Here’s an example of why Adam Kokesh’s bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., next year is so interesting.
On Sunday night I posted a poll on this site asking whether Luján or Kokesh would win a potential battle between the two next year. Mid-morning today, about 45 people had voted, with about 67 percent picking Luján.
As of the publication of this posting, the poll has 609 votes. Kokesh is winning with 539, or 89 percent of all votes cast in the poll.
What happened?
As I’ve written before, Kokesh, an Iraq war veteran turned antiwar activist, is an active member of Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty. It’s a nationwide movement of libertarian-believing people who are passionate about their support for Paul, a congressman and former presidential candidate, and his vision for America.
And, from all over the nation, they have their eyes on Kokesh’s campaign.
Kokesh tweeted earlier today about this site’s poll.
“Vote NOW! Kokesh vs. Lujan poll on popular local political blog!” he (or someone from his campaign) wrote on his Twitter page, and included a link to this site.
That alerted Kokesh supporters, who posted links to this site on two Paul-supporting message boards (here and here) and asked people to vote in the poll.
That’s all it took for Kokesh to leap way ahead in the poll, which is obviously unscientific.
Such people are also giving to Kokesh’s campaign. He has a donation counter displayed on his home page that indicates he’s already raised an impressive $50,000. The counter is cycling through names and locations of people who have contributed, and virtually none of them live in New Mexico.
Kokesh’s candidacy should be one of the most supported by people living outside the district he’s seeking to represent of any in the nation next year. Will that help convince voters living in the district? Time will tell.