Freund: “business as usual” with Mielke

I did ask Bob Freund on Monday after Freund filed to run against Clark County Commissioner Tom Mielke one simple question: Why are you running against Mielke?

It makes sense why Democrats Joe Tanner and Ron Barca are running against the incumbent Republican, but Freund gave stances that sound the same as Mielke’s, including pro-small business and anti-light rail.

Mielke doesn’t like light rail, I told him. (Hey, he tried to stop the CRC.)

With Mielke, Freund said, it’s been “business as usual.”

Since I hadn’t heard of Freund, a licensed general contractor, before his name appeared on the list of candidates, I Googled him and found a letter to the editor he wrote to The Reflector in late March titled, “Liberty Lost.”

He reworked the lyrics to “Blowin’ in the Wind,” to incorporate Ron Paul. Here’s a taste:

How many roads must a young country walk,

Before it becomes a free land?

The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind,

The answer, if only Ron Paul wins.

How many liberties and freedoms that are lost,

Before we consider the cost?

The answer my friend, is blowing in the win,

The answer, if only Ron Paul wins.

All I know about Mielke’s presidential preferences I learned through Facebook, when he answered a poll question last year about whom he would support. The options in the poll: Paul, Herman Cain, Barack Obama, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney.

Mielke picked Cain, who finished second in the Facebook poll behind Paul.

As for Freund being a surprise candidate, that’s because when I checked the state Public Disclosure Commission website on Friday he had yet to file any paperwork. He said Monday he plans to file.