I was mildly frustrated when voting in the Washington Primary a few weeks ago. It’s interesting voting for candidates while residing in another state. For one thing, I don’t have to listen to all the attack ads. On the downside, it’s a bit harder to find information on the candidates. So I sat down in front of the computer with my absentee ballot and began doing some research on the candidates. The more research I did, the more frustrated I became at the lack of good choices.
Then about two weeks ago, Jacqueline Passey blogged about Bruce Guthrie (US Senate candidate Bruce Guthrie is very clever!). A clever US Senator, is that even possible?
I began to read her entry
From jacquelinepassey.blogs.com:When I first read “Libertarian Senate hopeful to spend his life’s savings” on Sunday my first reaction was, “Oh, shit, Bruce has lost his mind”:
…
Given that Cantwell and McGavick had already raised $16.8 million and $7.7 million respectively, and that a Libertarian candidate would need to spend many times more than his opponents to even begin to have a chance of winning, it seemed to me that Bruce was futilely throwing his money away. I began to wonder if he’d finally succumbed to the Libertarian mental disease of No-Really-I-Can-Win-itis that claims so many of our best activists, or that perhaps he was secretly terminally ill.Thankfully, neither. Yesterday I read, “Libertarian buys way into Cantwell-McGavick debate for $1.2 million“:
“Guthrie admitted Monday that he lent $1,181,700 to his ultra-underdog campaign Saturday mainly to appear credible enough for inclusion in the only televised Western Washington debate between the two major candidates. It will be at KING/5 studios in Seattle on Oct. 17.”
…
Brilliant!!!
Guthrie was better then brilliant, he was a down right genius. I began to prod a little more into his stand on issues.
This was the man I was looking for.
Will he win? While that would be cool, it would also be the biggest upset in history of politics; so sadly no.
Will he make the current Senate race better? Yes.
Will he make an impact? Yes.
I didn’t see any banners on his site, so whipped up a few. Feel free to use them and hotlink from my site if you’d like.
Button Banner
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http://andrewferguson.net/wp-content/images/guthrie_120x60.png
<a href="http://www.bruceguthrie.com/"><img src="http://andrewferguson.net/wp-content/images/guthrie_120x60.png" alt="Bruce Guthrie for US Senate" /></a>
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http://andrewferguson.net/wp-content/images/guthrie_160x600_peace_freedom_hope.jpg
<a href="http://www.bruceguthrie.com/"><img src="http://andrewferguson.net/wp-content/images/guthrie_160x600_peace_freedom_hope.jpg" alt="Bruce Guthrie for US Senate" /></a>
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http://andrewferguson.net/wp-content/images/guthrie_160x600_us_senate.jpg
<a href="http://www.bruceguthrie.com/"><img src="http://andrewferguson.net/wp-content/images/guthrie_160x600_us_senate.jpg" alt="Bruce Guthrie for US Senate" /></a>
Vote Guthrie!
Update: Two More Banners
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http://andrewferguson.net/wp-content/images/guthrie_180x150.jpg
<a href="http://www.bruceguthrie.com/"><img src="http://andrewferguson.net/wp-content/images/guthrie_180x150.jpg" alt="Bruce Guthrie for US Senate" /></a>
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http://andrewferguson.net/wp-content/images/guthrie_180x150_glow.jpg
<a href="http://www.bruceguthrie.com/"><img src="http://andrewferguson.net/wp-content/images/guthrie_180x150_glow.jpg" alt="Bruce Guthrie for US Senate" /></a>
I feel like the glow helps him stand out a bit more from the background, but it also feels a little cheesy. I submit both to you; take your pick.
Update: Fixed the code so it looks right
Update: A full banner
Full Banner
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http://andrewferguson.net/wp-content/images/guthrie_468x60.jpg
<a href="http://www.bruceguthrie.com/"><img src="http://andrewferguson.net/wp-content/images/guthrie_468x60.jpg" alt="Bruce Guthrie for US Senate" /></a>
Technorati Tags: Bruce Guthrie, US Senate, Washington, Jacqueline Mackie Paisley Passey
The American People do not want their taxes increased. But the deficit is an unfair and crushing burden on future generations. We therefore must reduce spending. I want to eliminate funding for the Iraq war, the war on drugs, corporate subsidies, earmarks and pork spending in order to balance the budget and pay down the national debt.
The income tax is way too complex and must be reformed. I am interested in exploring the fair tax (national sales tax) and flat tax ideas. But we must balance the budget first by cutting spending, then cut spending more so that we can afford to cut taxes, and we must re-prioritize spending so that we keep our promises to our seniors and veterans.
Welfare reform has worked. Obviously, the able-bodied are better off with jobs than with welfare dependency. But we must maintain a social safety net for the disabled and those temporarily down on their luck. Private programs are a key part of this, but at this time they can not do it all.
I have been a Special Olympics speed skating coach for ten years, and I worked with developmentally disabled adults in a factory environment. I know that we must take care of those who can’t take care of themselves.
I am against all racism in government and I live my life with as little racism as I can manage. Racism disgusts me. We are all equal under the law. Our rights are all the same, regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, etc. We also have the right to freedom of association…
Thank you for giving us a real response than typical political bunkum.