Published for friends and supporters of the Libertarian Party Liberty Pledge >NEWSLETTER v JULY 1996 Libertarian National Committee, Inc. ♦ 2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100 ♦ Washington DC 20037 ♦ (202) 333-0008 LP National Convention nominates Harry Browne for president x'96 Browne vows to try to win entry into presidential debates; Jorgensen wins VP slot ith an overwhelming first-ballot victory, best- following the convention. selling author Harry Browne won the presi- ■ David Broder wrote in his nationally syndicated W dential nomination of the Libertarian Party at column on July 10: "Browne is articulate and quick-witted, their national convention this weekend. and he'd undoubtedly draw votes if he could . muster His next goal: A ballot spot in all 50 states and an enough support to be included in the presidential debates. invitation to the televised presidential debates this fall. That is a long shot, but there'd be some value in having 100 In the week following the convention, two newspa- million Americans hear him . ." pers and two prominent political columnists urged ■ An editorial in the Denver Post on July 11 stated: "As Browne's inclusion in the debates. a party, the Libertarians have clearly earned inclusion in Browne, 63, won more than 68% of the votes from the this fall's [presidential] debates. It would be fair to set 1996 600+ Libertarian Party delegates gathered at the Hyatt debates between Clinton, Dole, and Browne as representa- Capitol Hill hotel in downtown Washington, DC, on Satur- tives of the only parties to meet the present yardsticks for day, July 7. He defeated challengers Rick Tompkins (who national recognition." won 12% of the vote), None Of The Above (10%), Irwin Schiff ■ The Times-Herald Record (Middletown, NY) on July 9 (5%), and Doug Ohmen (3%). wrote: "[Browne's] presence at the debate table would In his acceptance speech to the make for livelier . and more meaningful discussion." cheering delegates and alive C-SPAN ■ Washington Post columnist Colman McCarthy wrote audience, Browne posed the ques- on July 13: "Harry Browne, well spoken and not sponging tion he said might change the direc- on taxpayers, deserves a place at whichever forum hosts tion of government once and for all: Clinton-Dole debates." "Would you be willing to give up Browne, a resident of Tennessee, writes an invest- your favorite government programs ment newsletter and is the author of nine books, including if it meant you would never again his recent campaign manifesto Why Government Doesn't have to pay income tax?" Work, the #1 bestseller You Can Profit from a Monetary If elected, Browne promised to Crisis, and How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World. immediately abolish the income ■ Harry Browne The convention received considerable media cover- tax and deliver "huge tax cuts now, age, with more than 50 newspapers, magazine, and radio huge spending cuts now, [and] a balanced budget now." journalists — and two separate camera crews from CNN — Again and again, Browne returned to the central theme attending the four-clay event. Stories about the convention of his campaign: "Government doesn't work. People ev- appeared in most major American newspapers, including erywhere recognize that government doesn't work. It the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street doesn't deliver the mail on time; it doesn't keep the cities Journal, and USA Today. safe; it doesn't educate our children properly," he said. The party's 800# received more than 10,000 calls dur- "Government has failed. So we don't want to reform ing the convention, and calls continued to pour in at the the federal government. We don't want to slow its growth. rate of 250 to 500 a day during the following week. We don't want to improve the management of it. We want Also at the convention, National LP Chairman Steve to reduce it to the absolute minimum possible," he said. Dasbach was re-elected to office by a large margin, defeat- Winning the VP slot was Jo Jorgensen, 39, president of ing challenger Gene Cisewski 58% to 33%. (NOTA won 9%.) a software duplicating company in South Carolina. Karen Allard was re-elected as Vice Chair without oppo- Browne's campaign to be included in the fall's presi- sition, as was Treasurer Hugh Butler. Gary Johnson re- dential debates won an immediate boost in the days placed John Famularo as LP Secretary. Liberty Pledge News • July 1996 M r SUNDAY, JULY 7, 1996 All THE WASHINGTON POST CAMPAIGN '96 Doomsaying Author of 70s Gets Party's Nod for Presidential Bid American people are fed up with will get past the hurdle of irrele- By David S. Broder Watalistat Post Sufi Writes this wasteful, extravagant govern- vancy and draw tens of thousands ment. They are on our side now. of new members to our cause." Twenty-five years after its birth, We are mainstream." The Libertarians, who held their the Libertarian Party yesterday Jorgensen said Republicans who first meeting in a Denver living began another push for big-league promise smaller government and room in 1971, appeared to be political status by nominating as its lower taxes "give us the equivalent poised for a breakthrough in 1980, presidential candidate a man who of 1-900 sex. They tell us how when nominee Ed Clark won al- made a personal fortune by pre- much they want us and how good most a million votes—five times dicting economic ruin. it's going to be. But when we hang the previous high mark. But sup- Harry Browne, the 63-year-old, up, we realize they've cost us a lot port lagged during the years of the best-selling author of such books as of money ... and they're never go- "Reagan revolution," and in 1992, "How You Can Profit from a Mone- ing to come over." Ross Perot's self-financed indepen- tary Crisis,' won an easy first-bal- Browne, a polished platform and dent bid drew almost 70 times as lot victory over five rivals in voting television performer, said in an in- many votes as went to Libertarian by 605 delegates at the Libertari- terview that his immediate goal is Andre Marrou. ans' weekend convention here. to show enough support in the polls Browne said he hopes to draw a Jo Jorgensen, 39, a Greenville, that he is invited to join President clear distinction between himself S.C., computer software company Clinton, former senator Robert J. and Perot, if the Dallas billionaire, owner, won the spot of vice- Dole and the nominee of Ross Per- runs again. "He wants to get under. ' presidential candidate for the party ot's Reform Party in this autumn's the hood and tinker with the en- • that promises to radically reduce televised presidential debates. gine," Browne said in the inter- • the federal government, abolish "If I'm at 10 percent, they won't view. I want to throw the engine virtually all federal taxes and shut be able to keep me out," he said. "If out and replace it with a much down both overseas military bases I'm at 1 percent, I shouldn't be in- smaller motor. He just wants to and the "war on drugs," in order to cluded. It won't be easy, but it is manage big government better. increase individual freedom. possible, and no other single step We would go much further than The Libertarian presidential would do as much to establish our that." PHOTOS carKUM .011414-14 VIASHI.T001 POST candidate won more than 900,000 credibility." In his speeches Friday and yes- New Jersey delegate Ed Wleumann waves his sign as presidential votes in 1980, but in 1992 the par- Aides said the party already has terday and in the interview, nominee Harry Browne Is Introduced at the Libertarian convention. ty's nominee won only 291,000 ballot position in 33 states and ex- Browne outlined a series of posi- votes, despite being on the ballot in pects to qualify in all the others by tions which he said "you won't hear • End the federal income tax and president, it is none of my busi- all 50 states. late summer. Browne, who has Bill Clinton or Bob Dole trying to all other "direct government taxes, ness." Browne and Jorgensen, in their been campaigning for the nomina- steal": and replace them with nothing." Browne gained attention in the acceptance speeches, insisted that tion for two years with personal • End the federal role in law en- Existing tariffs on foreign goods 1970s with bestsellers and lectures the rebellion against "big govern- funds, said he is about to pass the forcement and anti-drug efforts, would be enough to finance the re- predicting runaway inflation, a ment" and the other parties, by $1 million mark in fund-raising, abolishing the FBI, the Drug En- making federal functions, he said, deep recession or depression and a both young people and their par- adding, "If we can raise $10 mil- forcement Agency and the Bureau adding, "I will challenge every monetary crisis—and prescribing ents, could make this a break- lion, we can be a major force in this of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. American to decide if he would ways a shrewd investor could with- through year for the Libertarians, election." Predicting that "drug use would give up his favorite government stand the general ruin. His views who argue that their platform During a debate Friday with his decline radically and there would were frequently ridiculed by pro- would restore the Founders' con- rivals for the nomination, Browne be no drug gangs" if all drugs were program in return for no income tax the rest of his life." fessional economists, and he ac- .