Will the real patriot stand up?

Those of you who have read my bio know that I prefer to vote for moderate Republicans, all else being equal. Even moreso, I dig voting for mavericks like Senator McCain who exhibit a strong independent streak.

Our friend Matthew Pruit over at Blog from the Hip has found just such a politician: "Independent-Republican candidate for Virginia Governor, Senator Russ Potts."

Matthew quotes from The Post:

As Northern Virginia business leaders downed muffins and coffee yesterday in a Tysons Corner conference room, Sen. H. Russell Potts Jr. (R) railed against what he called the "free lunch bunch" and "flat-earth crowd" in the Republican Party that he said have not acknowledged how much it will cost to improve the state's transportation network.

That pretty much sums up the national Republican party too. President Bush is threatening to veto a recently passed bill because it includes funds for... transportation networks in several states because he says we can't afford it. I say we can't afford not to! Our national economy would implode in short order if business can't ship stuff and employees can't commute to their jobs. Our transportation network is what facilitates our entire economy.

Apparently even though Russ Potts is a Republican, he is running as an Independent. Which just makes me admire him all the more. This country needs more independent-minded politicians who care more about this country, or their state in the case of Mr. Potts, than they do about some political party or fantastical ideology. In short, we need more patriots like Mr. Potts.