IT'S TIME THAT VOTERS REJECT OLD-PARTY POLITICS

As a Libertarian candidate, I have a simple reply to Peter Blake's Sept. 24
question, "Will Libertarians become spoilers in state contests?": You can't
spoil something that's already rotten.

Neither of the old parties protects the individual liberties of Coloradans.
Thanks to the Republicans' prohibitionist policies, innocent people like
Ismael Mena are killed in no-knock raids, property is stolen by drug agents
who don't even have to bother with making a criminal charge, our prisons
are filled with non-violent offenders and the Fourth Amendment is in
tatters. On many issues, Republicans want to impose their values on the
rest of us by force of law.

Meanwhile, the Democrats assault our right to self-defense and deny us our
civil rights of property ownership. Libertarians want to repeal the high
tax and regulatory burdens imposed on us by Democrats.

Blake claims Libertarian votes "presumably come from conservatives."
However, Libertarian presidential candidate Harry Browne recently estimated
he pulls about evenly from Republicans, Democrats and previous non-voters.
Libertarians promote neither "conservative" nor "liberal" big-government
programs. We want people to be free to live their lives as they know best,
not as old-party politicians demand.

It's time to reject the rotten politics of the old parties. It's time to
embrace freedom and restore civil liberties. This year, don't waste your
vote: Vote Libertarian.

Ari Armstrong, Libertarian for House District 35, Westminster