When George Washington was fighting the American Revolution, he was fighting with 2,000 regular troops. The rest of his army was undisciplined militia. He was fighting against the most powerful army in the world. You have to know that there were people going, "you know, George, you really can’t win. There’s a snowball’s chance in hell. Why not put out the campfire and just give up, because you can’t win." Aren’t you glad that he didn’t give up?

George Washington lost most of the battles that he fought. If George Washington was a football team, he’d be at the bottom of the rankings. But they continued to persist because it was the right thing to do. Eventually, you know, liberty won. I am not doing this because I’m trying to send a message. I’m doing this because most of what the government does is unconstitutional. I am doing this because 20,000 gun laws are unconstitutional. I am doing this because we have "free speech zones" in the United States. Are you aware of that?

Actually, I was not.

I’ve spoken at colleges where the students had me speaking in a HUGE auditorium. There were, like, over 300 seats. And there were only, you know, 15 to 18 students in the first two rows. I said, well, this is stupid. Why did you get such a big auditorium, why not get a small classroom, we’d be able to be a little bit more informal, be a little bit more interactive, and they said, well, you are a presidential candidate. We had to have you in the auditorium because quote, "This is a free speech zone."

So I said, what does that mean about the hallway outside the auditorium, what does that mean about the rest of the campus? And was assured that that was NOT a free speech zone. [disdainful] Wherever I happen to be standing is a free speech zone! I don’t NEED government permission to exercise freedom of speech. The first amendment does not GIVE you freedom of religion. Because the first amendment does not say, "you can attend any church you want." What does the first amendment say? It says – quote – "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion."

So does that give you privileges, or does that put limitations on the government? I mean, the bill of rights, all of the bill of rights, puts limitations on the government, and so does the Constitution. And the Libertarian party is here to restore constitutional limitations on government. They work for us, not the other way around.

So have you found your message is reaching a lot of young voters?

Oh, absolutely. When I talk to college students, one of the questions that I ask them is, "Now, how many people still live at home with mom and dad?" And, depending on the age group, there’s always some percentage that live at home, but most of them have already moved out or are planning to move out. And so I ask them, why are you moving out? Don’t mom and dad love you any more? Is mom a bad cook? Why would you move out into your own apartment, which is usually a little tiny studio apartment, you know, the only thing you’ve got in the refrigerator is ice cubes and leftover bologna. Why would you move out and live at the poverty level?

Well, the answer is LIBERTY. Mom, I love ya, Dad, you’re my best friend, but I’m going out, I’m going to live my own life, I’m going to make my own decisions. And so I said, well, if you won’t let mom and dad make decisions for you – and, presumably, mom and dad still love you – then why on earth would you allow the government to make decisions for you? Does the government love you more than mom and dad? Does the government know you better than mom and dad? No, of course not! And so everybody in the United States grows up being a libertarian at heart. If you have the AUDACITY to think that you’re smart enough to make your own decisions, then you’re a libertarian, regardless of how you vote.

Your Web site, www.badnarik.org, is very elaborate. Is that part of a strategy to reach the young, internet-savvy voter population?

Absolutely. We are doing everything we can within our power. We have only collected three quarters of a million dollars, which is less than George Bush and John Kerry can raise in a single evening. So, the Democrats and Republicans can easily outspend us, a thousand – maybe even 10,000 – to 1.

So, we have to utilize our resources to the best of our ability. We focused our television commercials on New Mexico and Nevada. And after two weeks of television commercials and one week of personal appearances in New Mexico, the polls went from 50/50 split between George Bush/John Kerry to Michael Badnarik getting 5 percent that were actively going to vote for me, and an additional five percent that were now undecided.

As a part of that same poll, it said that 70 percent of people still probably wouldn’t know you from the man on the street. So is that frustrating, when you’re working and it says, yes, you’ve got 5 percent, but there’s also still very little recognition?

That question is "is the glass half full or is the glass half empty?" I am focusing on how much more we have done than any other Libertarian presidential race. You know, we have not collected more money, but we’ve spent more on television commercials, we are getting more political support within the Libertarian party. The Libertarian party is stronger and more unified than it has ever been in our history. You know, all the libertarians are working actively on my campaign. And that is why we are getting so much press, we are getting very GOOD press. You know, the media has been treating me just like I was a real candidate for a real party.

Well, it IS a real party.

It is a real party! I am a legitimate candidate which means because I am on the ballot in 48 states, I should be allowed to participate in the presidential debate.

If you were [allowed] in the debate, what kind of things would you ask Bush and Kerry?

I would ask them why Congress bothers to write a budget when they overspend that budget by over half a trillion dollars. It’s not like they accidentally "forgot" a few expenses. They spend seven hundred MILLION dollars more than they budget. Why bother with a budget if you’re gonna miss by that much?

THE ISSUES

I was going over your Web site and looking over the different views you have on the different topics. You have a view on ‘industrial hemp’ – do you personally own hemp products?

No, I don’t. I have invested almost all of my money in this campaign. I have no money to invest in anything. I mean, the founding fathers dedicated their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the cause of Liberty. And Jon Airheart [Badnarik’s personal assistant] and I have done the same thing over the last two years. We have given up our apartments, we’ve been living out of a suitcase for the last nine months. This is not a matter of life and death, this is far more important than that.

One of the things that you also mentioned was ending drug prohibition. Where does that end? Are you wanting those drugs to be regulated, do you want all drugs, only marijuana…

Well, first of all, the war on drugs has been a dismal failure. We’ve been fighting the war on drugs for decades. We have more drugs on the street today than we did fifty years ago. In fact, Charles Manson is in prison, in solitary confinement, and he is still able to acquire drugs. So we can’t keep drugs out of Chuck Manson’s prison, it’s not possible to keep drugs off the street. Secondly, the war on drugs causes more of a threat to our liberties than the drugs themselves.

It violates our privacy, because police agents can search your home based on an anonymous tip, they can violate your property, because police officers can confiscate your car, sell it at ten cents on the dollar, then take the money. There are estimates that fifty percent of our drug agencies are corrupt and continuing the drug traffic rather than preventing it. And finally, there is an irrational fear that decriminalizing drugs will cause rampant chaos in the streets. That people will be running naked and causing all sorts of trouble, and that is just not true. I mean, almost everyone in the world is familiar with Coca-Cola.

And Coca-Cola got its name because it was originally laced with cocaine; it was supposed to be a drink that would relax you. And you know, there is no historical evidence that people were running around raping and pillaging because of coca cola. And if you do your research, you will discover that Sears catalog used to sell heroin. So, you know, based on that fact and that there is no historical evidence that society was coming unglued before the war on drugs, its irrational to assume that you know, people will come unglued if we eliminate the war on drugs. It’s an unfounded fear.

But how would you – would you continue to have drug dealers handle the drugs, would it become a prescription, something a doctor…

No, no it wouldn’t be a prescription! Because it would still give government control over it, and we are trying to eliminate government control. You know, we can sell it the same way we sell alcohol and tobacco, and it would be appropriate to keep it out of the hands of children.

People automatically assume that Libertarians are pro-drugs. We’re NOT pro-drugs. I’ve never smoked a marijuana cigarette in my life. I’ve never smoked a tobacco cigarette in my life. We are not pro-drugs, we are anti-drug war. And there is a significant difference.

THE LIFE OF A CANDIDATE

After you’re done with a day of campaigning, what do you do to relax? Do you have time to relax?

No.

No relaxing time?

No, I get four hours of sleep a night. I do six to 12 interviews a day. I typically have at least one fundraiser a day. And on the days when I only have six interviews, it’s typically because I’m on an airplane flying from one city to the next. And several times – I mean, frequently, our airplane leaves the ground at 6 a.m. Which means we wake up at 3 a.m. to leave the hotel by four, so we can get to the airport by five, so we can get through security and be on our flight.

So I get no downtime whatsoever, You know, people are fascinated and amazed that I can go nonstop, day after day, week after week, literally month after month and still retain a sense of humor and a good disposition. I am relentless.

Hopefully soon you’ll have some time – no, I shouldn’t say that hopefully soon you’ll have some time to relax. Hopefully your campaign will accomplish…what it can accomplish.

Well, if we are going to – first of all we have to agree that our country is going the wrong direction. The government that is supposed to protect our liberty is actively violating our rights and our liberties and I’m not willing to let that continue.

So we, as the libertarian party, are actively fighting to restore constitutional limitations on government. And my fight for liberty will continue until I’m successful. It may not be this year, it may not be next year, but soon. Because I am not willing to wait several generations to restore our freedom.

What do you consider a success? Do you consider anything less than winning a success?

In order to be realistic, yes, I would have to - as long as we break the 1,000,000-vote barrier that we’ve had. The largest number of votes that any Libertarian candidate has ever gotten was nine-hundred and some-odd thousand votes, for Ed Clark, and I am fairly confident that we will shatter that barrier and hopefully set a new record for Libertarian presidential candidates and by doing so, put the Libertarian party on the map and put the Democrats and Republicans on notice that we ARE growing, that we are NOT satisfied with the status quo.

FUTURE PLANS

So where do you go after November, barring a massive turnaround in the polls, where do you go after this?

Well, the first thing I do is take a well-deserved vacation. And spend some time with my girlfriend. And then I will probably be promoting my book. I have a book that is being published literally this week, and is already available on amazon.com. The title of the book is "Good to be King."

What’s that book about?

It’s all about the fundamentals of the constitution. You know, why the founding fathers wrote the constitution in the first place. And why the Constitution is a better form of government than other possible forms of government, such as socialism or communism. And I also have an eight-hour class that I teach on the Constitution. I will be traveling around the United States, teaching my Constitution class.

Do you generally do that at schools, with young people…

Anywhere I can…it’s a seminar. We advertise by fliers and e-mail. After the election, I will probably be advertising in newspapers, trying to bring people in. The more people I can teach about the constitution, the more likely they are to vote Libertarian at all levels of the ballot. You know, state and federal.

So if you don’t win this year, would you consider running for president again?

Yes, I would.

Is that part of your possible long-term plan, or are you willing to let other people in the Libertarian party take those reins?

Well, I am successful because I focus on one thing at a time. This interview is the most important interview that I have, until the next interview. There’s no reason for me to worry about what happens after November second, if I’m not focusing my time and attention on doing the best job I can right now. So focusing out on 2008, that’s over four years away. But, again, my life right now is dedicated to liberty and so if the Libertarian party thinks that it’s important enough to nominate me again in 2008, then I would be happy and honored to represent them in the next presidential election.

To do more four hours of sleep a night, traveling around the country, possibly encountering hurricanes…

As long as I have people who are taking a breath, I will be spreading the message of liberty. And we are already being successful. We are getting wonderful coverage from the local media. Once we break through the barrier of national media, once the average American starts to hear about us – and they will – one way or another, every American in the United States is going to know what the Libertarian party is all about. And when they find out, they are going to start voting for us. And when they start voting for us, we are going to shatter the death grip that the democrats and republicans have on American politics. It is not a question of "if," it is simply a question of "when."

That’s a good philosophy to have. One last question: What’s the best barbeque place in Austin?

Oh… [laughs] Um, as a politician, I’m going to plead the fifth amendment on that.
There are too many barbeque places in Austin and they are all excellent, and I would be remiss if I were to alienate 99 percent of them.

As a non-politician, though. There’s no place you find yourself going more often when you’re in town?

I love them all. I love them all.

That’s very political of you.

It’s a true statement. I mean it, I love them all.