LP Influence Rises As Democrats' and Republicans' Favorability Tanks
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WWW.LP.ORG MINIMUM GOVERNMENT • MAXIMUM FREEDOM 2014 LP National Convention in Columbus, Ohio The Party of Principle™ Page 5 December 2013 The Official Newspaper of the Libertarian Party Volume 43, Issue 4 In This Issue: LP influence rises as Democrats’ and Republicans’ favorability tanks Poll: 22% of Americans lean libertarian THE 2013 AMERICAN VALUES SURVEY lance. They understand the futility of mar- Chair’s Corner ...........................2 By Carla Howell ijuana prohibition and the War on Drugs. LP Political Director They’re angry about government waste Ohio Governor Candidate ........3 LP Newsand largesse. And they want to be spared In Search of Arizona Ballot Access Battle ......3 ibertarianism is a growing and in- the mandates, taxes, restrictions, and high fluential movement in the United Libertarians costs of Obamacare. LP Inroads in Europe, Russia ....4 LStates, say Time, the Washington in America Young voters and activists are fuel- Post, the Atlantic, the “Stossel” TV show, ing the rising popularity of libertarianism. LP National Convention ............5 and NPR in reports on a recent survey. They are more free-thinking than earlier North Dakota Candidates .........5 Nearly one in four Americans lean generations and more disapproving of Big libertarian, according to a September– Government. They favor marriage equal- 2013 Election Results ................6 October survey conducted by the Public ity. They’re concerned about mounting Religion Research Institute, which found government debt, the burden of which will How to Gather Budget Data .....7 that respondents don’t fit on the traditional lie at their feet. They face daunting student Initiatives Worth Watching ........8 liberal-to-conservative spectrum. loans while struggling to find well-paying “The 22 percent of Americans who jobs. They’ve seen both Democrats and Public are consistent libertarians or lean libertar- Religion Public Republicans instigate war with little to Rally Against Surveillance ........9 Research Religion Robert P. Jones | Daniel Cox | Juhem Navarro-Rivera Research ian are fully capable of throwing any elec- Institute Institute show for the destruction they cause. Federal Budget Deal ................9 tion in their direction. That makes them This poll by the Public Religion Research Fewer of today’s young voters are the true wild cards of American politics,” Institute found that 22 percent of Americans trapped inside the box of a two-party are libertarian or lean toward libertarianism. Affiliate News ...................10–13 said Reason editor Nick Gillespie in an ar- system. They’re more open to voting for LP Health Care Solution .........15 ticle for Time. “Which is a big reason why tive of individual issues, Americans are a third party. When a Libertarian candi- calling oneself a libertarian — or allowing aligned with Libertarians even more. A date gets sufficient media coverage, as Stop Voting for Evil .................15 oneself to be described as such — has be- majority want less government, less war, happened in the 2013 Virginia gover- come so popular for politicians ...” lower taxes, and reduced government nor’s race, there is a significant rise in LPKY vs. Mitch McConnell .......16 When examined from the perspec- debt. They disapprove of mass surveil- continued on page 13... Media Buzz .............................16 Breakthrough media coverage, votes mark Sarvis for VA governor campaign By Carla Howell threshold required to participate in the gubernatorial debates. LP Political Director Despite the exclusion, and despite lacking a get-out-the-vote machine enjoyed by his well-financed opponents — which usually irginia Libertarian Robert Sarvis was featured or quoted results in Libertarian poll numbers dropping to low single digits as in 311 state and national media news stories during his Election Day approaches — Sarvis ended with an impressive 6.5 Vsix-month governor campaign, a breakthrough level of percent of the vote (145,762 votes). Previously, the highest gover- coverage for a non-presidential Libertarian candidate. nor vote in Virginia for a Libertarian was 0.8 percent in 2001. Because Bloomberg and others called the 2012 Virginia Sarvis’s vote was the highest for a third-party governor can- governor race a harbinger of 2014 elections, could this mean that didate in a southern state in the last 40 years. the media is finally becoming more willing to give Libertarian It was also the third-highest vote for a Libertarian for gover- campaigns their due coverage? nor in the party’s history. In 1982, state representative Dick Ran- Along with a lot of hard work by Sarvis and his campaign dolph won 15 percent of the vote for governor in Alaska. In 2002, manager, John LaBeaume, the exposure drove up Sarvis’s poll num- Ed Thompson, brother of George W. Bush cabinet member and bers, leaving him just shy of qualifying for the stringent 10 percent continued on page 14... PAGE 2 The LiberTarian ParTy — www.LP.org DECEMBER 2013 The following individuals became Lifetime HAIR S ORNER C ’ C Members of the Libertarian Party between Sept. 12, 2013, and Dec. 5, 2013: LNC has need for diverse experience Paul A. Brown Robert M. Clark By Geoffrey J. Neale, Chair Alan Clifton n six months, the delegates of the LNC. No specific prior experience is required, but all sorts of ex- Delor Cornell perience are valuable. We can only be strengthened by a diverse Libertarian Party affiliates from Edward G. Fayle Iacross the country will meet in Co- talent pool. If you’ve run a company, or run a campaign, you can lumbus, Ohio, to conduct business at the be valuable. If you work with computers, or work with people, Daniel Hopkins Libertarian Party National Convention. you can be valuable. Kurt G. Horvat One of the major agenda items for However, four specific experiences come to mind that I every convention is the election of the truly wish we had in more quantity. Frank Kassela Libertarian National Committee — the Experience at raising money: As a not-for-profit organiza- Ann Loudermilk LNC. tion, we rely on the donations from our members to fulfill the LP Eduardo J. Martinez The LNC is our Board of Direc- mission statement. tors, and is charged with responsibility Experience at working effectively in large groups: The Kyle-Pierre Nfr for the Libertarian Party between conventions. Membership on best boards work at reaching consensus wherever possible. Some- Frederick T. Nichols the LNC is open to all sustaining members. All you have to do is times, this requires accommodating different perspectives while Bryan Pauze get elected. not compromising our core principles. I welcome and promote all people who are interested in be- Experience at being on a board: If you’ve never sat on a Christopher Richter ing a member of the LNC to pursue that interest. As libertarians, board, there is much to learn. Most people pick it up, but those Roland Flattum Riemers we should all value competition, and I like to see as many quali- who come ready and prepared have an advantage. Many on the Pat E. Ryan fied candidates as possible for every role. LNC have often mentioned board training for LNC members, so But I don’t want you to make an uninformed decision. it should be obvious that such experience is valuable. Dr. Curry B. Taylor The LNC meets three or four times per year, in diverse loca- Experience at reading financial reports: Yes, we read Dustin D. Trammell tions within the United States. Our meetings are usually two days things like balance sheets and income statements, and we’re re- Ronald Van Wagenen long, and are held on weekends. sponsible for budgets. All LNC members pay their own way to the meetings, pay The right candidates might come without any of those ex- Brian Keith Waters for their own lodging, and pay for almost all of their own meals. periences, and learn as they go. Many of our LNC members have. John Charles Williams It’s expensive to be on the LNC. I’d estimate that it costs the aver- However, arriving with one or more of these experiences will help age LNC member in the range of $5,000 per term. you. The Libertarian Party grants In between, we have discussion groups where we conduct If you’re still interested, I suggest you read the bylaws and Lifetime Membership to some business, but mostly discuss or debate. the policy manual. That is the world you would be stepping into. individuals who contribute Most of our duties are truly board-level types of responsi- The LP needs a strong LNC. Perhaps you’d be a strong bilities. We perform many administrative roles. We review con- addition. at least $1,000 during any tracts. We make policy decisions. We approve budgets. We per- 12-month period. Call 202- form oversight over staff. 333-0008 to find out how much We do not set or change the platform or the bylaws. That role is reserved for the delegates in convention. We do review more you would need to donate publications to ensure that they conform with our platform and to become a Lifetime Member bylaws. today. There is an ongoing need for all types of people on the LP News SEND NEWS, ARTICLES, Libertarian Party News ESSAYS OR (ISSN 8755-139X) is the official The Purposes of the Libertarian Party: PHOTOGRAPHS: newspaper of the The party is organized to implement and give voice to the principles embodied in the State- Libertarian Party Libertarian Party® of the United ment of Principles by: functioning as a libertarian political entity separate and distinct from 2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Suite 200 States. 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