Libertarians Supporting Socon Candidate Jeff Willerton?

If you scan down the July 2009 archives of the Western Standard's Shotgun Blog, you will find an interesting article by Matthew Johnston entitled From the Poorhouse to the Penthouse: The Fall and Rise of Jeff Irwin Willerton: Book Review. The piece explores the often difficult journey that is Jeff Willerton's life. The author ends his book review by mentioning Willerton's latest project which is to run for the leadership of the Wildrose Alliance. Johnston admits to having initially written Willerton off as a serious candidate, but explains how he has changed his mind from reading his autobiography. Mentioning that Willerton needs to raise $10,000 to enter the leadership race, Johnston even plugs his web site where people can learn about Willerton and make a donation.

What is especially interesting about this blog post is the comments section where Johnston and a number of prominent libertarians in Canada are express support for Jeff Willerton as a candidate for the Wildrose Alliance leadership. However, the last comment seems to suggest that at least some libertarians do not support Willerton for being "an unapologetic social conservative" as Johnston describes him. Their support for his entrance into the race is built on the premise that he could split the social conservative vote, putting Danielle Smith in a better position to beat Mark Dyrholm and win the leadership. Here are some excerpts from the comments responding to the article:

"Willerton's frankness, candor and honesty strike me as risky for someone who wants to pursue a political office and, because of that, admirable....I wish him luck."
Posted by: P.M. Jaworski | 2009-07-11 10:17:51 AM

"Best of luck with your campaign."
Posted by: Matthew Johnston | 2009-07-12 11:03:32 AM

"And a Willerton candidacy is important for the injection of honesty, and because it can provide the so-called "socon" segment with real choice and a real debate."
Posted by: John Collison | 2009-07-12 3:54:14 PM

"John Collison: I've only met you a few times, but I'm sure you wouldn't get Willerton going to split the hard socon vote and get Danielle the victory:) It works for me"
Posted by: Dennis Young | 2009-07-12 6:27:27 PM

To read the article in it's entirety and read the full comments in response to the article, please visit:

http://westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/2009/07/index.html