If you really want political change, you must vote the change you want to see. This means coming to terms with the impossibility of solving economic and social problems with the same strategies that created them. The Democratic and Republican parties have offered nothing but ineffectual solutions to the issues that plague California. Their answers are always the same: more spending and more taxing. When out of ignorance we limit our pool of candidates to a pair of establishment figures, whose only interests are returning political favors so as not to upset the apple cart, how can we hope to change course?
It's time to consider a different approach. Gubernatorial candidates from The American Independent party, the Green Party and the Libertarian party are all offering California new strategies for fiscal solvency and much needed administrative reform. By shedding light on a larger spectrum of candidates for state office, CAIVN hopes to present the independent-minded voter his/her full range of electoral options.
As a result, this is the first article in a series profiling 3rd party candidates for Governor of California.
Dale Ogden, businessman and Libertarian gubernatorial candidate, feels justice for individuals has been abandoned by our current two-party system. “Politics has become a business, not of protecting life, liberty and property, but one of dispensing largess to favored individuals and groups and imposing prohibitions and restrictions on those who are out of favor,” Ogden says. A defender of individual freedom and personal accountability, Mr. Ogden seeks to end special consideration legislation which makes government the servant of corporations and unions, not the people: “As a pro-liberty candidate, I offer no special privileges for anyone; I offer only to let you keep as much of your hard-earned money as possible, and expect you to be responsible for running your own life.”
If elected, Ogden's first priorities would be to stop California's “financial bleeding” and reform its justice system.
Ogden would propose to:
...stop excessive spending by the state, cutting unnecessary state jobs.
...”abolish hundreds of boards and bureaus and harmful regulatory agencies, most of which are little more than parking places for out-of-work politicians that give them six-digit incomes (no welfare for politicians) and allow them to extort people and businesses in the private sector.”
...”appoint a volunteer commission to begin reviewing thousands of criminal cases to allow to pardon tens of thousands of individuals who have been abused by the legal system.”
...”help people who have had their property confiscated without due process by corrupt law enforcement agencies and help people convicted of marijuana possession. We need to keep violent criminals in prison, not pot-heads.”
...stop subsidizing state employee union salaries by reopening and renegotiating labor contracts. Their pay would have to compete with the private sector.
There appears to be a decidedly anti-special interest strain to Dale Ogden's platform. This stance can be quite an obstacle to raising sufficient campaign funds to compete with the major parties. As he points out, “most donors expect something in return for their donation.” According to Ogden, campaign contributors should expect nothing more than the fair application of the law.
Conventionally speaking, campaigning on a 3rd party ticket is a quixotic quest. But conventions can, do, and at times, must undergo revolutionary change. With California's economy teetering on the edge of an abyss, and sentiments of disenfranchisement on the rise, third party candidates across the nation have a distinct inertia behind them.
This energy stems from a much older convention, one in tune with the Constitution's manifest purpose – defuse power as much as possible, keep government as small as can be, and protect individual freedom. Like Texas congressman, Ron Paul, is so fond of saying, “Freedom is popular.”