Caucus Bytes: ...And the Libertarians

There of course more then the two political parties and the third largest party is also having an election to name its nominee. 

The Iowa Fair Soapbox has had a few independents and lesser known names over the years, and this year Libertarian Chase Oliver spoke on the box. 

It was also the first time the famous Iowa State Fair corn kernel poll included a Libertarian race to go with the two major parties. 

Oliver was covered in all the local media- Des Moines Register, Iowa Public Radio and so on. The Register giving him the headline “Armed and Gay” - a perfect riff on the classic line “I want my gay neighbors to be able to protect their weed with their guns”. 

 Most people would recognize Oliver from his run for US Senate from Georgia in 2022. Oliver received 2% of the vote and simultaneously got blamed for stealing votes from either Herschel Walker and/or Raphael Warnock depending on the hour. 

Oliver spoke largely a message somewhere between the two parties - disapproval of both Biden and Trump, balanced budget, and fixing the legal immigration process. 

Iowa Capital Dispatch quoted “I don’t believe we need a culture war country, we need a culture ceasefire in this country,” Oliver said. “Because again: I don’t care how you live, who you love, how you worship, how you express yourself, if you do that and peace, that is your business not the government’s.” 

Oliver took a share of the highest Corn Kernel poll count that ended up being tied for the most with Raymond Dude Wagner in a field of about 20 candidates. That’s at least the final count of 27 kernels apiece. Wikipedia still has the early count of Wagner ahead and but it ended in a tie. 

But I will cover the Kernel poll and the Libertarian race on another day.