Note: This is the third in a series of six profiles of each candidate that participated in the South Carolina Libertarian Party Presidential Debate on November 2nd.
Kim Ruff was born in 1981 and graduated from Arizona State University with dual baccalaureates, in Political Science and in Communication. She has been a member of the LP since 2005 and has held many positions within the county, the state, and the national level. The positions she has had have been in New York and Arizona. She is also part of the Libertarian Party Radical Caucus. In her professional life she has been a program manager and operations director in manufacturing.
For more information on Kim Ruff you can visit her website…
https://ruffphillips2020.com/
CANDIDATE QUESTIONS
- What do you like to do in your spare time when you are not spreading the cause of Liberty?
A. When I have spare time, I enjoy doing the following things (usually with my children): reading non-fiction; watching documentaries, dramas, and foreign films; gardening; cooking; road trips to historical monuments, towns, and sites; and, visiting museums, zoos, aquariums, and parks – especially if they have anything to do with aviation or space travel. - What would you do on your first day as the POTUS?
A. Notwithstanding the multiple weeks’ worth of administrative tasks to be tackled and the obligatory congratulatory phone calls with foreign heads of State, I would meet with our Cabinet, line them out on our objective and how we will, as a team, divide and conquer all the tasks necessary to achieve it in the time allotted. - What sports do you like to follow or participate in?
A. The only sport I follow is baseball, and I’m a hometown girl, so it’s Diamondbacks above all else. Though, given the choice between attending a major league baseball game or college ball, I’d take that PING! of the aluminum bat at a Sun Devils game any day. I played baseball and ran track and field growing up, but the only games I participate in now are strictly board, dice, domino, or chess. - What brought you to the LP? When?
A. I had been a disaffected Republican for years during the Bush Administration, but it wasn’t until 2005, in the midst of yet another state-inspired rant, a friend of mine said, “You know, you should really look into the Libertarian Party. Your ideas are just like theirs.” That evening, I went online and read the platform from start to finish, and immediately registered to vote Libertarian in Arizona. It was another four years, when I graduated from Arizona State University with dual baccalaureates in communication and political science, I actually got involved – wanting to channel my frustration into action. - What is the biggest challenge facing the federal government currently?
A. I would argue that the federal government isn’t currently facing any significant challenges, which has led us to the very situation we are in and fighting against as advocates for liberty: without any real opposition, tyranny gains a foothold and spreads like a virus, infecting everything it touches. You know why so many of us panicked when Trump took office? It’s because we realized he had access to an unforgivable amount of power – power that was taken by Trump’s predecessor…and many more before him. We feel like the proverbial frog in boiling water. The good news is, together we can become the biggest challenge the federal government faces and take back our power. - Who is your favorite singer and what is your favorite song?
A. Now this is the question that is going to submarine my campaign! I like a wide variety of music and there are as many notable singers as there are genres, so it’s difficult to distill it down to one. I suppose, if I go with my default playlist, it would probably be Jon Crosby from VAST. As far as my favorite song goes, it’s Clair De Lune by Claude Debussy. Every time I hear it, time stops. - What have you personally done to spread Liberty?
A. Worked on the AZLP’s Newsletter and was the Campaign Manager for a
Congressional Candidate in CD9 in 2009-10; signed on as a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the City of Glendale; authored and edited articles for The Libertarian Solution; cofounded a county chapter of the Libertarian Party of New York; co-authored a Chapter Development Guide for the LPNY; was the Communications Director for a presidential candidate in 2016; wrote and delivered one of his nominating speeches at the 2016 National Convention; and a plethora of other things, including now stepping up to the plate and being a candidate myself. - What is your favorite vacation spot? Why?
A. Anything off the beaten path. I love road trips, and Arizona is a wonderful place to do it because it has the gorgeous vistas, sweeping mountain ranges, and glorious sunsets. At golden hour, the desert floor is like a gilded Martian landscape, and the sky is so flawlessly blue, for a brief moment when coming over the apex of a hill on a highway, your mind tricks itself into thinking it’s the ocean that lay beyond the summit. We have eight different climate zones and a fantastic history; it’s endlessly fascinating. - What is our most important right?
A. All natural, negative rights are important, but property rights trump all. Property is defined as your body and the fruits of your labor, so not just the things you own, but your very self, are viewed as your property, and thus, society has a corresponding duty to not steal from you. Beyond your home and car, without body autonomy, your other rights – life and liberty – are infringed upon. In other words: If you cannot truly own yourself, you cannot possibly have liberty. - Who are the four people, living or dead, you would invite over for dinner? Why?
A. Julia Child, Anthony Bourdain, Emeril Lagasse, and Wolfgang Puck. Nothing in this question said I was the one who had to cook.