I’m running for Missouri Attorney General because we deserve more choices than R or D | Opinion

An open letter to Missouri’s media outlets:

Riding in my car with my children (age 15 and 11) recently, I heard a radio report headlined “Dissecting the Missouri attorney general and lieutenant governor races.” As I am running for Missouri Attorney General in 2024 on behalf of the Libertarian Party, we all sat around listening to the analysis. While the reporter competently colored inside the lines, she reported about only the Republican and Democratic choices. At the end of the story, both my children asked why the story hadn’t mentioned me at all. The long, and admittedly cathartic, lecture that followed made both of my children excited to exit the car and go to school. Dad mission: accomplished.

I tried to explain to my kids about how money impacts media; about how media affects exposure; about how the political season to the media is similar to the harvest season for farmers; about how diverse a people we are — and how important it is to get away from two-party politics to reach a true representative democracy. (Reader: You would be forgiven for thinking that maybe the radio reporter doesn’t know I am running — but isn’t it her job to know who is on the ballot?) My campaign reached out to not just this journalist, but to her station, as well as to many others (TV and radio), reporters, newspapers, blogs, podcasts, websites and more through phone calls, email and social media — and received little response to that outreach.

I guess since we do not pay money for advertising, there is no incentive to respond. Besides, you already have their story: Republicans versus Democrats. Red states versus blue states.

Which team are you on?

Which party can fix all the problems in our government? The Republicans or the Democrats? If you can’t answer, then you are like me: stuck on whom to pick each election, because those are usually the only two choices, and either party may represent only 51% of my beliefs.

We should expect more.

So how did we collectively decide all our leaders must fit into two parties — two parties that are exclusionary if you do not agree almost 100% with them? Need an example? If I am against government interference in personal health decisions, I can’t be a Republican. If I support an expansive application of the Second Amendment, I can’t be a Democrat.

Missouri is incredibly diverse. We require more than just two answers. We need more parties to address the complex, multifaceted problems we face in our state in a way that reflects Missourians, not caricatures manufactured on the east and west coasts for a better harvest during election seasons. We need answers from all directions because our problems are not capable of being solved with just a two-answer approach. If you want a balanced budget, lower debt, clean streets and a smaller government that is focused less on self-preservation, and more on promoting its citizens in exercising their rights and freedoms, there is not a candidate with an R or a D next to their name for whom you can vote.

Like all Americans, I should struggle to bend the knee to any would-be king, but MAGA exists because it is a counterbalance to an extreme on the left. The answer should not be to expel these beliefs as that would be equally un-American. Instead, let them both exist. MAGA can be its own party, since it rejects Republicans who disagree with its goals. It can operate alongside Republicans, Democrats and Libertarians. Progressives need a party as well.

For this to change, we need three things for certain (maybe more). First, we need to start investing our votes in people, instead of spending our votes on parties. This would force the extremists in both parties to operate in the middle, where most voters are. Second, we need to remove money from the political equation as much as possible. And third, we need well-trained, ethical journalists who cover all facets of the story, instead of creating them.

By her omission, the journalist whose story my family heard delivered a biased report. However, she is far from alone. Our third parties, if they are ever to thrive, need investment from all of us, starting with complete and balanced reporting from the media, and an equal financial playing field.

And a huge thumbs up to members of The Kansas City Star Editorial Board, who saw me as a candidate worth talking to in their endorsement process.