Recent Ball State University graduate Chad "Wick" Roots is vyingfor the Indiana 6th district Congressional seat as a Libertariancandidate this fall, and he says he's in it to win.
"I wouldn't be running if I didn't intend to win," Roots said."I don't have over a million dollar budget like Mike Pence. Thegreatest asset is my age demographic."
His age demographic - young voters and twenty-somethings -shares the same disappointment in the nation's current affairs,Roots said.
"I believe we went into Iraq with poor information, and it'simportant to stress that the United States is not anation-builder," Roots said. "Our military should be used fordefense and not offense."
Many extremists on the political spectrum belong to theLibertarian Party, Roots said.
"I'm more on the conservative side," Roots said. "I'vepreviously voted Republican."
Like many Libertarians, Roots is interested in overhauling theeducation system in our state
"For primary education in Indiana, we should consider evaluatinginstructors and tie salaries to evaluations," Roots said. "Weshould have merit-based pay rather than tenure or salary raisesevery ten years."
Unlike the Libertarian candidate for governor, Kenn Gividen,Roots said he does not think eliminating all school boards andturning every Indiana public school into a charter school is arealistic idea.
"Gividen is a little bit more conservative in education," Rootssaid. "We can't realistically put everything into the hands ofprivate individuals, but we can work to bridge a gap that brings uscloser to that idea."
While Roots said he generally favors less taxation, he isproposing taxes as a way to bring jobs back to Hoosiers.
"We need to take federal action on local issues, such as taxpenalties for large corporations who are taking jobs from Indianaand the United States," Roots said.
On the ballot, Roots' name will appear 'Chad "Wick" Roots.'
"'Wick' is a knickname from college. I was in a fraternity andwe had several Chads," Roots said. "The guys just started callingme Chadwick and it stuck."
Roots began his political career as a student at Ball State whenhe won a Ball State senator-at-large seat in 1999.
Roots said that on the campaign trail, he's looking for studentorganizations to help him with outreach.
"Ball State actually has a Libertarian Party chapter," Rootssaid. "I'm going to get heavy on campaigning in the next fourweeks. I'll be hitting the streets."
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