So, last night I did what the title references: my friend and I met Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Nolan (www.garynolan.com) at a meeting in downtown Houston at a Spaghetti Warehouse. There were about two dozen supporters, and numerous local candidates (including one of the Lady of Liberty Calendar babes- heh) were introduced first. Then came Mr. Nolan for his stump speech. He told humorous anecdotes and laced his speech with logic. His subject transitions were also nice and smooth. He even did a push for Libertarian ballot access in Texas, upon when one of his staffers went around taking collections. Following his speech, he opened the floor for discussion and took questions, answering questions about the drug war, social security, the environment, the WTO and NAFTA, and mandatory minimum sentencing. He opposed all of those (minus the environment, naturally).
Afterwards, he personally came to my friend and I (us being the only two teenagers present) and chatted. My friend, an ardent Dean supporter who came along ideally to expand horizons, inquired about Nolan's position on the income tax. Nolan articulated his position with plentiful anecdotes about himself and others, along with employing his logical arguments, as is per norm. He was very amicable and approachable, willing to address any subject. Obviously, nothing was taboo. At the conclusion of this, his staffer took a picture of Nolan, Nick (my friend) and I. I hope to see it online within due time.
I arrived at the conclusion that Gary Nolan is the most caring and articulate of any of the current candidates in the running. Although one may not concur with his positions (some are admittedly hard to swallow), he was able to defend it with concise logic, and his vocabulary surpassed the majority- if not all- of his opponents.
Gary Nolan has most likely mustered my vote, and there's a possibility (albeit admittedly slight) he won my Democratic friend, too (especially now that Kerry is frontrunner, whom my friend has no great love for).