From the IndyStar's election round-up: 9th District Given the prevalence of gerrymandering and a campaign financing system that favors incumbents, it's uncommon for voters to be offered a choice between two well-qualified candidates in congressional races. But three strong candidates competing for one House seat? That's unheard of. Or at least that's the case outside this southeastern Indiana district, where for the second time Democrat Baron Hill, Libertarian Eric Schansberg and Republican Mike Sodrel face off. Schansberg, an Indiana University Southeast economics professor, is a prime example of how far the Libertarian Party has advanced in Indiana. He's thoughtful and well versed on core issues. So too is Sodrel, who lost the seat to Hill in 2006. Sodrel brings a business owner's experience and expertise to issues such as energy and health care. His previous stint in Congress gives him a depth of knowledge rare among challengers. And the past two years outsi...

Survey USA has Indiana 9th Congressional Libertarian candidate Dr Eric Schansberg moving up from 5-7% in the latest poll . This is an interesting development as the incumbent Democrat Baron Hill is now up 53-38 over former GOP Representative Mike Sodrel, meaning that the seat is no longer seriously in doubt, which may be freeing some people to vote their conscience rather than party lines. Here's the response from the Schansberg campaign: Schansberg said: "We're glad to continue building support. In the past month, we've run a lot of radio and TV commercials. And we've had many opportunities to meet voters, talk on the radio about the bailout, and give speeches to groups throughout the District." On progress by Hill and his own campaign, Schansberg remarked: "It makes sense. Baron and I have been running more active campaigns, especially with paid media. Our commercials seem to have been effective in drawing people to our efforts." On the impact of H...

The Jackson County [Indiana] Banner recounts the town meeting recently held by 9th Congressional District Libertarian candidate Dr Eric Schansberg at which he (gasp, sputter) actually stood up and just answered people's questions. After his prepared statement, Eric threw the floor open to the voters: The first question Dr. Schansberg fielded was about illegal immigration. Though not his “favorite issue”, he said policy should be to deal with the reason immigrants enter the country illegally. “We need to penalize employers who hire illegal immigrants,” he said. He went on to say that he’s a fan of legal immigration, though the process often deters people from legally moving into the country. “I’m for a high wall and a large gate. We need to streamline INS procedures. If you want people to do the wrong thing, make the right thing hard to do,” he said. He was questioned about the Fair Tax and the flat tax, both of which he said are “improvements”. Another person asked about opening a...

. . . about my endorsement of Dr Eric Schansberg, Libertarian candidate for Congress in Indiana's 9th District. Dr Schansberg is an evangelical, anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage Libertarian, leading Waldo to this conclusion about why the LGBTQ community doesn't flock to the LP : I read Schansberg's personal blog- as if, somehow, he can compartmentalize his thinking between what he believes as a citizen and what he peddles to the public on his congressional blog. He's a mainstream homophobe.... If one of the Schansberg boys sits Mom and Congressman down one day in the future and says, "I'm gay," we can imagine what the reaction will be from the member of the Core Leadership Team for the Men’s Ministry at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville- and it won't be a Libertarian response. Schansberg Libertarians are just a greedier version of everyday Libertarians. The everyday variety preach a vague sort of live and let live doctrine; the Schansbergers- l...

When I first mentioned Eric Schansberg, Libertarian candidate for Congress in Indiana's 9th Congressional District, I didn't feel like I could give him a whole-hearted endorsement (and, damn it, I can't find the post right now to link to) because he is socially considerably more conservative than I am. Yet I really found myself wanting to like him , even if we differ on abortion rights or (I suspect) gay marriage. After all, we're both academics (he's an economist; I'm a historian), both built our families in part through adoption, and both share a commitment to civility in political campaigning (although I suspect I'd be a bit more in-your-face than he is). But it has been the experience of reading Eric's personal blog that has convinced me that I unconditionally support his bid for a seat in Congress, even if I'm a pro-abortion rights Catholic (don't tell the bishop) and Eric is an anti-abortion rights Evangelical. Because Eric is a thinking ma...

Headlined from the Libertarian Party of Indiana [with h/t to Last Free Voice ]: Schansberg congratulates President Bush and Democratic Congress on world-record budget deficit JEFFERSONVILLE, IN -- Just in time for the Olympics, the White House has predicted a $482 billion deficit for 2009—which if successful, would allow the President and the Democratic Congress to set a new world record. A $482 billion deficit would smash the current record of $413 billion in 2004. The 2009 deficit will extend the current national debt to more than $10 trillion. On top of that, unfunded liabilities—most notably, for Social Security and Medicare—add tens of trillions of dollars in debt. Dr. Eric Schansberg, a professor of Economics and the Libertarian candidate for the 9th Congressional District in Indiana, noted that current debt necessarily leads to higher future taxes. And Schansberg pointed to massive increases in spending as the cause: "Tax revenues, as a percentage of GDP, are well within ...

How often do Libertarian candidates actually get real , substantive news coverage as anything but curiosities? Well, apparently it happens in Indiana's 9th Congressional District: After I recently published a post about Eric getting similar coverage in the local newspapers , I wrote the Daniel Suddeath (the author), complimenting him on his even-handed treatment of all three candidates. His response was informative: Our editors insist we provide equal coverage, which is what we should do. Dr. Schansberg is a great guy and has some good things to say. Maybe, just maybe, there is change in the wind.

One thing I know: Demopublicans really, really hate it when the media treats Libertarians like they were legitimate candidates for public office. One thing I don't know (among many): precisely what city in Indiana's 9th Congressional District is the home base for the Evening News and Tribune . But I know that this is paper with some intellectual integrity, as Daniel Suddeath proves in his article on how the price of gas has come to dominate the three-way race between Democrat Baron Hill, Republican Mike Sodrel, and Libertarian Erich Schansberg. The Demopublicans don't want to appear on the same stage with the Libertarian, and certainly don't want the news coverage of the issue to be framed around a third-party candidate, but hey.... When the Libertarian in the race is also the only candidate with a PhD in Economics , I guess you end up getting lectured: When Eric Schansberg decided to run for Indiana’s 9th District U.S. Congress seat, he had “no idea” gas prices wou...

In Indiana's 9th Congressional District, Dr. Michael Schansberg is doing something unprecedented: he's appearing statistically in polling for a US House race. Current polling gives Schansberg 4% in what is an admittedly safe Democratic district , with Dem Baron Hill at 51-40 over GOP candidate Mike Sodrel. So skeptics can, I suppose, dismiss Schansberg as a fairly meaningless protest vote totaling only about 40% of the margin separating the Demopublican candidates. On the other hand, Dr Schansberg isn't a lightweight, either. He's Professor of Economics at Indiana University at New Albany and an anti-abortion Evangelical Christian candidate all at the same time. This leaves him pretty far to the right of me, at least on social issues, but it appears that he's making his stand on basic economic issues, and he does it with some rare humor : Baron Hill is a fiscal conservative — for a Democrat. (But that’s like saying that he’s among the best students who earned a D...