Curran on Knott vs. Hill the Lobbyist and Young the Lawyer

From Kelley Curran in the Jeff/NA News-Tribune...


Libertarian Party candidate Greg Knott...has campaigned actively, issuing several press releases critical of incumbent Democrat Baron Hill, making appearances and maintaining an online presence. He also is someone, surprisingly, progressives should check out.

“I am running because Baron Hill has proven to be more interested in giving favors to his former lobbying clients and campaign donors than representing the people of Southern Indiana. I am running because Todd Young’s victory would make Joe ‘I’m sorry BP’ Barton a committee chair and give the rest of the lame-stream Republican establishment power to impose their failed borrow-and-spend, undeclared wars of choice, Wall Street bailout policies of the past....

An anti-corporate, social justice theme runs throughout Knott’s statements. He describes himself as a “ populist progressive libertarian realist” who is concerned with ending corporate welfare and argues for the FairTax and Social Security reform as fairer to those with lower incomes....

Lobbying for perceived favors is another key theme in Knott’s campaign, with most of the criticism directed at Hill. Knott’s NO BULL contract lists contributions to Hill he describes as linked to favors. He also criticized Young’s receipt of support from Massey Energy’s CEO....

Knott has a novel response to those who argue voting for a third-party candidate is a wasted vote...

“There are thousands of voters from both parties that think I am the best candidate, but fear voting for me will help their least favorite candidate. I encourage all of them to recruit someone from the opposite party to vote for me also, so they can cancel out any benefit that a vote for me would give their least favorite candidate.

The common assumption about Knott’s Libertarian candidacy is that he is a threat primarily to Young. There’s a libertarian element within the Republican party. The anti-incumbent vote could split between Young and Knott, giving Hill a win. However, given Knott’s intense criticism of Hill and his progressive positions and concerns, he may do significant damage to Hill’s campaign....

Unlike Baron Hill, I am not a career politician or former lobbyist. Unlike Todd Young and 235 current congressmen, I am not a lawyer,” Knott said.

More information about Knott and his campaign for Congress can be found at www.nobullcongress.info.