Gustaf Westerwel Appears on Late Night Talk Show
Parliamentary Leader of the OA, was on a prominent late night talk show last night, talking both about policy and the horse race of the election. The interview began with a short joke from Westerwel about defunding state-subsidized TV. From there, the interviewer asked him about the Refugee Liberty Act, a matter of much controversy even after its defeat. Defending his bill, Mr. Westerwel told the interviewer about his belief that taxpayer money from people in Telamon should not go abroad. "Why take from the poor here and give it to the rich elsewhere?"
The interviewer followed up by asking about the accusations that he lacked empathy. "No, I do not lack empathy," he said, with a smirk on his face. "I donate to charities when I feel empathetic. I do not believe in taking money from the poor in our nation to give to the poor of other nations."
Moving on to the horse race, Westerwel told the interviewer his predictions for election night. "There are no other libertarian parties. Some come close, but none are quite the same. We wouldn't be surprised if we finished in the top three. We have a unique message, a unique voice, that we believe will carry us quite a few seats."
"What is a victory for you? Being in the top three?" the interviewer coaxed.
"Victory for us would be getting a larger vote share than the Liberal Democrats did in their first election, which was about 3/10 of one percent." Westerwel said, and the audience laughed.
"What do you think of the other parties?"
"The oldest party, the TNK, is eclipsing. They are the party of the monarchy, the part of big government... they have found their numbers declining. A few years ago they controlled the entire Församlingen. Now, they control a very slim majority. I wouldn't be surprised if they found themselves out of the top three. Really, leftists can go for FF, the Liberals, or the Socialists now. We are the only right-wing party, the only party for liberty on all fronts. The socialists are, well, socialists. They are on the direct opposite end of the spectrum on almost every issue. The liberals, we can work with -- but they aren't always friends of liberty. We can be the party that gives a brain to a liberal government."
"What about FF?"
"They came up around the same time we did. The are the new face of the old socialist policies in this nation. We may be able to work with them, as they seem more pragmatic than their predecessors."
Westerwel also indicated that if his constitutional reforms come through in the next Församlingen, he would not run for President, but rather support Karl Oberling, the chairman of OA.