According to leading Political website Politico, Libertarian Dan Cox may be the difference in a heated U.S. Senate race in Montana. His opponents, incumbent Democrat Jon Tester and Republican Denny Rehberg, are running neck and neck. The winner could determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate.
A PAC sympathetic to Democrat Tester has spent $500,000 on a new TV ad attacking the Republican and urging voters to “vote Cox.”
Dan Cox has been in two debates. He has done interviews on TV stations NBC, PBC and Mid Rivers Communications and just about every political news talk radio show in the state. He’s been covered on the front page of every major newspaper in the state.
“The Republican [Rehberg] didn’t even show up to one of our first debates,” says Cox. “He doesn’t want me there because I’m pointing out his record."
Earlier polls put Cox at 6-8 percent when he was included in debates. Since then, the final televised debate excluded the Libertarian and a new poll that includes only the Democrat and Republican puts them at 48% each. While these exclusions could drive down Cox’ vote total, it may not be enough to prevent him from swinging a close election.
Cox aims to end the Federal Reserve, bringing the issue of inflation to voters. "It’s an invisible tax,” says Cox. “When the government prints more money, they are devaluing the currency. A lot of people don’t realize that the Fed printed $16.1 trillion in secret and gave it to banks all over the world. I would audit the Fed, end the Fed and go back to having the U.S. treasury print the currency."
Cox also sees Republicans — including Rehberg – as caving in to government-mandated health insurance. "The Republicans saying they want to get rid of ‘Obamacare’ is just a trick," says Cox. "Romney says he wants to ‘repeal and replace’ it, but why would they replace it with anything? I think people who are voting for the Republicans solely to replace ‘Obamacare’ are going to be sorely disappointed if they just get ‘Republicancare.’"
Dan Cox is a notable political activist in Montana. In 2008, when the state tried to rezone Cox’s home county, Ravalli County, he spearheaded a petition to repeal the zoning laws. Voters passed it by more than 1,300 votes.
He then became the chair of his county’s Republican party. But after holding the position for a few months, he "quickly realized the Republicans didn’t follow their platform, and didn’t even follow the Constitution."
Cox ran for the Montana state senate as a Libertarian in 2010 and got 11 percent in a three-way race. He was planning on running for state representative this year, but a group of supporters approached him and raised the money to get him on the ballot for U.S. Senate instead.
That support — and his influence in this year’s U.S. Senate race — give Cox hope for the future. "I’m obviously not going to go away, I’m doing this for liberty," he said. "Until the Democrats and the Republicans start getting Constitutionalists elected, they can count on me opposing them in every election."
