Don't waste your vote!

By Kevin Bastian

You never waste your vote when you vote your beliefs. You only waste your vote when you fail to cast it, or vote for the "lesser of two evils." Vote for who you want to represent you, regardless of who you think will win.

There, I said it!

Neither the Republican nor I have any chance of unseating the Democratic incumbent. Over 98% of all incumbents get re-elected to Congress, and nothing has happened this election to change that trend. The incumbent raised over $800,000 for his re-election campaign in 2000, while his Republican challenger raised less than $20,000. The numbers are similar this time, and the incumbent will coast to an easy victory, probably getting between 60% and 70% of the vote.

So why vote for me?

Simple. Vote for Kevin Bastian, the Libertarian Party candidate, if I best represent your views.

You are more likely to be struck on the head by a meteorite than you are to cast the deciding vote in a major election.

The reason you vote isn't to cast the deciding vote, although admittedly once every million years someone might do that.

It's to let your voice be heard.

It's to show everyone, especially the winner of the election, how you want to be represented in Congress.

If you vote for the Democrat or Republican, you are endorsing the politics-as-usual we've been putting up with for over 100 years.

If you vote for the Libertarian this year, you'll be sending the message that politics as usual is no longer acceptable to you.

You'll be voting for individual liberty, personal responsibility, and limited government.

And you'll be laying the groundwork for a Libertarian to actually win a future congressional election.

The Democrats and Republicans want MORE government, not less. They sometimes differ slightly about the details, but for over 100 years we've been ruled by Democrats and Republicans, and government has grown steadily more costly, more wasteful, and more intrusive in our lives.

The only way we can break this cycle is for people like YOU to vote for alternative candidates.

I am the only third party candidate you can vote for this year in this congressional race. Please don't waste your vote. Your Libertarian vote will send a message to whoever gets elected that you support the Libertarian platform of:

• a free-market economy, and the abundance and prosperity that brings;
• a dedication to civil liberties and personal freedom; and
• a foreign policy of non-intervention, peace, and free trade.

Vote for a return of our power, money, and control to our communities.

Vote for YOURSELF, YOUR FAMILY, and YOUR COMMUNITY by voting for Kevin Bastian, your Libertarian Party candidate for Congress.

Enough is Enough! Vote Libertarian!