Libertarian Candidate Explains His Mission

By Kelsey Miller
Torrey Times Student Correspondent
Last Friday, as a dynamic end to the first week of school, students in Mr. Shulman’s AP Government and Politics class were visited by Paul Dekker, a Libertarian of the fifty-third district in the running for Congress. Upon arriving, Dekker handed out the “World’s Smallest Political Quiz,” and students mapped their political tendencies on both the political and economic spectrums. Dekker went on to discuss how his own political mentality had changed over the years but that ultimately his first-hand experience in running a business led him to the Libertarian he is today. Among other dogmatic viewpoints, Dekker argued that the Constitution was never intended to be a fluid document and any elasticity attributed insofar as interpretation of the document was a threat to liberty. Students then began an enthusiastic question round in which Dekker was asked his positions regarding gun control, gay marriage, and abortion, among other controversial issues pertinent to this year’s election cycle. Students left class with a solid conceptual understanding of Libertarianism and their political interest further sparked as they begin an intense study of the American political system’s nuances.