As Louisiana gears up for November’s senatorial elections, voters are already seeing ads flying fast and thick between Republican David Vitter and Democrat Charlie Melancon.
But there are other options besides the two, and for many college students, Libertarian Randall Hayes may be an alternative.
Hayes, who is the first Libertarian candidate to be selected in a Louisiana state-wide primary, argues that his small-government, personal-responsibility platform suits college students.
“I think college students appreciate personal freedom,” Hayes said. “They’re more open than their parents may have been to some of our principles.”
Hayes said his political philosophy is rooted in the belief that “our government is much too big. Power is much too concentrated in Washington.”
Hayes said the most important issues to him are those concerning foreign policy — specifically one protesting the U.S. involvement in foreign battles abroad.
“It’s sad for America to go around fighting other people’s wars,” Hayes said. “College students tend to know a lot more about foreign policy, and they care more.”
Hayes also said students are much more likely to join the military and could thus find his anti-war policies appealing.
“If there’s a draft, it’s going to be students that have to go,” he said.
Next on Hayes’ list is the economy.
“The economic problems we’ve had in the past few years are a result of the government interfering,” he said.
Hayes said college students in New Orleans — on the campuses of Tulane University and the University of New Orleans — are starting to campaign for him, but he hasn’t seen any organized movements on LSU’s campus.
“I’ve had some individuals at LSU, but no groups,” Hayes said. “We’re working on it.”
The University has a small but vocal Libertarian contingent. Kyle Aycock, state director of Young Americans for Liberty and treasurer of the group’s University branch, was in Free Speech Plaza on Thursday afternoon for the Student Organization Fair, signing up members and gathering signatures on a petition to get well-known Libertarian U.S. Congressman Ron Paul, R-Texas, to speak in Baton Rouge.
“Our organization is Libertarian-leaning, but anyone can join,” Aycock said.
Aycock said he supported Anthony Gentile, Hayes’ challenger in the primary. Aycock said he hasn’t checked out Hayes’ platform, although he intends to do so once the election gets closer.
Aycock said Hayes’ run was useful but that he was more focused on Paul’s politics.
“[The Senatorial race] provides voters a good outlet for people to vote their principles,” he said. “But there’s a zero chance of [a Libertarian candidate] winning.”
Hayes earned 1,530 votes in the primary. That number was dwarfed by Melancon’s 77,809 votes and Vitter’s 85,225.
Still, Hayes said the party is growing in Louisiana. He said the number of citizens registered Libertarian grew from about 1,000 in 2005 to 3,500 today.
Aycock said he was considering voting for Vitter because the Republican’s fiscal policies closely resemble Libertarian values, although the incumbent’s emphasis on social conservatism bothers him.
Christopher Kenny, a political science professor who teaches American government classes at the University, has some unofficial data that might lend credence to Hayes’ theory. Kenny has all of the students in his large general education classes answer 32 to 33 issue questions, which are then fed into a computer that classifies the student’s basic political identities.
In fall 2009, the program identified 42 percent of his students as  Libertarian; in spring 2010, it identified 32 percent.
“While these results do come from large sections of American Government, they aren’t necessarily representative of LSU student opinion, since we don’t know if the makeup of my class reflects the makeup of the University as a whole,” Kenny said.
Those numbers don’t surprise Aycock.
“Ron Paul’s primary audience is young people,” he said. “There’s something appealing about that philosophy.”
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Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]