By James Call
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-897887.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – The Florida Libertarian Party will be on the statewide ballot in November. James Call reports Alexander Snitker of Springfield has filed the paperwork to be a candidate for United States Senator.
Pasco County native Alex Snitker says Texas Congressman Ron Paul is his inspiration for running for public office. Usually, third party candidates are portrayed in the media as underdogs fighting against impossible odds. But this is not a usual year even by Florida's standards.
"I'm not going to work within the Republican Party. I've never been a Republican. I don't want to be a Republican. You can see from the credit card statements this morning, these guys are being looked at by the IRS for corruption. I think I'm the perfect choice in this election because I say what I mean, I mean what I say. I lay it out very, very clearly. When people go to my website, when they look on my website, they can see exactly what I'm trying to do."
Snitker served eight years in the Marine Corps and says he married his high school sweetheart. He is a father to a two-year-old and calls himself an average citizen. He sells office equipment statewide and apparently sees an opening for a new career. Like a swift halfback, he thinks he can hit a hole in his opponent's line and scamper to the goal before Democrats, Republicans, or Marco Rubio, Governor Charlie Crist, and Congressman Kendrick Meek can learn to spell his name.
"The way I look at it is this. With the governor, Charlie, going out and running Independent, that actually helps me in my campaign. There is less of a percentage of the vote I need to win. So I think I can actually muster up the support around this state in order to do that. People are really looking for a change in this country; they really, truly are, and it is not a left or a right issue. That's the thing. Too many times we get caught up in this left-right paradigm where you have Rubio on one side and you have Meek on the other. You have Republicans on one side; you have Democrats on the other. Where are the differences between the two parties? I don't see a whole lot of it other than the rhetoric that comes out."
Numerous opinion polls, academic studies, and political entertainers on the cable news stations back Snitker's thesis. Across the country, there is a noticeable increase in the number of third party candidates qualifying for the November ballot, especially in the Heartland, the Midwest. University of Missouri St. Louis Political Science Professor David Kimball tells the Associated Press the jump is tied to anger about the economy. Snitker suggests it is something deeper, and he may find an ally in one of his opponents, Governor Charlie Crist, who since the death of former Governor Lawton Chiles has become Florida's favorite populist. Crist has used the term "the people" so much over the last four years it is practically his catch phrase. Here he discusses how the people helped him decide to veto a teacher merit pay bill.
"They were very vocal on Senate Bill 6 as it related to education. I was very pleased and grateful to hear their voice and their voices. They spoke very loudly, and God bless them for it. They're the boss, you know. I need to listen to them and I do."
The veto angered Florida lawmakers and conservatives across the country who now are lining up behind Crist's Republican opponent Rubio. The follow up question was whether Crist is hearing the people tell him to run as an Independent candidate for Senate.
"I'm getting a lot of advice, and I'm listening to what they have to say, and I'm grateful that they are taking the time to share their advice."
The governor and the Capitol Press Corps have fallen into a routine where they play a political version of the childhood game of twenty questions. In response to a glowing Tallahassee Democrat editorial calling on Crist to run for the Senate as an Independent, he said, "Well, it was a very nice editorial."
Crist says he will decide by April 30th whether he will leave the Republican Party and run as an Independent. Regardless of his decision, he can expect a populist challenge. On his candidacy's first day, Alex Snitker says he is willing to take on everyone.
"Really, it's going to be a landslide, and they are going to have to debate me on the issues, and when they do, they are done, every one of them. I challenge every one of those candidates to a debate; all at one time, Rubio, Crist, Meek, anybody that qualifies for this race. They should put us all in one position, and since there is not really going to be any primary for the Republican side if he gets out, and there is not really going to be a primary for the Democratic side, we can start debating the issues next week, or at least in May."