by Richard Armerding, Missoula
Ed Sperry’s letter to the editor in the 10/26 edition is surprising. He claims that a vote for John Lamb, Libertarian candidate for the U.S. House, will take votes from Ryan Zinke and give the election to Monica Tranel. I share his horror at having Tranel represent Montana but I would be equally nauseated with Zinke.
The conventional wisdom that Libertarians take votes from Republicans is wrong. I ran in 2020 as a Libertarian and took a higher percentage of votes from the incumbent Democratic candidate than I did from the Republican.
Ed missed the reason why people vote for Libertarian candidates. It is not because we really want the same things that the other parties offer but just can’t make up our minds.
It is because we are tired of the business-as-usual approach of Republicans and Democrats. We are tired of the corruption and dysfunction. We are tired that each side demonizes the other. We vote for candidates whose party platform is based on the overarching principle that we will not use force or fraud in dealing with other people. We will use that principle in deciding to vote for or against any piece of legislation. No, Ed, the differences between Libertarians and Republicans are NOT one of degree. They’re one of principle.
Libertarians want decisions on how our lives will be lived to be made by and for the people who will live with the consequences whether good or bad.
Zinke and Tranel will play the same power game as their predecessors. They are not going to Washington to hand back power to us. Ed admits that “it’s all about power.” They are going to make decisions for us and shove them down our throats.
John Lamb is an honest, family man with no political baggage. He won’t represent the oil and gas industry (Zinke) or Planned Parenthood (Tranel). He will represent the interests of average Montanans like you and me.
Ed admits that Zinke “may not be your choice” even if you are a Republican. Does Ed just want us to hold our noses and vote for the “lesser of two evils”? Evil is evil. Vote your conscience; vote for principle; vote Libertarian.