on the 1st anniversary of Libertarian representation on the Indy City Council

From "(Paul) Ogden on Politics" about Ed Coleman...

It was just a year ago yesterday that at-large Republican Indianapolis City-County Councilor Ed Coleman announced he was leaving the Republican Party to join the Libertarians. I attended the poorly-attended press conference that day. Although...a major victory for the Libertarians, the media didn't seem to notice.

While the Coleman announcement fell flat, the following months into Coleman's tenure offered opportunities for the Marion County Libertarian Party to make news as the loyal opposition to big government, a position that the Republicans had abdicated in favor of supporting Mayor Greg Ballard who, post-election, fell in love with corporate welfare and tax increases....

Libertarians pointed out the unenforceability of the panhandling ordinance and how, as written, it could be used to go after political speech....

Then you had the Libertarian Party's opposition to the comprehensive smoking ban proposal, which nanny-state measure was unbelievably introduced by a Republican...

Libertarian Coleman introduced a measure to allowing guns to be taken into city parks, just as guns are allowed into state and national parks. Mayor Ballard blew a gasket and immediately threatened a veto...while many Republican councilors behind the scenes laud Coleman for being right on the gun issue and quietly express support, few are willing to make the case forcefully that the Mayor is wrong and Coleman is right....

Coleman has also introduced successful measures putting city contracts on-line and providing spaces for motorcycle parking downtown....

Can Maguire and Coleman turn this new-found media attention on the Libertarian Party into votes? That will be an extraordinarily steep mountain to climb....

We shall see what the next year brings Ed Coleman and the Marion County Libertarian Party. Although armed with only a fraction of the vote, Libertarians have drawn considerable attention of the media which is looking for individuals who will offer the small government, fiscally conservative arguments local Republicans used to make, although not always sincerely so. At worst, Libertarians may end up forcing Republicans to live up to their campaign promises about small government and the role of government. As a Republican, I think that would indeed be a very good thing.