Do I expect you to vote for me because I was previously on active duty in the U.S. Navy?  Do I expect you to vote for me because I come from a military family (grandfather, father, brothers, uncles)?  Do I expect you to vote for me because I am a Life Member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States of America, or a Life Member of the Fleet Reserve Association?  Do I expect you to vote for me because I am currently in the Navy (reserve component)?

The answer to ALL of those is "No, of course not!"  What I do hope my service and association membership show is my commitment to serving my country.  That a simple metal and enamel flag-pin on my lapel (actually, I rarely wear a suit!) no more shows my patriotism and sense of honor, courage, and commitment than does waving a flag with one hand and committing felonies with the other (plenty of Members of Congress to point to there, right?).

What I also hope you realize is that we share a kindred spirit and sacred duty -- protecting and defending the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.  Whether or not we agree on how best to protect the Constitution, I take my stand firmly in believing we can and should do better, that we cannot shred the very document we pledge to defend, in order to subdue our enemies.  There are some very hard truths to consider, and I hope you understand that as we differ in our views, we can both see each other as patriotic and loyal Americans -- too often the rhetoric becomes reduced to name-calling and finger-pointing, none of which gets us discussing the issues and coming to decisions.

As a Libertarian, my views of the Constitution are very clear -- the entire document and all the Amendments are the backbone of our system of governance; we must remain loyal to that system and elect men and women to office who understand that, will work tirelessly to defend it, and will work to appoint judges who are not afraid to stick to the Constitution instead of developing new law.  Of course, we need good law to begin with -- constitutionally sound law -- and that is where Congress fails us.  And interpreting the Constitution in the face of bad law has also failed miserably.

We cannot expect the change we need from the current system, where the two wings of the Party of Big Money continue their assault on the Constitution -- either by establishing executive "privilege" or by establishing new "protections," which our failed judiciary refuses to strike down.  Change can only occur by doing something differently than we have done before -- by voting Libertarian you can help move change forward, instead of merely masking it under the R or D banner again and again.

I would truly like to earn your trust now and your vote in 2010 based on my position on the issues, not on my military service.

Feel free to contact me for more information -- kevinforliberty@gmail.com or call 1.816.288.2295.

VOTE LIBERTARIAN!