For a third-party candidate, everything becomes a campaign stop — even lunch at Panera Bread.
Alex Snitker, the Libertarian Party candidate for U.S. Senate running against Republican Marco Rubio, independent Charlie Crist and Democrat Kendrick Meek, spoke at Panera Bread on Archer Road to a crowd of about 15 on Sunday.
Snitker, 35, recently quit his job as a salesman to focus on the campaign. Even though an August poll showed him winning only 3 percent, he said he has a chance.
“Deep down, people are looking for someone else,” he said.
Nick White, president of the UF Students for the Preservation of Freedom, said while the club doesn’t endorse candidates, he was going to vote for Snitker, and that students should know about him so they can make an informed decision.
Snitker, a former Marine, said he wants the government out of people’s lives, and he said he doesn’t need a college degree to understand legislation.
“The federal government should just follow the constitution, which isn’t a hard document,” he said. “We’ve put Harvard and Yale people in office, and look where we’re at.”
Snitker expressed discontent that after defending America as a Marine for eight years, he still wasn’t allowed to participate in Senate debates, like NBC’s “Meet the Press” this Sunday.
Also at the restaurant was independent Terry Martin-Beck, who is running for U.S. Congress in District 3 against incumbent Rep. Corrine Brown.
Kelley Lobean, Snitker’s campaign manager, said,
“[Snitker] may not be for everybody, but do your duty as a voter, and look at everyone.”
