A Libertarian hat in the 20th ring
The Adirondack Daily Enterprise profiles the third option in the fast-moving 20th district special election: Libertarian Eric Sundwall from Columbia County.
He's chairman of the Libertarian Party of New York. Here's Nathan Brown's treatment in the ADE:
Sundwall is an information technology consultant who lives in Niverville in Columbia County with his wife and two children. He produces and hosts the cable-access television program "Capital Outsider."
The paper quotes Sundwall's press release, in which he argues that "the people of the 20th District are tired of the machine politics of a smoke-filled room."
Sundwall failed to make the ballot in 2006 and will have to gather 3500 signatures to make the cut this year.
He'll face Democrat Scott Murphy and Republican Jim Tedisco.
How will a third option affect the race? Comments welcome.
Labels: election09
posted by Brian Mann @ 2/11/2009 12:11:00 PM
6 Comments
6 Comments:
You should have asked, "How will this third option...".
If he can get on the ballot is already a question. We'll see about that.
A quick look at "the issues" reveals Ron Paul. I'm not sure what Libertarian means anymore.
This Special Election offers us a Special Opportunity to elect a Special independent candidate for the job.
Eric Sunwall is running as an independent in the upcoming Special Election. Eric lives in the District and has run for this seat before.
He is an average guy with exceptional communicative skills and has a complete understanding of the District and the people he will represent.
Eric will not be selected by "party bosses" but will come to the ballot by way of over 5,000 signatures of registered voters in the district who support him.
Mr. Sundwall is probably the only candidate in the race who could meet such a high threshold to get onto the ballot. He has solid grass roots support from the folks he will represent. He knows our needs and wants and he is fighter in the respect that he will make things happen for us in Washington as our Representative.
We now have three candidates to choose from and I hope everyone voting in this Special Election will take a look at the candidacy of Eric Sundwall.
Best,
Morris Guller
Lexington, New York
It seems obvious to me that the Dems have done their best to keep any third parties off the ballot by holding the election next month.
It's too bad no local media will report seriously on the candidate let alone on the difficulties third parties have in getting a basic level of democracy in our one party (the corporate one) system.
Sundwall received about twice as many signatures as needed to make the 2006 ballot. But petitions were challenged by Dem and GOP hacks. Entire petitions with dozens of signatures each were disqualified because, for example, the petitioner listed his hometown as Saratoga instead of Saratoga Springs. It's really quite absurd and I hope NCPR will do a story on this suffocation of our democracy.
I say this not because I have any sympathy for Libertarians but because for all the talk about "change," everything is rigged against people who might actually bring about that change.
Brian - you are so right. Unfortunately, NCPR is falling right into line in suffocating democracy. Take a look at this story:
http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/archive.php?id=12984
I know it's common practice from mainstream media to bury the other candidate at the end of the story - but NCPR, is it really necessary to run a headline like this: "Lightning-fast 20th race pits experienced Republican against a fresh-faced Democrat"
That's a disgrace, it's un-American and anti-Democratic. The Republican candidate doesn't even live in the district and you give him more credit then a candidate that does?
There is no excuse for this. You owe us serious coverage of all the candidates, not just your hand-picked ones.
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