It is a brisk Tuesday morning in East Orlando, the bright lights from my hard working computer and the persistent Facebook® page lighting up with comments and posts from the previous night. Mr. Bill Wohlsifer, having launched his candidacy in mid-December, is now in his fourth week of Campaigning and with a budget of barely $1500, has relied heavily on dedicated volunteers to make today a reality.
The Young Americans For Liberty at UCF, headed by Brittany Turner the President of the club, has offered to host Bill on the campus as a way to involve more students in political discussion and the Libertarian party ideals as an alternative to the Mainstream political establishment in Florida.
“Before Bill Wohlsifer visited UCF, I was pretty skeptical. The reasons being is that first, he’s running to be a politician. When I finally got to meet Bill Wohlsifer, he was really friendly. I could see Bill was interested in getting to know what Young Americans for Liberty and I are about. He also was genuinely interested in talking to other students from various areas of the political spectrum. As he was explaining what brought him to Libertarianism, I could tell Bill was legitimate about his passion for liberty. Bill is a legitimate Libertarian. Although I differ from Bill’s stance on two issues thus far, he has my support. ”
Neil Vegoinre an Undergraduate student at UCF and Bill’s Regional Coordinator in Orlando, and Vicki Kirkland the Chair of the Orange County LPF were early organizers of the Bill Wohlsifer for Florida Attorney General Campaign. Neil, approached YAL with the prospect of having a candidate come and help grow the club on campus, and after emphasizing a number of Bill’s political positions, such as Open Carry, Pro LGBT, and Pro Medical Cannabis rights YAL was on board with the meeting.
It was now ten minutes south of nine in the morning, and briskly strolling over to the student union, still sore from posting flyers all over campus a few nights before with the Young Americans, it was time to re-introduce Bill to one of the largest public universities in the country. The first event from 10-1 had lower turnout than expected, the only ones who showed were Vicki, Brittany, Bills Wife, and John Wayne (an LPF candidate for Governor) however we were able to Introduce Bill to NORML, the National Organization for Women (NOW), the College Democrats, and the Secular Student Alliance at UCF, organizations recruiting in front of the Student Union. Mr Jared Thiele a member of NORML at UCF had this to say:
“Bill was a very personable guy; his policies seem to be very pro-humanity”
Coincidentally, Bill is an alumnus of the University of Central Florida, and as we wrapped up our first session that afternoon, we unanimously decided to go to a local restaurant called “Wackadoos” on campus known for its memorabilia. Later that night, the Young Americans were hosting bill, being the start of the semester Brittany decided to conduct the meeting in a more relaxed atmosphere. We once again met at “Wackadoos”, on the outside patio, the cool fresh air reminding us that it is still early in the year, and much is left to be done. One of the gentlemen who showed up to the Q & A, who chooses to go by Oscar R, had this to say about first meeting Bill:
“Meeting bill was really refreshing. It is nice to meet someone who has the will of the people as their main driving force”
For the next two hours, young men and women both from within and outside UCF, asked Bill the “tough” questions, his stance on gun laws, cannabis, small government and regulations, and issues in immigration and finance were just some of the issues touched upon. As the meeting concludes, many are cautiously optimistic, we realize the epic challenges that we face over the next 10 months as the campaign heats up. Mr. Raymer Maguire, a Volunteer Coordinator with the United for Care campaign in Orlando, had this to say:
“I support Bill because he is a no nonsense leader, who can rise above the politics, and bring genuine change to Florida”
Reprinted with permission by Neil Vegoinre, Copyright Neil Vegoinre 2014. Paid for by Bill Wohlsifer for Florida Attorney General, Licensed for use on Wohlsifer4ag.com under Creative Commons and exclusive commercial use, BY-SA (Attribution-ShareAlike). All other users under CC BY-NC (Attribution-NonCommercial).