About 15 people showed up to Nazar Mediterranean Restaurant on Jamestown Road on Friday night for a meet and greet with Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Robert Sarvis.
Sarvis sat at a table in the center of the restaurant’s dining room, surrounded by the people in what ended up being a casual conversation rather than a campaign stop for Sarvis, one of three people on the ticket to be the next governor of Virginia.
The attendees talked to Sarvis about topics ranging from the status of the campaign to how to promote Libertarian candidates in elections to the nature of the political system.
“I’m feeling good,” Sarvis said. “I’m really encouraged by the response from independent voters. I’m not going to quit what I’m doing.”
He said he was disappointed in a recent decision by the organizers of the final debate between gubernatorial candidates to prohibit him from participating. Friday marked his first official visit to the Historic Triangle, but he hopes to visit the College of William and Mary later in the month.
While rarely focusing on specific policy items, the conversation at the table drifted among issues facing the candidate. It frequently returned to a general sense of disillusionment with the two major political parties.
“Keep standing on principle,” one man told Sarvis. “That’s what attracts people who are tired of backroom deals. Even if this election isn’t the election, it’s part of a longer game.”
Another attendee said he likes “there’s an option where I can be fiscally conservative and socially liberal.”
One attendee voiced support for a multi-party system, saying people on both sides of the fence don’t care for either of the major party candidates in the election. Several of the attendees talked about how talking points and rehearsed public appearances make for mostly meaningless messages from candidates from the major political parties.
Sarvis said he would like to have a give-and-take debate with his opponents. He talked about his extemporaneous style of public speaking — he almost never prepares remarks beforehand — saying his fluid delivery allows people to know where he stands.
“I want people to think deeply about the problems,” he said.
Sarvis’ platform calls for several specific policy objectives, such as the elimination of the car tax and a host of other taxes such as the business and professional occupation license tax, the machinery and tools tax and the merchant capital tax. He also calls for the elimination or drastic reduction of income tax, with governments instead focusing on user fees to generate revenue.
He outlines policy objectives the other candidates have been silent on, such as ending the war on drugs and reversing the militarization of law-enforcement tactics. He also mentions restricting law-enforcement’s use of general surveillance technologies, according to his website.’
Sarvis told his supporters at Friday’s event a grassroots effort is needed to galvanize potential Libertarian voters. When they asked how they could help in the final days before the election, he encouraged them to talk to family and friends and to start knocking on doors to share his message.
When asked about the polarized state of national politics, he encouraged people to continue to support the Libertarian cause.
“People can think Congress is messed up, but if next year all you get are the same Democrat and Republican talking points, nothing changes,” Sarvis said.
Sarvis will appear Saturday at around noon at the Peninsula Libertarian Party cookout at 58 Yorktown Road in Newport News. You can find more information about that event here.
