"This is the memoir of a private citizen who runs for Congress as an idealistic conservative. She confronts an overwhelming tide of indifference to the Constitution and disrespect for compromise as an essential and honorable element of democracy. It’s a cry from the heart to responsible voters of all political persuasions."--Martin Dyckman, author of Reubin O’D. Askew and the Golden Age of Florida Politics

"Puts the reader in the shoes of the candidate--experiencing the good, the bad, and the ugly."--Robert W. McKnight, former Florida state senator and representative


The 2012 presidential election demonstrated once again that Florida may be the most purple state in the Union. Northwest Florida, however, remains staunchly Republican.

Barbara Olschner believes in her party’s founding principles: lower taxes, less regulation, limited government, and individual accountability. But she also believes in governing through compromise, in respectfully listening to opponents’ viewpoints, and in the possibility that a Republican can be fiscally but not socially conservative. In hindsight, it isn’t surprising that when she ran for Congress at the height of the Tea Party’s influence she was branded an elitist and a RINO (Republican in Name Only)--and finished dead last.

The Reluctant Republican traces her campaign and her realization that the current leadership of her party demands strict adherence to its ideology. Not only are different viewpoints not tolerated, but those who espouse them are vilified for their disloyalty.

Olschner is reluctant to remain in the party but more reluctant to leave. She refuses to accept the current dogma but also refuses to abandon her conservatism. Her fight for civility and her refusal to kowtow to the lowest common denominator reveal much about what passes for politics in the Sunshine State--and in America.

Barbara F. Olschner is a native of North Carolina who moved to Birmingham, Alabama, to practice law. After thirty years, she moved to Walton County, in the Florida Panhandle.

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"An insightful and amusing memoir… Olschner keeps us turning the pages."
--Chasing Glenn Beck

"If readers of any political persuasion have doubts that politics is a dirty game, this courageous woman's diary will dispel them."
--PublishersWeekly.com

"A must read for all thinking voters regardless of party affiliation or non-affiliation."
--Litigation Commentary and Review

"An insightful and amusing memoir"
--The Beachcomber

"An earnest account from an everyday citizen"
--Voice of Reason; the Journal of Americans for Religious Liberty