Why disgruntled Texas Republicans should vote Libertarian.

My mother mentioned to me that she was planning on voting for James Werner, the Libertarian candidate for Governor of Texas, in this November's election. Wanting to capitalize on this opportunity, I did some research and found some good reasons why disgruntled Texas Republicans like her should vote Libertarian:

US Senator:

Republican Incumbent: Kay Bailey Hutchison

Libertarian Challenger: Scott Lanier Jameson

Hutchison is Texas's most popular politician. Banking on this, her campaign site completely ignores issues. History shows, however, that she is one of the “good ol' boys” allied with the religions right in the Republican party.

Jameson aligns closely with the general Libertarian platform. He also wants a constitutional amendment guaranteeing a public review period for all Congressional bills, to help eliminate pork-barrel spending.

Lieutenant Governor:

Republican Incumbent: David Dewhurst

Libertarian Challenger: Judy Baker

Dewhurst played a key part in the mid-decade re-gerrymandering of Texas US House districts, suspending the rule that 2/3 of the Legislature must be present to vote on a bill. He also opposes school vouchers.

Baker's main issues are education, prisons, and property. She supports devolving education control to localities and individual citizens. She wishes to focus law enforcement on violent crimes to end the overcrowding of prisons with nonviolent, victimless offenders (which also catalyzes the release of violent criminals), and opposes the use of eminent domain.

Attorney General:

Republican Incumbent: Greg Abbott

Libertarian Challenger: Jon Roland

Greg Abbott was crippled when a tree fell on him while he was jogging in Houston. Abbott promptly sued the owner of the tree as well as a company that had trimmed the tree a few weeks before the accident. In other words, he's an opportunistic scumbag. This should be about all you need to know to vote against him.

For the rest of them (minimal data is available on any candidates for these offices):

If you're disgruntled with the current direction of the Republican party, they'll only get worse if you continue voting for their candidates. There's only one rational choice for disgruntled Texas Republicans, and that is voting Libertarian.