, often getting bogged down in too broad a platform, including items that would be outside the scope of office. Certainly, I was annoyed as a candidate running for an office like Secretary of State, when I would face a battery of questions about abortion- an issue the Secretary of State cannot affect in any way, shape, or form. Looks like Hisrich hit the happy medium here of a broad spectrum of issues within the scope of the office. Well done!