Advertisement
Which is why the 55-year-old from Wisconsin Dells is running against Kevin Barrett for the Libertarian nomination in the 3rd Congressional District.
Barrett, a Sept. 11, 2001, skeptic from Lone Rock, “is not representing Libertarians as Libertarians are,” Olson said. “He’s a New Libertarian, and it doesn’t seem quite right. I don’t like the idea of him representing Libertarians in the race. I realize I’m probably going to put in a lot of effort to finish third in this race.”
Olson, who was in La Crosse on Tuesday for a Libertarian barbecue, said he’s working with others in the party to collect the 1,000 signatures needed to get on the primary ballot.
The primary winner takes on incumbent Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, and Republican Paul Stark of Eau Claire, Wis.
Like most traditional Libertarians, Barrett said he wants less government, especially when it comes to the military and prisons. But he also advocates strengthening Social Security and creating a single-payer health care system.
“Kevin Barrett’s platform doesn’t appear to be a Libertarian platform,” Olson said. “I don’t think you can stand on both sides of the fence.”
In a statement earlier this month, Barrett said he’s running “as a populist ‘New Libertarian,’ in the tradition of Fighting Bob LaFollette, Ed Thompson and Jesse Ventura, (and) looks forward to debating the more traditionally Libertarian Olson in order to compare and contrast the two approaches to the Libertarian philosophy.”
Olson said Americans have “lost the scope of what should our government actually be doing for us. As long as the federal government continues to feel the need to be involved in our lives so completely, the spending will continue to go up, and the government will have more and more control of the people’s lives.”
“As Libertarians, we’re for a rather minimal government and allowing people a little more freedom to choose the path they want as long as they’re not bothering anybody else,” Olson said.
Olson comes from a family of prominent Republicans, including his uncle, Jack Olson, who served two terms as lieutenant governor in the 1960s. But Olson said he’s held Libertarian beliefs most of his life — he didn’t realize a party with those beliefs existed until the 1980s. He’s been a party member for nearly 30 years.
Olson, who married his wife, Holly, 11 years ago, has a diverse resume: boat pilot on the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers, musician, ski school instructor and golf club demonstrator. He currently bartends a few nights a week, does construction work and operates a portable sawmill as a hobby.
“I just can’t accept taking a career at this point in my life,” he joked.
Reid Magney can be reached at (608) 791-8211 or rmagney@lacrossetribune.com.
