The solutions to many problems facing the United States are well known, but they are not implemented by Congress because of partisanship, greed, and selfishness. Members of Congress care more about maintaining their party’s power, and getting re-elected, than they do about doing what’s right for America.

I’m different. I do not want to be a career politician. I want to focus the attention of members of Congress onto real solutions of real problems. Help me do this. Tell pollsters that you are going to vote for me. Get me into the Senatorial debates so I can challenge other candidates to really talk about the issues. Vote for me in November, and send the message that you’re not going to take business as usual anymore! Vote for John Mertens for U.S. Senate in 2006. Help build a third party alternative to the gridlock that is going on in Washington.

I am a fiscal conservative, and a social liberal. I believe government can, and in fact has the responsibility to help people help themselves. I believe that government should stay out of people’s personal lives. I believe that intelligent, efficient, and effective public policy is necessary to preserve our quality of life for our children and our children’s children. I believe that we need to work together to implement solutions to problems, instead of playing partisan games to feed the desire for power. I believe that the United States of America has the best system of government, and the most creative and hard-working and generous and diverse people in the world. Time after time, Americans have answered the call to step up and do the right things. We need Congress to do the same! I need your vote, so I can challenge members of Congress to DO THE RIGHT THINGS. We have a lot of work to do, not just this year, but for the rest of our lives. We are incredibly fortunate to live in the United States of America, and we enjoy tremendous opportunities and freedoms. With these privileges comes great responsibilities to make things better for future generations and people less fortunate than ourselves. It’s time to get to work. Apathy is NOT allowed.

THE INDEPENDENT PARTY'S DEALINGS WITH THE SECRETARY OF THE STATE'S OFFICE IN 2006