I have had a lot of well-meaning people suggest that the only way to make a name for myself in this campaign is to abandon the very things that set me apart from the other candidates. If I were comfortable with that tactic, why would I even continue to run?
I am here to remind others what "libertarian" means. If you are uncomfortable with some of the implications, then I am doing my job. I do not know everything. There are some issues and some situations I have not thought out fully, and some I have not even made myself aware of, I am sure. Anything that comes up can be solved in a true, uncompromising, libertarian, Zero Aggression Principle, sort of way. These types of solutions are permanent, not expedient, and sometimes are more difficult to embrace. Especially when we have lived in a culture of expediency and authoritarianism for so long.
I am still getting suggestions that I must change the way I dress in order to be taken seriously. George Phillies might look good in a suit; I do not. If you had never seen any pictures of me, would it change your opinion of me in any way? What if I had used a nice studio photo of a handsome model in a professional looking suit instead of a photo of myself? Would the ideas springing from my mind take on more legitimacy? I am my mind. Part of my mind makes it difficult for me to dress as others would wish I would dress. Just ask my parents. I don't do it to be difficult or to shock people, although that seems to be the general concensus. It is part of what makes me Kent McManigal. Perhaps I will take a self portrait that looks more "normal" soon. If I do, see if it changes your perception of me. If it does, then America is probably doomed.
