Author of the book Turn Neither to the Right nor to the Left: A Thinking Christian's Guide to Politics and Public Policy, Mr. Schansberg is an Evangelical Christian, a libertarian, and an economics professor at the University of Indiana who has written about public policy for over twenty years.

He is a recent winner of the Libertarian Party's Thomas Paine Award for excellent libertartian communicators, and he is an Adjunct Scholar at the impressive Acton Institute, a Christian Libertarian think tank eponomously named after Lord Acton, the brilliant scholar that coined the phrase "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Married for thirteen years next month, he lives in Indiana with his wife Tonia and his four boys. He is running for office in the 9th Congressional District of Indiana.

I had a chance to have a terribly interesting email conversation with Dr. Schansberg over the last couple of weeks, where we talked about politics, religion, economics, and adoption.

FF: Congratulations on winning the Thomas Paine Award.

Schansberg: Thanks. I was honored to receive the award and humbled to join the company of such fine previous winners. In our time, we have a tremendous opportunity to communicate a message of Freedom-- with people who are increasingly disenchanted with the Republicans and Democrats. May we all take advantage of those opportunities.

FF: So, can I assume that means you think the Libertarian Party is the best way to communicate that message?

Schansberg: Well, the Libertarian Party aligns with my political philosophy. I suppose I could run as a libertarian within the Republican or Democratic parties down the road -- if they could handle someone who was principled!

FF: So, what prompted you to run for office?

Schansberg: Because neither of my major-party opponents are all that impressive: no fiscal conservatives; no opposition to our on-going efforts in Iraq; they have both supported corporate subsidies to corporations and Planned Parenthood; and little discussion of policy issues that most impact the working poor and middle class (e.g., payroll taxes and Social Security).

And it is an opportune time to run. This will be their fourth race together, and the second for the three of us. Few people like either of them, and few people like either of the major political parties at this point.

It's nice to have one race under our proverbial belts -- fixed costs are taken care of (website, printed materials, learning what to do), we've started earlier, building on what we did last time, more money raised already, etc.

FF: That definitely does give you an advantage over the first-timers. So, what can people do right now to help you?

Schansberg: If you want to help, go to the website. From there, my volunteer coordinator and treasurer will take care of things. If you're local, you can do all sorts of things. If you're not local, phone calls and contributions to buy more radio and cable TV ads.

FF: Now, you are billed as a rEVOLution candidate, and I know you have some association with PaulCongress. How would you say you are most like Ron Paul? Most different?

Schansberg: I don't know of any differences. I think I have one advantage, though, in that I'm micro-focused whereas Ron is more macro-focused. For example, he'll talk about the Fed and the Gold Standard and, for most people, this induces some combination of confusion and boredom. As an applied micro-economist by trade, I have a range of issues to discuss which are easier for people to understand.

FF: What are a couple hot-button micro issues for you?

Schansberg: The price of gas is probably the most important issue for the public right now. On top of that, my Democratic opponent repeatedly demanded a debate on gas prices from the Republican in May 2006-- when gas prices were about $2.60. Now, for some reason, he doesn't want to debate gas prices and energy policy! When he refused, we got terrific coverage in the local paper: photos of me and the Democrat and a headline that didn't even mention the Republican!

Staying with the same theme, I am opposed to all corporate subsidies. The Republican supported subsidies to oil companies when he was in office. The Democratic supports subsidies to alternative energies. But we should never take your money to give to a corporation-- whether they're producing energy or eggs.

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To contact R.S. Davis for an interview, email him at freedomfiles@kazhbu.com