Kent McManigal made the following announcement today:
The End of the Trail
After a lot of thought I have decided to end my campaign. Last night while trying to delete spam comments, I accidentally deleted most of the content on the Boston Tea Party’s website. That was the last straw for me. I appreciate all the encouragement and support I have received in the past two and a half years. I apologize to anyone who is disappointed that I have withdrawn. I will probably keep blogging, and plan to change KentForLiberty into something other than a campaign site. I have come to realize that we will never get government back in line with the Constitution or with what is right by using methods approved and “allowed” by that same rogue government.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but I think a part of the LP community is surprised and disappointed by Kent’s departure. When I opened my computer for the day, there were several messages on the subject.
I am not shocked by it, but I wish he had stayed. Kent made the LP race more interesting, as I think many will agree. To my mind, Kent was that dark horse who could have walked away with the nomination, had Phillies and Kubby delegates clashed, not unlike what happened at the last LP presidential convention.
Kent was the one LP candidate who defied categorization. At first, to be honest, I really wanted to put him into the nutcase category. After all, he obviously doesn’t fit into the mainstream category. Yet, the more I read, and the more I talked to him, the more I realized that Kent is an original who defies categorization.
I first discovered Kent’s candidacy through, of all people, Gene Chapman. I looked at his website, and made a smartass comment on a forum about how Kent looks like he’d kick Gene Chapman’s ass for calling him a Communist. I stand by that statement, incidentally. Kent misunderstood and thought I was making fun of the way he dresses, and we began a correspondence which has continued to this day. I’m proud to call Kent McManigal my friend. I can’t categorize him any other way.
Needless to say, I support him no matter what he decides for his own life, because that’s what friends do. I hope I am not betraying a confidence when I say that this is a question over which Kent has struggled for a while now. He has hinted at it on his blog, after all. And now ….. well, the LP world is just a little less interesting for me today. I hope you understand.
Less
aynrkey
bostonteapartygoer
Kenn Jacobine
mattdharris
Mike Seebeck
Miche
paulie
Jim Davidson
ponggod
Stuart Richards
Todd Andrew Barnett
I also liked Kent, mainly for his interesting blogs. I wouldn’t have voted for the man but I did enjoy his blogging.
Kent,
If you have other reasons to withdraw, then that’s up to you … but please don’t let a slip of a mouseclick on the BTP’s web site be your reason. I’d rather the comments you accidentally deleted were still there (and I’ll see if there’s a way to get them back), but nobody’s going to die or anything, and the permanent stuff on the site wasn’t affected.
Regards,
Tom Knapp
This bums me out. But then again, I think he is correct. It is nearly impossible for one individual without funding and assistance to deal with all the bullshit that is required to run a campaign.
In an ironic twist of fate I just added his blog to my site last night.
I’m keeping it up. You Rock – Kent!
Kent seems like a great guy and a hardcore freedom fighter, but his campaign was not what I’d consider to be a real campaign. To wage a real campaign you’ve got to have money and/or raise money. You’ve got to travel around and give speeches. You’ve got to do interviews on radio and television. You’ve got to get your name out in as many publications as possible, not just libertarian blogs. Some guy that hardly anybody has ever heard of posting messages on some blogs that hardly anybody reads is not a real campaign.
Andy – Even after you do all that, you get 1/2 a million votes regardless. A million if a Koch-like VP backs you and you advertise as low-tax liberalism.
It doesn’t matter. The message does.
Thanks for making it interesting Kent . . . enjoy your summer now.
Andy,
I see what you’re saying. But in my mind, money shouldn’t matter, truth and honesty and morality should. Kent is a hero just for seriously attempting such an endeavor.
I admire Kent for being principled to the extreme, presidential candidate or not. I guess the only advantage for him being a candidate is that it gives him a somewhat greater opportunity to spread his freedom message.
But then again, considering he was an extreme long shot candidate in a mostly overlooked party, that’s really not much opportunity he’s foregoing.
“Money shouldn’t matter.”
Again. I thought that the LP was a capitalist party. Boy, was I wrong.
GE FKA UA – Call me an idealist. Lets look at it this way.
There are 3 things that separate Kent McManigal from George Bush and Dick Cheney as far as being a politician is concerned.
These two things are 1. His morality and 2. Lack of funding (money) and 3. Kent was never a politician, in my mind (this is a DAMN good thing)
I think that several libertarians have been successful in their fundraising efforts. But even if they raise 1 or 2 million dollars they are still political paupers when compared to their rivals.
I don’t disagree with capitalism by ANY means. I LOVE a free market.
I just think that morality should be as important as money.
FYI – I’m not in the LP. I used to be a very dedicated member when I was younger. I’m no longer directly affiliated, but do wish them well in all of their endeavors. I in no way speak for the LP, so don’t call them anti-capitalist because of what I said. I’m not a spokesperson for any entity other than myself.
I can’t imagine how tough it must be to run for major office without proper funding. I mean, I’m running for County Board of Commissioners (ooops, did I let that slip?) and I know for a fact that the only “donations” I’m going to get are probably from a few family members and thats about it. I’m going to have to fund the rest myself and even on the local level, that seems daunting.
The only thing I can do is hit the streets and go door to door (losing some fat off my ass in the process) and hope for the best. Kent can’t possibly do that and since he had limited funds and little support/publicity from the LP or BTP, I can totally understand his frustration.
Kent isn’t a nutcase – Wayne Allen Root is a nutcase.