For voters wanting Option 3 in some statewide races, Libertarian Party candidates for the top three spots on the ballot were in Northeast Texas last week selling their alternative message. (Unfortunately, between a mix of deliberate Democratic cock-block maneuvering on a state court of criminal appeals race in 2016 followed by a state Green Party semi-implosion since then, there is no Option 4 on the ballot.)

Mark Tippetts, Libertarian candidate for governor, Kerry McKennon, the Libertarian standard-bearer for lieutenant governor, and Neal Dikeman, the party's candidate for the U.S. Senate, were at Back Story Brewery.

Dikeman, who has been facing the "spoiler" question for months because of the relative closeness of the Ted Cruz-Beto O'Rourke battle, says he relishes being called, and being, a spoiler. He said he hoped it made one or the other of both mainstream candidates expand their reach.

(Sidebar: In a previous non-political life, Dikeman blogged about clean technology issues. His angle is market-based, of course, but, for people who aren't ConservaDem fans, that means a possible alternative to undervoting.)

He also blasted the duopoly on the War on Drugs as well as the War on Terror.

Tippetts said fighting government-business cronyism expressed via tax abatements and the state enterprise fund were one big issue, followed by opposing Trump's border wall.

McKennon had the most controversial stance, saying he wanted to abolish all property taxes, period, while looking for alternatives. Just when you think it might be safe to think about Libertarians, well, then, it's obviously not, as this shows.

All three were honest in noting these were aspirational stances; in other words, none said they expected to win.