Arizona

[palmspringsbum]

Published: 07.17.2006

Revere: Libertarian hopes to alter power balance

C.T. REVERE
Tucson Citizen

David Nolan came to Tucson a year ago to "ease into retirement," but he allowed for just one little diversion before kicking back with a good book.

He launched a Libertarian bid for one of the most hotly contested seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

It's a political pipe dream for Nolan to win the District 8 race, but his late entry isn't intended as a symbolic gesture by the man who created the nation's most successful and enduring third party.

"I think it's a very long shot that I can win, but I think we'll have something to say about the balance of power," said Nolan, 62. "We're going to become a factor to be reckoned with. We're looking at getting concessions from one or the other candidates to treat our issues with sincerity."

Those issues include withdrawing U.S. troops from an increasingly unpopular war in Iraq, reclaiming the rights Americans have lost to the USA Patriot Act and ending federal prosecution of "victimless" crimes, including the use of medical marijuana.

"We just want to see a general reduction in the size, cost and scope of federal government," Nolan said, reciting the Libertarian mantra he helped write.

Google the words "Nolan Chart," and you'll get 831,000 hits on the Web that describe how the candidate helped reshape political thought - if not the political landscape - in his Denver-area living room 35 years ago.

"There was a small group of us who had been active in Republican politics, most of them drawn into political activism though Barry Goldwater," he said. "We came to realize that Richard Nixon was no Barry Goldwater, and we decided we ought to start our own political party."

A core of eight people in Colorado set out to recruit at least 100 activists who would embrace the idea that neither major political party stood for both personal and economic freedoms.

The varying degrees to which a person believes in one or both of those goals determines whether he fits comfortably with Democrats or Republicans, or leans toward authoritarianism or libertarianism.

"We called a press conference and got surprisingly good press coverage," Nolan recalled. "In 1972, we had our first convention, and we never looked back."

Libertarian Party candidates have won elections at local and state levels, but have yet to nail down a federal seat.

"You've got to have a national candidate who is well-known and well-funded," he said of his party's struggle.

The problem is that those people already have their own personal and economic freedom.

"There are some very wealthy people who are sympathetic to Libertarian causes, but if you are very wealthy, why would you run for public office? You can just pay to make things better for yourself," he said.

"The greatest success of the Libertarian Party, to my mind, is that it has become the greatest network of freedom-minded people in the world," Nolan said. "We've had success in overcoming bad legislation and ballot initiatives and supporting good measures and good bills. Our San Diego group alone has stopped some $10 million worth of bad tax levies."

Margaret Kenski, a Tucson-based Republican pollster, affirmed Nolan's belief that he won't win the seat being vacated by 11-term incumbent Jim Kolbe. She doesn't envision his issues swaying the eventual party nominees, either.

But she gives his party points for consistency.

"I find the Libertarians intriguing because they're anti-government across the board. The Democrats and Republicans are pro- or anti-government, given the issue," she said.

"Libertarians, if you diagram it all, they're consistent."

Maybe that's what the Democrats and Republicans should take from Nolan's campaign.

Correction: My column Thursday about a Tucson family's successful appeal to its insurance provider misquoted a state spokeswoman regarding what decisions Arizonans may appeal under state law. Denied claims and services are eligible for appeal.

C.T. Revere can be reached at (520) 573-4594 and at ctrevere@tucsoncitizen.com. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ, 85726-6767. His columns run Mondays and Thursdays.