As 2008 grows nearer and with it the insanity of the Presidential election and all of the accompanying House and Senate races to complete the three ring circus, it's becoming apparent there are issues that they cannot ignore if they have any hope of winning. While the establishment would argue that we have no chance of winning anyway, the growing disenchantment with the political status quo cause me to beg to differ. All we lack is a candidate that can run the distance, something that may be nearer than most people realize (more on that later).

From what I have read in national and state news, as well as what I have heard from the "man on the street", I am inclined to believe there are five issues that the Libertarian candidate cannot ignore, and they would do well to begin preparing to debate now. I'm not presenting my personal stance on these issues in this article (although I will be shortly), just addressing five areas I feel need to be addressed:

1. Health Care  No matter one's political persuasion, most Americans agree we have problems with our current system. It needs to be addressed, and if it is not addressed by the conservatives of this country, a socialist backlash is inevitable, one that will do more harm to our system than good. A strong Libertarian candidate should have a well thought out, well designed plan on health care that helps to address the issues rather than operating on the principle of confiscating personal wealth to provide for the care of the "have nots" or the "have plenty, just not enough" (such as those proposed at the top end of SCHIP coverage).

2. Environment  The Cold War of the 21st century is being fought over the environment. No matter the incredible strides we have made in cleaning up the environment over the last 30 years, the majority of Americans believe that we are all going to die within the next 50 if we don't purchase carbon credits or live luddite lifestyles immediately. The environmental war is a very cleverly engineered propaganda war, built on lies, half truths, and hypothesis, but one that has won widespread populist appeal. Any candidate not addressing the environment in the upcoming race can expect to alienate a good portion of the voting public, and a third party candidate cannot afford to lose any supporters.

3. War in Iraq  Many years ago, I had someone suggest that we have about a four year tolerance for war. Beyond that and we grow antsy, beginning to question the purpose. We are coming out of an administration that has spent all but the first eight months of its tenure actively engaged in war, and many Americans are sick of it. They want answers, they want a plan, and they don't want vague generalities from leaders who feel that the American public has no right to know what their government is doing. A strong candidate would preferably have some military or diplomatic background to give some credence to their proposals, but that can be overcome if their proposals are based on suggestions from respected sources. Nonetheless, the American public will want a solution and will reject soundly a candidate who fails to provide it.

4. Border Security  Like most of our foreign policy, many Americans believe this area is broke. We can't ignore the problem of 20 million illegals, but any program that includes any sort of amnesty is likely to only increase the number of illegal immigrants crossing our border. A good Libertarian candidate should have a proposal that allows for immigration by those who want to build and be a part of this nation, but keeps out those with less than honorable intentions.

5. US Patriot Act  Regardless of what Bush or his spinsters say about it, much of the "US Patriot Act" is unConstitutional, as it revolves around the suspension of certain rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights. The problem is, a right is not something that can be revoked, and the Bill of Rights especially, were not meant to "give you" rights (as, unfortunately, too many children are taught in our government schools!), but to specifically restrict the powers of the government. In the United States, power is meant to emanate from the people upward, NOT from the government downward. A qualified candidate will know and respect the Constitution and the form of government under which we operate, and will work to address the severe trashing this hallowed document has received, most notably over the past 60-80 years.

These are the issues that a Libertarian candidate MUST address in th upcoming election, in my opinion. How they handle these issues may greatly impact the success or failure of the party.