In one sense I go way back with Dr. Phillies, even though we never actually met. In the late 1960s-early 1970s he was already legendary as one of the premiere wargamers of his generation, and the virtually undisputed master of Avalon Hill's Stalingrad.
Now he's mounted a drive for the Libertarian Presidential nomination, running his campaign as if he might actually become President--a tactic that has both mystified and repelled some Libertarians, while intriguing others. If I were handicapping things right now, I'd put him in the high second tier of candidates, chiefly because Bob Barr and Mike Gravel have serious name recognition advantages, Wayne Allyn Root manages to get national audiences, and (until the recent age-of-consent controversy) Mary Ruwart has been the darling of the hard-liners (but see below on that subject).
At this point, I don't think there's a front runner; I think there's happy, Libertarian chaos.
Tomorrow, Dr. Phillies will answer the same five questions I put to Christine Smith. To prepare yourself, visit his website and take a gander at him on the stump in 2007:
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