Libertarian in VA 6th district

[GBurr]

http://bainforcongress.org/

Stuart Bain is running a Libertarian in Virginia's 6th district. There is no Democratic challenger. That leaves Bob Goodlatte the incumbent as the only other candidate.

What do you guys think of this guy?

[phill4paul]

Goodlatte is in his 9th term. Can you say entrenched? I've lived up by Lynchburg. It would take a hell of a political campaign to drop him.

[South Park Fan]

If there's no Democratic candidate, then it couldn't hurt for him to seek the Democratic nomination as well as the Libertarian nomination. Then we could just hope for the best.

[GBurr]

It is a heavy Conservative district. District 6 is based in Roanoke but also contains Lynchburg. Jerry Falwell's Liberty University is in Lynchburg. Goodlatte is very entrenched and will get many votes just because there is an R next to his name. Bain is going to have to get the Tea Party supporters to form a base of support.

[Todd]

I lived in Goodlatte's district for a long time. Goodlatte's very popular. It's going to be a tough battle.

Bain looks principled, but like everyone else's said, the Libertarian thing will be problematic for someone going after an entrenched Republican.

[Brett]

Will he show up as a Libertarian on the ballot or an independent?

[GBurr]

Will he show up as a Libertarian on the ballot or an independent?

He is currently collecting signatures so that he can be placed on the ballot as a Libertarian. I spoke with his campaign manager and they don't expect any problem getting the needed signatures.

[stbain]

I saw some traffic hitting the campaign website with these forums as the referrer, so I figured I would look to see where the traffic came from. I truly appreciate the interest in my campaign. Ron Paul and I hold many of the same beliefs and have many of the same goals.

As for the two-way race... we're hoping there will be no Democratic Party challenger, but that remains to be seen. The incumbent (Goodlatte, (R)) has run un-opposed in some past elections, but he did have a challenger in the most recent one. I have considered seeking both nominations to try to ensure it stays a two-way race. Stay tuned for more info on that one.

As for what will show up on the ballot after my name, we're hoping for an (L); but Virginia law is weird. If a party doesn't have at least 10% of the vote in a state-wide election in the past two years, it supposedly isn't considered a party. If that's true, I will end up showing up on the ballot as an independent even though I'm a member of the Libertarian party at both the state and national levels.

Thanks for the interest and, hopefully, your continued support.

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

I saw some traffic hitting the campaign website with these forums as the referrer, so I figured I would look to see where the traffic came from. I truly appreciate the interest in my campaign. Ron Paul and I hold many of the same beliefs and have many of the same goals.

As for the two-way race... we're hoping there will be no Democratic Party challenger, but that remains to be seen. The incumbent (Goodlatte, (R)) has run un-opposed in some past elections, but he did have a challenger in the most recent one. I have considered seeking both nominations to try to ensure it stays a two-way race. Stay tuned for more info on that one.

As for what will show up on the ballot after my name, we're hoping for an (L); but Virginia law is weird. If a party doesn't have at least 10% of the vote in a state-wide election in the past two years, it supposedly isn't considered a party. If that's true, I will end up showing up on the ballot as an independent even though I'm a member of the Libertarian party at both the state and national levels.

Thanks for the interest and, hopefully, your continued support.


Hello! Interesting take on the donation, part. Donations per se, aren't anti-liberty as they are voluntary actions.

As for your Tax plan. If you want you could PM me, but how much about the FairTax have you read? Secondly, as per the Constitution, the Federal Government has no direct tax powers. They are supposed to use apportionment and the states are supposed to come up with the tax dollars needed. I'm against all taxation, but just making sure you were aware of this as most Minarchists I've met are pretty strict Constitutionalists. Looking good so far, just disagree on your tax platform.

Just curious, and not trying to interrogate :p What is your take on the Federal Reserve, all ABC departments (CIA, FBI, EPA, DEA, ATF, NEA, DOE, etc.), Sound Money (Gold, Silver, Commodity backed), Non-interventionism and Non-Aggression Axiom.

Thank you. (Perhaps you could elaborate a little more on your site? Or maybe I missed those parts)

[stbain]

Thank you for the feedback.

Donations: Believe it or not, the initial "no donations" ideal has pretty much backfired. We are encountering people throughout the Commonwealth and the country who are eager to invest in their future and feel my campaign is the right place to do so. We are planning a sensible way of allowing people who want to donate the ability to do so without haranguing them constantly to line the campaign coffers.

FairTax: As for opposing all taxation, I recognize that there is no such thing as a "fair tax". Taxation in and of itself is, by its very nature, unfair. However, I support the repeal of the 16th amendment under the FairTax Plan as a replacement for our current federal tax law. I have read the FairTax Plan book (Boortz / Linder) and discussed the FairTax in depth with local advocates. It has been a while since I went over the details in depth, but my understanding is that it is indeed the states are charged with collecting the taxes and not the federal government (bye bye IRS). I would love to get more feedback on this as I do see the FairTax plan as more of a "first step" measure towards sensible taxation and not the endgame.

Our alphabet soup agencies are overgrown, overpowered, and overdue for an overhaul. I won't go into too much detail just yet, but my opinion on the matter can be summed up by simply saying that "smaller government is needed." (think "10th amendment review").

We are in the process of rounding out the website with more of this type of information, so I truly thank you for taking the time to reply to my post. I work full time, so taking the time to put together a list of the issues and my stance on them is much easier when I have good questions to help clarify the problems and proposed solutions for these matters.

[msmccain]

So to give this a bit of a bump, and to pose a new question. Seeing that Bob's opponents get 25-35% pretty much regardless of party affiliation, how much of Bob's base do you suppose is Liberty minded and what impact can the Tea Parties in the district have on this race?

[nobody's_hero]

Is this a state race or federal?

[stbain]

Is this a state race or federal?

Federal.

U.S. Congress House of Representatives seat for Virginia's 6th Congressional District.

Click here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia's_6th_congressional_district) for the Wikipedia article about the district. Has some history and statistics.

[RCA]

If he's not GOP we all know he has no chance. After all this country was MADE for just two parties and it's best we join one of them and "take it over".

:rolleyes:

[TCE]

While this isn't an impossible feat, it is close. Goodlatte has around $750,000 and he can self-finance if he needs to.
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00009154&cycle=2010

To win, you'll have to either spend at least $1.25 million or have hundreds, if not thousands of volunteers on the ground working for you. Good luck.

[stbain]

As of 6/8/2010 I am now officially on the ballot in Virginia. Here's the kicker... NO DEMOCRAT IN THE RACE.

Virginia's 6th District Voters will have to choose between the incumbent Republican, a Libertarian (myself), and an independent. We expect this to be quite a race and in some ways see it as a referendum on the status quo.

[GBurr]

Stuart Bain has been added to www.liberty-candidates.org.

Go and check out his profile and visit his website at www.bainforcongress.org.

http://www.liberty-candidates.org/20...rt-m-bain.html

[GBurr]

Check out this thread. http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=252922

C4L won't post Stuart Bain's candidate survey.