Published for members of the Libertarian Party's Monthly Pledge Program Libe Pie >NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 1993 Libertarian Party National Headquarters • 1528 Pennsylvania Avenue SE . Washington DC 20003 • (202) 543-1988

LPNH adds to gains with Luce confirmation, campaigns, and a visit from the governor The Libertarian Party of New Hampshire added to their > Steve Merrill became the first seated governor in impressive list of political achievements during the last the USA to address an LP gathering on September 8th, month. Some highlights: when he spoke before a packed crowd of more than 150 > Miriam Luce, the LPNH candidate for governor in people. Merrill's appearance was described as a "love fest" by 1990 and '92, officially won confirmation to the State Liquor a local newspaper, which also wrote that the GOP leader Commission on September 17th. The vote by the state Execu- "flattered the Libertarians, painting them as dogged idealists tive Council was 4-0, with one abstention. unswayed by political rhetoric." Luce had been nominated by Republican Governor When asked by one man if he'd consider switching to the Steve Merrill, who was prohibited by law from selecting Libertarian Party, Merrill said, "I'd be delighted to think another Republican for the committee. It was widely as- about it," according to the Concord Monitor. sumed he would nominate a Democrat, and his choice of Luce shocked the state's political establishment. Luce had blasted the State Liquor Commission during Two more Libertarians her gubernatorial campaigns, calling it the "biggest drug dealer in the state." Rumors are flying that her appointment get into public office may lead to serious study of the merits of privatizing the LPers appointed in Nevada & Minnesota Commission. >- NH Libertarian State Representatives are hard at Two more Libertarians joined the ranks of LP members work preparing bills for the next legislative session. serving in public office in September, when Sandy Harmon House Libertarian Leader Don Gorman (L-Deerfield) is was appointed to the Tonopah Town Board in Nevada, and drafting a bill to repeal the Republican-backed Business Francis Bauer was selected to sit on a Curriculum Advisory Enterprise Tax, which had widened the state's corporate tax. Committee in Minnesota. "It should be repealed because it is nothing but abroad-based Harmon, the state chair of the Libertarian Party of Ne- income tax under a different name," charged Gorman. vada, was tagged by Governor Bob Miller to fill a vacancy on Meanwhile, Andy Borsa (L-Pelham) is proposing a new the Tonopah Town Board. law to make it tougher for the state to seize property from "This is a partisan elected office," said Harmon. "I was suspected drug dealers. "Revenue from forfeitures can be as appointed once before, but lost my re-election bid by a lousy addictive as the drugs themselves," warned Borsa. Newspa- 19 votes." per reports noted that Borsa asked: "How much freedom Harmon admitted he is delighted to be back in office, and should we give up in the interests of security?" said his appointment should serve as a lesson for other > The LPNH was the focus of a nationally distrib- Libertarians. "I must admit there is an element of pride uted Associated Press story about the growth of the Liber- having beaten out three other community leaders — [even] tarian Party. The article noted that the LP has "slowly gained for a position of questionable distinction," he said. "I wish ground," and has "become more than an anomaly" in the that more LPers would realize it takes community involve- "Live Free Or Die" state. [See clipping on page four.] ment and honest name recognition to get the 'L' label to >- The LPNH is actively contesting four races in this become one of respect and accomplishment." off-election year. Erich Zimmerman is running for Alder- In Minnesota, Francis Bauer was appointed on Septem- man in Manchester; Gary Flanders has mounted a challenge ber 27th to a three-year term on the Curriculum Advisory for City Council in Somersworth; Paul Siegler has announced Committee of School District 196, which includes her home his campaign for City Council in Concord; and Eric Postpischil town of Eagan. will be competing in a special House election in Nashua. "The In her new non-partisan office, Bauer will review and successes of the LPNH prove we can win," said Postpischil. recommend student performance level goals. Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah) CONVENTION Libertarians support a person's September 6, 1993 right to join unions but believe an employer also should have the right to recognize or refuse to rec- isv=rziet:'7rtiezumalwadison,Wisconsin) Libertarians seek to boost image ognize unions as collective bargain- ing agents. The party believes governments should stay out of labor relations. by electing unionist as chairman For instance, it criticizes the use of Libertarians police during the Great Depression The chameleons of politics Indiana teacher says he'll tarians are anti-union. chairman says he joined the union to break strikes and disperse boy- "We're misunderstood," said shortly after taking a job at the ru- cotting workers. Nowadays, it op- Libertanan leader work to dispel the party's the 40-year-old member of the Na- ral high school where he has poses state mandates requiring says his group can pick leader anti-union perception. tional Education Association and taught for 14 years. school districts to bargain with lean left and lean former president of the NEA's "People just assume we're anti- teachers' union representatives. right at the same time The party also urges the repeal Associated Press Fort Wayne, Ind., chapter. "It's union," said Bill Evers, a Stanford Editor's note: in the Heartland" government intervention we don't of the National Labor Relations is a weekly feature profiling folks Cisewski to re-energize party University professor and veteran whc do their Irving, working and The Libertarian Party has like. We're all for working men Act and state right-to-work laws, dreaming in central Illinois without a of the party's platform committee. By Phil Brinkman electedan Indaria teachers union and women." including Utah's, which prohibit lot of fanfare. These are neighbors "But there's much more diversity and co-workers all with a unique Wisconsin State Journal member as its new national chair- America's third-largest political employers from making voluntary story to tell. here than that. Officially, we've Gene Cisewski of Madison has man in a move members hope will party ended its six-day national contracts with unions. By DAVID MOLL been named the new national di- boost the party's image with orga- convention in Salt Lake City on adopted a live-and-let-live attitude "Utah's right-to-work law is 01 1tv Jour,.SIB, rector for the Libertarian Party,. with labor." PEKIN — Born and raised in Cisewski (pronounced "sha SEV nized labor. Sunday. Some 800 delegates at- really a right-to-fire law," said Bob Pekin, Scott Tillman absorbed Steve Dasbach, a high school tended. The party, established in 1971, Waldrop, Salt Lake County party right-wing conservatism at the ski"), a direct marketing special- dinner table. ist with CUNA Mutual Insurance chemistry teacher from Indiana, Dasbach said he was reared in a supports the rights of individuals chairman. "We're the only major "My fast vote, shamefully, Group, will move to Washington, said Sunday he will work to dispel pro-labor family and his father still and wants to abolish virtually all political party working to repeal was for George Wallace," he D.C., next month to take over su- says. the nagging perception that Liber- works as a plumber. The new forms of government authority. it." Then he went to college. The pervision of the party's national day his father dropped him off staff. Cisewski currently serves as at Illinois State University, two vice chairman of the state Liber- StUder-i tarian Party. long hair and pants designed like the American flag. As national director, Cisewksi "If you want to look like will be paid $65,000 a year and that," his father told him, work under party Chairman Steve Libertarian leader eyes wider impact "don't come home." "I didn't come home for six Dasbach of Fort Wayne, Ind. months," says Tillman, 41. Cisewski's appointment by the Expose populist conserva- Libertarian National Committee Steve Dasbach When Dasbach first heard about tism to early '70s campus radi- last week was one result of a con- ► the Libertarian Party, not long after calism, and you might end up ference aimed at re-energizing the its founding 22 years ago, he recog- with a Libertarian. At least, hopes to transform that's whatThq)p-grred to Till- party, which may be small but 'We're pro-choice on nized it was the label he'd never man, an electronics technician, ranks third behind the Democrats everything, as long as his party into a been able to find for his own politi- the father of three and current and Republicans. cal beliefs. chairman of the Illinois Valley Another result will be to cor- you don't hurt or Libertarian Association. political force. "I knew enough to know that I Tillman read Ayn Rand, the rect what Cisewski called a "fun- defraud anyone else.' didn't fit the definition of a conser- patron saint of Libertarians, in damental flaw" of the party, By BOB CAYLOR high school. But it wasn't until Gene Cisewski vative," he said. 1976 that he became ac- which was to concentrate on fiel- of The News-Sentinel He marched against the Vietnam and quainted with the party and ding candidates for president By day, he teaches physics and War, opposed conservatives' at- realized !here was an organiza- other high-level races. tion that reflected his beliefs. chemistry at Whitko High School. 13.051D ,11,141/,,ournm J1/1/ "What we're doing is turning it Cisewski said most Libertar- tempts to regulate personal behavior Libertarians believe the gov- After school, while other teachers Scott Tillman stands in front of an American flag for a portrait. Till- around and re-engineering it from ians believe drugs should be legal- and campaigned for Democrat ernment's reach has grown far are coaching football and cross longer than the Founding Fa- man of Pekin chairs the Illinois Valley Libertarian Association. a grass-roots level," he said. ized and dependency treated as a George McGovern during the 1972 Steve Dasbach does his They've been dynamic talkers, thers ever intended. Cisewski, 36, said one of his top social problem instead of a crime. country, presidential election. But he was They don't think govern- services), they'd probably get priorities will be establishing bet- Members also favor phasing out best to coach a revolution. never comfortable with liberals' ten- but when it comes to winning, they ment should be interfering in the job done with their own re- If he succeeds, governments in dency to redistribute wealth. don't have much to show for 20 the marketplace -- whether in sources, as well as the city's." ter media relations and getting government welfare and replac- the form of the Federal Re- the United States would be stripped "When Republicans are in power, years of campaigning. About 50 Lib- Tillman spent much of his the party's message out. That ing it with local charities sup- serve, minimum wage laws or HelaTiland term trying to get volunteer message: "We're pro-choice on ported by tax-deductible contribu- down to something neither New there's more emphasis on attacks on ertarians nationwide hold elected or any of the agenices designed to groups to take on services nor- everything, as long as you don't tions. Democrats nor old-fashioned Re- consensual crimes," he said, refer- appointed offices, Dasbach said. regulate business. Most gov- mally paid for with tax dollars. ernment services can and hurt or defraud anyone else. The publicans ever dreamed of. There The highest Libertarian-held offices He says he did get a user fee in- Other priorities for the na- ring to "victimless" crimes such as should be privatized, they stituted at a park pavilion — government should be out of the tional party include recruiting would be no taxes, no laws against prostitution, pornography and cer- are four seats in the New Hamp- think. which, being a voluntary fee, is Nor should there be laws way." drug possession or porno perusal, no acts. shire House of Representatives. East something of which a Libertar- new members, especially from the tain illegal sexual governing questions of individ- How that policy plays out can In the past, Libertarians haven't 1:Wone ian would approve. ranks of pro-gun groups, gays and U.S. soldiers stationed on foreign "If the Democrats are in power, ual choice — such as drug use, Ger* be confusing for some who are lesbians, economists and dentists. soil, no banking regulations, no Fed- there's more emphasis on attacks on won offices because they're Liber- sex between consenting adults, Coshrt After four years, though, he comfortable with the standard decided village government Cisewski said the party admires eral Reserve System and no U.S. the family budget." tarians. They've won on the or whether to wear a seat belt. positions staked out by the two Thus, Tillman can resemble Pekin wasn't where he wanted to be. dentists because they receive few Postal Service. strength of their reputations in the "Most of the people went dominant parties, Cisewski said. Stripped to its bones, Libertarian a New Hampshire conservative government subsidies in the form No kidding. doctrine isn't too complex: Govern- communities where they live, one minute — equating taxa- around looking for reasons to Libertarians are staunchly op- tion with theft — and a leftist spend money, basically to jus- of Medicaid and Medicare but Dasbach, 40, who lives in Aboite ment shouldn't do any more than it Dasbach said. Now the party needs tify their existence," he says. posed to gun control legislation, have managed to keep costs down the next, calling the drug wars cept for a few seats in a few Township, was elected national absolutely has to. Libertarian pur- to concentrate on finding well- an exercise in fascism. state legislatures. The IVLA, at this point, is as for example, but are equally in through managed competition. i favor of gay and lesbian rights. chairman of the Libertarian Party ists think government doesn't need known and respected people to run But if that seems inconsis- Plus — for four years during much a social group as any- last weekend. He's been a member to do much more than guard the for office as Libertarians, and to tent to you, he suggests, maybe the 1980s — a seat on the Mar- thing else, Tillman says. But its Cisewski said party members Nationwide, Libertarian candi- you're the one with the percep- quette Heights Village Board, members are starting to talk 'found "abhorrent" last week's rul- dates garnered 2.5 million votes in since the late 1970s, and in 1980, '82, borders against foreign invasion and prove they can govern effectively af- tion problem. occupied by Tillman himself. about running a candidate for ing by a Richmond, Va., judge who elections last year, Cisewski said. '84 and '86, he ran unsuccessfully for operate courts. ter they're elected. "Politics is not a linear func- He ran unopposed for the county or city once. tion." he says. "It's not either denied child custody to a mother The party counts 15,000 dues-pay- state representative, Indiana secre- He knows he faces a tough couise seat. The night he was sworn "It's all to be hammered out Since the '70s, spreading that left or right." in, he says, there was a public because she is a lesbian. ing members, including 1,100 in tary of state, superintendent of pub- in trying to convince a party that and discussed," he says. message and small variations on it No one can accuse the Liber- hearing on a proposed increase "Somebody's got to actually "You have government trying Wisconsin. lic instruction and the U.S. House of the notable achievement of wants to change the world to work tarians of sacrificing principle in the tax levy. stand up there and do it. which has been for political expediency. Since to do the job of the churches in- By STEVE UNSENMAYER of The News-Sentinel Representatives, respectively. on changing zoning ordinances first, "I basically told them there is the toughest part." Of the nine special elections Libertarian candidates. Libertarians its inception in the ',early '70s, was no reason (for the levy) to stead of the churches doing it held in Wisconsin since last we Dasbach, a Whitko High School physics and chemistry Now, from a cubbyhole of an of- but he's convinced that Libertarian- the party has seldom been seen Send suggestions tor "Ir. the Heorhand" running for the presidency and con- go up," he says. "If people to Synder editor Nancy Trueblood, 1 News from their pulpits," Cisewski said. November, Libertarians have cher, was recently elected chairman of the national Libertarian fice in the basement of his home, gressional seats have become staples ism's best opportunities are local. in the halls of government, 'ex- recognized the need (for more Plato, Peoria 61683: or coil 1309/ 686-3156. While the party is divided on fielded candidates in seven 'of ty. He hopes to help the party become a more powerful force in he's trying to transform his party of election-year talk shows, maga- "It's at the federal level where those races, Cisewski said. abortion, a majority supports ional politics. from a social theorists' debating so- zines and newspapers, where their the abuses are the greatest, but as Peoria Journal-Star (Peoria, Illinois) abortion rights, feeling "the jursi- "I think we've shown that we ciety into a political force. provocative and often witty argu- someone once said, you've got to diction of one's body should be can break away from the `Repub ments can offer a breather from build your army before you go to September 12, 1993 one's own choice," Cisewski said. licrats.' " Fort Wayne News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Indiana) weeks of two-party debate. war," he said. September 13, 1993 Her victory would be one U.S. Libertarian Party for the books Candidate hopes to be Slowly Gaining Ground first elected Libertarian Granite State Is Home to Most Officeholders By FRANK BAKER By KEN CHERVEN Associated Press Writer Correspondent CONCORD — The Libertarian Party has become more than an anomaly in New Hampshire, where WOODSTOCK — Rebecca the state motto of "Live Free or Die" fits well with Wilber, who is running for Town the party credo of less government and more indi- vidual freedom. Board in the November election on But can it grow enough in other states to win both the Republican and Liber- elections? tarian lines, has a chance to make National party Chairman Steve Dasbach said Ross Perot has made voters look beyond Republi- political history. cans and Democrats. "I think the voter diQcontent puts people in the Woodstock frame of mind to look for alternatives," he said. Time will tell whether Libertarians will benefit, "but I think we're seeing the beginning of the proc- If Wilber wins a seat on the ess." Libertarians believe government's role should be board, she would become the first strictly limited to protecting citizens' lives, consti- Libertarian elected in the state of tutional rights and property. Among other things, New York, which does not recog- the party advocates legalizing drugs and abolishing income taxes. nize the Libertarian Party, accord- The party was formed in 1971, but members con- ing to Dottie Lou Brokaw, Wilber's sider Thomas Jefferson the first Libertarian be- cause he championed personal freedom. campaign manager, who often has Today's Libertarians say the federal government run as a Libertarian candidate for has forgotten the ideals in the Bill of Rights and state and federal offices. those Jefferson outlined in the Declaration of Inde- pendence. They have slowly gained ground in New Wilber said at a recent news Hampshire, home of the nation's earliest presiden- conference that government of- tial primary and often a bellwether for national poli- ficials must be more responsive to tics. Among their accomplishments: the people who elected them. • New Hampshire has the only four Libertarian Wilber's views on government par- state legislators in the nation, all in the 400-mem- allel those of her husband, Daniel, ber House. AP Photo • In Manchester, the number of registered Liber- LIBERTARIAN Miriam Luce poses at a state liquor a candidate for the Ulster County tarians has grown from 21 in October 1991 to 164 for store in Concord. Legislature with Republican and this month's primary. The party also is fielding its • Libertarian backing. first aldermanic candidate in the November elec- cast for Libertarian U.S. House and Senate candi- tion. dates has increased, Dasbach said. Wilber said she is running a • Last fall, gubernatorial candidate Miriam Luce "I think the willingness to consider alternatives bare-bones campaign, accepting no received more than 20,000 votes, 4 percent of those won't change," he said. "People used to vote caSt, ensuring her party a spot on the 1994 ballot. straight tickets, but few do any more. Once people donations to her cause and asking • Earlier this month, Republican Gov. Steve Mer- recognize there's an alternative, they will continue would-be backers to give to the rill became the first sitting governor of any state to to do it." Alison Gold Memorial Fund, the address a Libertarian gathering. Nationwide, Libertarians hold about 100 political But the party's biggest recent accomplishment offices, ranging from voter registration clerk to city Libertarian Party or their favorite was Merrill's selection of Luce, 44, as one of the council to state representative. New Hampshire has charity. three commissioners who run the state liquor mo- the most officeholders, 16, followed by California Gold was an Onteora High School nopoly, one of the state's largest revenue sources. with 12. Confirmed this month, Luce is the first Libertarian Despite the party's gains and the Perot phenome- senior from Woodstock who died in in the country to hold a statewide office. non, some political analysts don't see a bright fu- an tut() accident four months ago. "This is an excellent opportunity for me person- ture for the party. Richard Winters, a professor of Os the subject of school taxes, ally and the party to gain credibility," Luce said. government at Dartmouth College, said it is no Critics said Luce sold out on her Libertarian more likely to flourish than a number of other third Wilier said she is alarmed at the ideals by taking the job. Dasbach isn't one of them. parties active in various states. groping school budgets in the face He said the appointment — and the decision by He said the main reason for the Libertarians' U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, to address the emergence in New Hampshire is its reputation as of a shrinking tax base. party's national convention in Salt Lake City earlier an anti-tax state. New Hampshire and Alaska are "With IBM scaling back and em- this month — shows Libertarians are being taken the only states without general sales or personal plorees leaving the area, we are more seriously. income taxes, and that appeals to Libertarians, he There are about 150,000 registered Libertarians. said. shady seeing people losing their The number would be higher, but voters are able to New Hampshire also is predominantly white, and hones due to taxes," she said. register as Libertarians in only 20 states. Libertarians are predominantly white, well-educat- The party ran its first Presidential candidate in ed and middle- or upper-middle-class. Vilber wants county residents to 1972, and elected its first state representative in "I think for the next 10 years there will be a slow, presure state Sen. Charles Cook, 1978 when Dick Randolph won a seat in Alaska. almost imperceptible, growth in the Libertarian R-Eelhi, to introduce home-rule In 1980, Presidential candidate Ed Clark received Party," Winters said. "But there won't be any boom. nearly 1 million votes, thanks in large part to Vice It's not in any citizen's rational interest to devote as legilation allowing town govern- Presidential candidate David Koch's willingness to much thought as it requires to be a Libertarian." melts a stronger voice in the coun- spend his own money on advertising. But Luce said it's not hard for people to accept ty Lndfill problem. In the last Presidential election, Libertarian Libertarian ideas like small government and more Andre Marrou received just under 300,000 votes. individual freedom. Town budgets should be de- But Libertarian candidates for statewide offices "We know big government doesn't work and can termined at least two years ahead, and Congress received a total of 3.7 million votes, a never be made to work," she said. "Libertarians are Wiber said, not just for the forth- record for the party. more centrist than Democrats and Republicans. coning fiscal year. In every election since 1972, the number of votes We're where most Americans are." "idvanced budgeting gives more The Union Leader (Manchester, New Hampshire) latiude in adjustments in spend- September 27, 1993 ing" she said.