A Message to Republicans
Dear Republicans,
As you’re keenly aware, the Democratic Party has held sway in Washington State politics since about the year 2000. You see the results of their policies all around you—a rise in homelessness, drug use on public streets, a rise in violent crime, and a nanny state of increasing proportions. Worse, the state seems intent on doubling down on its already-bloated programs rather than pause, reflect, or cut back.
Civil rights and common sense also seem to be under attack, particularly in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Of note:
- Free speech: In direct violation of Article 1, Section 5 of the state constitution, Olympia is attempting to follow federal efforts in policing dis/misinformation (HB1333). It opposes your ability to speak out regarding your children in the Parental Bill of Rights (Initiative 2081). And it has even tried to set up hotlines for reporting “bias incidents” including perceived hostile expressions against any person in SB5427 (which was, thankfully, shot down but will surely rear its ugly head again in the future).
- Free assembly: In direct violation of Article 1, Sections 4 and 11 of the state constitution, Washington has cracked down on religious groups providing homeless services on private property and prevented people from attending religious services during the Covid-19 period. Nationally, Democrats have raised a bill (H.R. 6981) to prevent citizens from gathering together for “militia training”, a concept the state legislature will no doubt attempt to copy whether it fails or succeeds there.
- Self-defense: In direct violation of Article 1, Section 24 of the state constitution, legislators have impaired all citizens through its vast web of gun laws including 1) restricting access to types of guns that you would choose for your specific needs, 2) magazine restrictions, 3) waiting periods, and 4) training requirements, among others. And this year, no less than 5 new gun control bills have been introduced including insurance requirements, secondary permits and background checks, restrictions on the number of guns you may purchase in a calendar month, ammo taxes, and over-the-top FFL physical security requirements in an attempt to get them to close up shop. Meanwhile, violent crime is back to 2000 levels and those who actually commit violent crimes are often released back onto the street with low/no bonds and/or have their sentences reduced.
For these reasons and many more, Republicans in Washington rightly feel directly targeted in various aspects of their lives (though we all know these rights are for everyone) and it’s natural to want to “vote harder” for someone in your party to lash out, push back, and curb these infringements.
But the problem is in the numbers.
Since at least 2004, voters identifying as Democratic have only been increasing and with the influx of Washington’s tech sector and the workforce that supplies it, these numbers are likely to continue growing for the foreseeable future. Yes, many in even the state’s most urban centers are becoming fed up at what they rightly see as an inefficient use of their tax dollars, most notably as their own budgets start to look thin, but this is not expected to flip an appreciable percentage of them to vote Republican up and down the ticket. This is because they still believe in the system (as do you), and believe that all that is needed to achieve their goals is to elect more on their side or perhaps just new faces with a “D” next to their name rather than relinquish the hard-won ground they’ve taken over the past two decades. Voters become strangely forgiving of their own party's sins when the ballot is in front of them.
This, I believe, is where Libertarianism can help act as a bridge for us all here in Washington. We Libertarians see Republicans and Democrats as two players in the same “winner takes all” system, where the loser must necessarily suffer at the hands of the majority. We believe that this notion is antithetical to the concept of universal rights. A healthy society is not created by doing more of what the winning party wants at everyone else’s expense, it is created by reducing the state's stranglehold on everyone in their unique pursuits of happiness. We see no reason for the state to be in the business of doing anything that we as individuals can do ourselves and we see no reason to pay a government middleman to make choices for us.
Libertarianism is a call to decentralize everything that can be decentralized because centralization is the most expensive and inefficient form of governance, even if it's government with Republicans at the helm. It respects all members of all political camps to participate in the true American dream: building your future as your conscience dictates so long as you harm no other person or their property, and it uses government to enforce those ends only.
As such, the focus of my campaign is getting us all to agree on the ONE issue we should be able to agree on—minimizing the amount of government we have and its increasing cost in our lives, and I believe this message resonates with Washingtonians of all political persuasions. From the outset, it will require a heavy reliance on veto power, stymying any bill coming out of Olympia that increases spending or that attempts to further restrict activities that otherwise free people should enjoy. It will require getting our government out of its various financial black hole ventures and letting local private enterprise of all sizes step in to develop more decentralized solutions on their own.
No matter how much you support the Republican Party’s policies and its gubernatorial candidate(s) with an “R” next to their name, the time is coming when we can no longer afford the mere shift of budgeting to the Republican Party’s favorite expenditures. We must have an actual smaller, less expensive government. We desperately need citizens to create the businesses and organizations that will figure out and deliver the real solutions to us.
Your decision to visit to my site before casting your vote is appreciated. Please have a look at my Campaign Strategy and Issues pages and, if what I say resonates with you, please consider voting for me in the primary. Take the leap of faith--for yourself, for me, and for your state. With your help, we can not only survive what's coming, but thrive.
Michael DePaula
