If you thought

there were only two candidates to replace the late Paul Coverdell in the

U.S. Senate, think again.

There are seven

candidates in the nonpartisan race to complete the last four years of

Coverdell's six-year term. All seven have been invited to a debate Sunday

at 8 p.m., sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club. The debate will be aired

on Georgia Public Television.

One of the

seven, Paul MacGregor, breezed through Fayette County Tuesday and took

a break from his campaign schedule to talk about the race with The Citizen.

"Obviously

it's a long shot," said the Libertarian Party member. "We feel

a lot will hinge on how the debate goes, and we feel [Democrat] Zell [Miller,

leading candidate] does not have the 50 percent he needs to avoid a runoff.

"So it's

a big battle for second place," said MacGregor, adding that the second

place candidate probably will have a better chance against Miller in a

runoff than any of the other candidates will have in the Nov. 7 General

Election.

The favorite

for second place is Matt Mattingly, Republican, but MacGregor said he

believes he has as good a chance as anyone.

"We believe

we provide a real different choice and a bold vision," said MacGregor,

inviting potential voters to take a look at his web site, www.paulmacgregor.com .

The site outlines his platform and is available in Spanish or English.

His platform

is capsuled in the acronym REAL, as in "REAL solutions," MacGregor

said:

"Reform

campaign laws; Expand American opportunity; Attack bureaucracy; Liberate

the less fortunate."

MacGregor's

proposed campaign law reform is radically different from what's being

talked about by Democrats and Republicans. He wants to allow individuals

to contribute as much as they like to a campaign, as long as it's reported

on the Internet within 24 hours.

An alternative

candidate, Eugene McCarthy, was able to raise money from several individual

contributors giving a million dollars each during the 1960s, MacGregor

said. McCarthy didn't win, but his influence on the elections brought

about a shortening of the Vietnam war, he added.

"It's

difficult for me to raise the kind of money I need to raise," said

MacGregor, adding that special interest groups contribute millions to

mainstream candidates but ignore third party groups. Allowing individuals

to contribute unlimited amounts would open up the process, he said.

"I strongly

believe in term limits," he said, adding he would voluntarily serve

only one complete term if elected.

MacGregor said

he would expand opportunity by reforming immigration laws to allow people

to become citizens more quickly. Married four years ago to a former resident

of Ecuador, he said she still has not been able to obtain citizenship.

"It's

a very difficult, lengthy, frustrating process," he said.

He would push

for laws allowing high-achieving immigrants to obtain citizenship almost

automatically, he said, in exchange for an agreement that they would never

accept government assistance. This would help American companies find

the workers they need and prevent many of them from moving overseas due

to labor shortages, he added.

He also would

push for a rollback of taxes to pre-1950 levels, MacGregor said. "In

1948 the average working, middle class family paid 3 percent of their

income in federal income taxes. Today, it's about 20 percent," he

added. "The tax burden has increased dramatically."

Under attacking

bureaucracy, he said he would put government programs on a performance

basis. "When we give money to charity, we expect that about 90 cents

of it will go to those who need the help," he said. "But with

the federal government, only 25 cents goes to the intended recipients."

Getting rid

of the extra bureaucracy that absorbs much of that money wills save hundreds

of billions of dollars, MacGregor said.

He also would

slash add-ons from appropriations bills, he said. "We spent $750,000

to study grasshoppers" in the last appropriations bill, he said.

"I'm not going to play that game."

As for helping

the "less fortunate," MacGregor said that refers to people who

encounter serious illnesses like cancer and AIDS. "I would roll back

regulations or even abolish the Food and Drug Administration so that drugs

become available for these diseases more easily," he said.

"I would

allow the doctor and the patient to make the decision rather than the

bureaucracy," he said, adding that he also would allow doctors to

prescribe drugs for medical purposes that are illegal for recreational

purposes, like marijuana, which can reduce the nausea associated with

many cancer treatments.

He also would

allow patients with terminal illnesses to take back all the money they've

paid into Social Security, and to stop paying in, "so that the time

you have left, you can enjoy a little better," he said.

MacGregor is

president and CEO of eTiburon Corporation of Alpharetta, Ga., an internet

technology company. He has an extensive career in private industry serving

as executive vice president of Altra Energy Technologies' Risk Management

Division, product manager for General Electric power systems, Product

Manager for Power Technologies Inc. and business development manager for

the Electronic Data Systems' Utility Division.