Armies of people are being paid to elect Sen. Mark Pryor or Rep. Tom Cotton to the U.S. Senate — campaign workers, political consultants, pollsters, state party staff, political action committee employees, etc.
Nathan LaFrance’s wife, on the other hand, designed his logo for his website.
LaFrance, 35, a Libertarian from Bella Vista, is also running for the Senate, along with Green Party candidate Mark Swaney of Huntsville. In a recent poll by Talk Business and Hendrix College, they each polled at 2 percent.
Pryor and Cotton spend most of their waking hours trying to win the election. Their taxpayer-supported offices enable them to campaign on a nearly full-time basis when Congress is not in session.
LaFrance doesn’t campaign until he comes home from his job at the Walmart home offices in Bentonville. He spends several hours each night doing campaign legwork and searching the internet for potential supporters and speaking opportunities. He says he’s spoken less than half a dozen times, but he did speak along with other candidates before a big crowd at Ashdown a couple of weeks ago.
His message is the same as his party’s. Libertarians would cut taxes along with spending on government programs, which sounds like Republicanism, but Libertarians would reduce government much more, including spending on the military. Their less-government philosophy extends to social issues. LaFrance, unlike Cotton or Pryor, supports gay marriage. He’s hoping that issue will win him support that ordinarily would go to Democrats.
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