RadioWest Transcript: October 17, 2000
By Bryan Schott

Third-party candidates have been treated, historically, as an oddity-- a bunch of wackos who can't fit in with one of the two dominant parties. They usually get short shrift from the media as well. But, as KUER's Bryan Schott reports, the Libertarian party is surviving, and even starting to thrive in Utah.

(Sound of someone walking into a shop from outside).

SCHOTT: On a Friday night at Dr. John’s on South State Street - a 24 hour lingerie shop - a few customers browse through racks of leather bousdiers and lace teddies, carefully avoiding the reporter with the microphone. An establishment like this is an odd place for a campaign stop. But Andrew McCullough is not a typical candidate.

(Sound of Voter and McCullough talking)

McCullough is running for attorney general under the banner of the Libertarian party. He used to be a Republican and even served four years as the treasurer for the Utah Young Republicans. McCullough says he wants to be a Republican, but can’t:

MCCULLOUGH: "The Libertarian demanded three things - you've got to be for more freedom, lower taxes and smaller govt. Everything else is negotiable. That was easy for me. I can’t be a Republican anymore because they’ve gone off to the religious right, I can’t be a Democrat because they like taxes a whole lot more than I like. I naturally, I guess, gravitated toward the Libertarians."

McCullough’s answer encompasses the core beliefs of the Libertarian party-- more freedom, less taxes and smaller government. Libertarians interpret the United States constitution literally. They contend the document gives government specific powers - to protect a citizen's right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That’s it, no more. Jim Dexter is the chairman of the Utah Libertarian Party, and their nominee for United States Senate. He says Libertarians believe in eliminating nearly 100 percent of the federal income tax.

DEXTER: "In my youth I was a liberal. I felt that the government owed everything to everybody. As my career progressed, and I started making more money, I started how little the relationship between what I was told I was making and what I was actually taking home and that difference being all the stuff that was taking out of my pay, most of which was taxes. As a consumer I wanted to know what I was paying for. So I started looking at government and what government was doing and I didn’t like what I found out."

A small group of people who felt the same way founded the Libertarian party in 1971. 1980 was the year their presidential candidate, Ed Clark, first appeared on the ballot in all 50 states. He garnered almost a million votes. They have had marginal success since then-- mostly local positions but a few candidates have been elected to state legislatures, and in 1987 Libertarians were elected to every seat on the council in Big Water, Utah. In Utah, membership in the party has quadrupled since 1996. Party leaders credit a higher profile an active leadership.

Libertarians believe the only thing federal government can do is protect personal liberties through law enforcement and the military. High, if not tops on the list of personal liberties, is constitutional gun rights.

Kitty Burton is the Libertarian candidate in the 3rd Congressional District. She wears her feelings on gun laws on her sleeve...literally

BURTON:"This lady on my chest is something I created. It's a Statue of Liberty rising out of a red American Beauty rose, and she's carrying a weapon."

She says the image is symbolic of her 2nd amendment rights:

BURTON: "If I want a cannon in my yard, I should be able to have one. Just because I own a weapon does not make me dangerous. I should have a right to have that. Simply because I’m the citizen, I’m the boss and I have a right."

As strict constitutionalists, Libertarians believe that government should not be in the business of providing services, like trash collection or transportation. They should be a private venture. If the government insists on providing those services, they should exist through user fees, not subsidized by taxpayers.

(Sound of a school yard)

If Libertarians had their way, public schools would not exist. All schooling would be private or done in the home. Libertarians believe everyone has a right to education, but no one should have their income taxed to pay for another’s education. Without income taxes, families would have more money to pay for private schools. Jim Dexter says the federal education system has become bloated and is focusing on the wrong things:

DEXTER: They are not teaching people to read or write as they used to. They are trying to and teach them to recycle, they are teaching them that 'Heather has Two Mommies.' They're trying to teach them all the wrong things, they're not working on basics. There are probably some good teachers in the fancy schmancy private schools, but there are probably some bad teachers too. But, a private school can fire a bad teacher, whereas the government schools cannot.

Libertarians accept the inequities this arrangement might create-- that’s the nature of a free market system.

They also feel welfare should be scrapped. They acknowledge that there is a group of people who cannot find work because of circumstances beyond their control, but government should not be responsible to help them out. Kitty Burton is the party’s candidate in the 3rd congressional district. She says her view may be harsh, but she doesn’t apologize for that.

BURTON: "No system favors anyone unless it takes from one and gives to another. People need to take responsibility for their own lives. They need to stop looking to the government for subsistence. That’s a socialist system and we should not have that."

But if government should not handle this problem, who?

(Sound of church bells)

Libertarians point to religious organizations and charities along with state and local government. Their program calls for generous tax credits for private corporations that donate to charity. Libertarians say America has always been a charitable country and failing government programs should be supplanted by organizations that don’t have to fight through layers of ineffective bureaucracy.

In fact, there’s almost no area where libertarians would not prefer private industry to government control. Ideas aren’t the problem for these 3rd party candidates. What’s difficult is getting those ideas to the voters. But, the Internet may be changing that. Utah’s Libertarians are seizing on the new technology to reach voters without the filter of the news media. Jim Dexter and Andrew McCullough have extensive web sites, and are promoting them on business cards and campaign signs. Peter Pixton, the party’s candidate in Utah’s 2nd congressional district expects the Internet to level the playing field for 3rd party candidates:

PIXTON: "You can have access to a lot more of a candidates views and platforms and things like that, more than just the 30-second sound bite that you are going to get on the nightly news or a commercial. Candidates can actually post substantial information that people can educate themselves with."

But for all of their efforts, Libertarian candidates acknowledge it would probably take something akin to divine intervention for them to win. Like the socialists who paved the way for the New Deal, Peter Pixton says his efforts today may make things easier for those who will follow him:

PIXTON: "Four hundred years ago, I believe it was at Oxford University, they built a new assembly hall for the students. The hall itself were made out of stone, but the roof was made of wood. So they made an interesting observation. They said, 'You know, the walls are going to last a lot longer than the roof.' So what they did is they went out and they planted some trees to the side of the hall that would grow and continue to grow until it became necessary to replace the roof. And so 300 years later, when that roof wore out, they didn't have to look any further than the hall itself. And then they realized, 'Wow, the people who built this really had a long term point of view.' I think that’s how we are in the Libertarian party. That's how I am. Am I sowing the seeds for future success? I hope so."

National officials think it’s only a matter of time before a Libertarian candidate is elected to congress-- maybe two or three election cycles away. And some are even more optimistic-- predicting a Libertarian majority in Congress within 15 years.

I’m Bryan Schott, KUER News.

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