So there I sat on a sunny Saturday, the token registered Libertarian at a public political rally. The Constitutional Republican Party of Western Pennsylvania oerates within the Republican Party, promoting its belief that the Constitution should be interpreted as its writers intended.

I came there to get knowledge about which Republicans I might vote for in November. I am a realistic Libertarian. My party will not field a full slate of candidates in the general election. And though I value the alliances of political parties, I am no serf to leadership. If a Libertarian who is also a wacko runs, that wacko won’t get my vote.

So I sat at the July 2 rally, gathering knowledge. I plan to attend a few Democratic Party events as well.

That probably suits Scott North just fine. The Jefferson County commissioner from Punxsutawney did some political reaching out of his own.

North made it plain that he is a Trump-aligned Republican. But instead of bashing the left-wing wackos in the Democratic Party, North sounded a pragmatic and welcome note of respect. Many of Jefferson County’s 8,000 Democrats, he said, are conservatives who believe in lower government spending and limited government; they were called “Blue Dog” Democrats when I was younger. So Republicans should not write off their votes for November, but instead talk, perhaps persuade and ask for their votes.

I have some fun by insulting political wackos. But I know that harsh rhetoric does not win anyone over to my line of thought. Instead, it hardens positions. So in addition to learning who might get my vote, I listened to hear whether there might be some common ground between the folks from the far-right Constitutional Republican Party and my centrist Libertarian views.

There is. We are Americans first, and political animals only well down the list of things to which I pledge allegiance.

I generally agree with the people who spoke at that rally.

I don’t care if every candidate agrees completely with my position on, say, abortion. If that candidate does not know how to talk to other officials who feel differently about abortion (or the war in Ukraine, or gasoline prices, etc.), that candidate won’t govern effectively. I do care if candidates show they know how to do the job — and get along with other people. Integrity and honesty are also on my mind.

None of the speakers at Saturday’s event wore flashing “integrity meters” or “competence charts.” I try to distill integrity and competence from what politicians say — and from their body language.

At the Constitutional Republicans rally, there was a good deal of boilerplate right-wing Republicanism in the air, and understandably so. This was a partisan political rally. Praise for former President Donald Trump, though subdued, was noticeable; praise for other possible Republican candidates for President in 2024 was not heard.

Praise for Doug Mastriano, the Republicans’ nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, came chiefly from Carrie Lewis DelRosso, the GOP nominee to be Mastriano’s running mate. She said that Mastriano, who has taken controversial positions on Pennsylvania’s election law and on social issues including abortion, “will do exactly what he says he will do” if elected. And she will back him all the way, she said.

Hmm.

I do not like some of what Mastriano says. Then again, I never do find a political candidate whose thoughts mirror my own convoluted theories.

We few Libertarians, measured in the hundreds in Jefferson County and dwarfed by the county’s 18,000 Republicans and 6,000 Democrats, probably won’t have much in the way of organized political rallies. But if we do, and if I can, I will attend. Once I settle on candidates for governor and senator, I’ll contribute a small amount of money there. It takes money to win political campaigns. If I don’t give my share, winning candidates will be even more beholden to rich folks with political ambitions.

Perhaps 50 other folks attended the July 2 GOP rally. There might have been some registered Democrats among them.

Some political junkies disagree with my party-hopping approach. To them, being “Republican” or “Democrat” means “lifelong Republican” or “lifelong Democrat.”

I don’t like that approach, but if you do, hey, it’s a free country.

I am an American before I am a Republican, Democrat or Libertarian. So are you.

Come November, every voter will need to choose from candidates of several parties or, perhaps, from no parties, e.g., independent voters.

Their endless advertisements tell us what they want us to know about them — and not know.

Getting face-to-face, however, tells me what I want to know.

So I go.

Besides, it’s fun.

Denny Bonavita is a former editor/publisher at newspapers in DuBois, Brookville, New Bethlehem and Warren. He lives near Brookville. Email: notniceman9@gmail.com