Ron Paul urges Virginians not to vote for Libertarian candidate
One of the most influential Libertarians in American politics is urging voters in Virginia this Election Day to cast their ballot not with that party’s candidate, but for a Republican vying for the title of governor.
Ron Paul, the longtime congressman from Texas who retired earlier this year after an unsuccessful bid for United States president, campaigned in Richmond, Virginia on Monday for Ken Cuccinelli, the state’s attorney general and the leading Republican in the gubernatorial race to be decided there on Tuesday.
According to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Monday, Cuccinelli is 6 percentage points behind Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe, who at the time was ahead in the race with 46 percent of the vote.
Paul Sarvis, the Libertarian candidate in the governor’s race, only scored 8 percent of the vote according to that poll. And as of Monday, he wasn’t about to get any help from American libertarianism’s most popular face.
Speaking at a rally for Cuccinelli in the state capital on Monday, Paul told attendees that they would be “insane” to vote for Sarvis, the Libertarian.
During a 30-minute address, Paul took a moment to attack Sarvis’ over remarks he made during a recent interview with MSNBC in which he suggested he might support a new automobile tax that would force drivers to pay per-mile, rather than a fee added on each gallon of gasoline. Should any jurisdictions adopt a pay-per-mile plan, automobiles may be equipped with global positioning system devices, the likes of which Paul called an "invasion of privacy."
The former congressman also had words for McAuliffe, and said that a win for the Democrat would amount to millions of Virginia residents relinquishing their liberty.
Cuccinelli is a "defender" of liberty, Paul said, urging Virginians not to "give up on liberty."
"If you elect the other guy, you are [giving up on liberty]," Paul said of McAuliffe.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail on Monday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) encouraged voters to cast ballots for Cuccinelli while also taking time to attack President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
“That healthcare law will only get worse, the website is just the tip of the iceberg,” Rubio said.
On his part, Cuccinelli added that so-called Obamacare is a great threat “not to health care,” but rather “liberty” and “freedom.”
Back in Richmond, Paul told voters that although Cuccinelli is not running as a Libertarian, he's a "Constitutionalist, so he's an ally."
