By Floyd Bayne
OK, here is another of my opinions, for what it's worth:
If you are an elected representative and a big business or a lobbying group comes to you and offers you a "gift," they are not doing it out of the kindness of their heart or because they "really like you." They are buying your allegiance, your influence, your vote. If you accept that gift then you are either a) naive b) stupid or c) complicit. When caught with your hand in the proverbial cookie jar if you then try to convince me that you "had no idea" what they were up to then you must think me an idiot of the highest order.
If you tout yourself as a champion of liberty, free speech, and the Constitution, but then do everything in your power to prevent the voters from hearing from ALL the choices they have on the ballot through, oh say.....a debate, then you either a) Have no faith in the electorate to make their own decisions b) Have no faith in the power of your own message or c) Just want to keep the electorate ignorant and dependent upon you and your party.
I demand better from my elected representatives and will not tolerate continued deceit and manipulation. I try, and being human I may not always be successful, but I do try to be consistent in my principles and actions. I have championed the cause of liberty, accountability, and the need for more choices since I jumped into the pool of politics and I am not going to change now. You cannot hold a person or a party accountable if they know that you will always vote for them no matter what they do. Voting for someone simply because he is "not the other guy" or he is "the lesser of the two evils" simply perpetuates the current system and the voter apathy that pervades in our nation and our state. I will not be a part of it.
In this years race in Virginia I am, quite frankly, not happy with any of my choices, so I must apply my principles and long term desires in order to make a choice. I know that any decision I make is going to please some people and not please others. So be it. I learned long ago that you can't please everyone and I do not make my decisions in an effort to try and "please the most people." I make them based on my set of principles and my belief system. Principles that are based on years of experience, study, and simply trying to achieve the reality of true liberty, as is my birthright. I would hope that others would, at the very least, respect my efforts to remain consistent in my principles and their application.
From the start there was no chance that I was going to vote for the Democrat in Virginia's gubernatorial race. We all know that he is a crook and a liar and his past and those with whom he associates is proof enough of that. I had planned to vote for the Republican in the race, as I thought he was someone I could trust and that he understood and applied the concept of liberty at all times, no matter how inconvenient it may be. Then comes the Star Scientific scandal. While Bob McDonnell took the bulk of the heat, as well he should have, I am not willing to overlook the role of Ken Cuccinelli in that debacle. Others may be willing to, for reasons of their own, but I will not. He should have known better from the beginning. I had also hoped that he was a true champion of liberty and free speech, but his actions to keep the Libertarian candidate out of the debates sealed the deal for me.
Maybe some of you remember how I was treated by the establishment when I ran. I screamed from the highest rooftop that ALL voices should be heard, that the public must hear from all the candidates who have worked to get on the ballot. Many of you supported my efforts and agreed with my assertion about the inclusion of all candidates. Sadly, you did not show the same support for one Robert Sarvis. Now I don't care of you like Sarvis or not, that is not the point. The point is he is on the ballot and should have been included in the debates - PERIOD! Then, after hearing him, the voters could make a more informed decision. If he is the nut job that many of you paint him as, then his own words would have doomed him, but we were not afforded that opportunity. Cuccineli and McAuliffe both went out of their way to exclude Sarvis and that just pushed me over the edge.
Many of you also know that I have been a proponent of more choices for the voters to choose from. The current two-party, in reality only one party, system has been the biggest reason we are in the mess we find ourselves in now. With only two choices, and in reality no real choice at all, many voters simply stay at home and do not participate in the process. They have become so frustrated with the lack of real choices that they simply throw their hands up and quit. Those who do vote seem all to willing to do so along party lines, no matter the quality or record of the candidate. I'm sorry if this angers any of you, but I do not vote that way and will not be "pushed" into doing so. I believe very strongly that the voters NEED, must have more choices/parties to choose from. I believe that only this will energize the voters of this country/state, as it will afford them the opportunity to find, support, and vote for a candidate with whom they share more in common. The current system does not work and has not worked for many years now. As long as we keep voting for the same two choices every election we are never going to get any closer to realizing the freedom and personal liberty that our nation was founded upon.
A message needs to be sent to the two major parties. They must be made to understand that when we say we are holding them accountable that means that they do not own our vote, they certainly do not own mine. They must earn my support and vote, and that means a consistency in behavior and the application of liberty that is in keeping with our ideals of true freedom. If I am going to work toward a goal of liberty I wish to do so by creating more, not the same or fewer choices, for voters. If I mean what I say when I talk about accountability then I must prove it through my actions, not just my words. If the parties are to take me, and you, seriously, when we demand action and change, then we cannot continue down the same old time-worn path. We must step off that path and start beating down the grass of a new path. Only then will we, as voters, have more and better choices, only then will the current voter apathy/ignorance begin to abate, only then will we be able to break the current R vs. D paradigm and move toward real, tangible, constitutional liberty.
I fully realize that my comments are going to incur the wrath and disdain of some and will make others happy, but if you know anything at all about me, if you have been reading my posts for any length of time, then surely you know that I am not going to simply go along to get along. I will speak my mind, tell you what I believe to be the truth, and let the chips fall where they may. I am not saying these things to point fingers at anyone or to denigrate anyone else's opinions or thoughts on this issue, I am simply attempting to explain my thought processes on this matter, so that you will understand why I have made the decision that I have made.
With all this in mind you should know that my vote for governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is going to Robert Sarvis of the Libertarian Party.