LPM OnlineAugust 25, 1998 |
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LP BALLOT ACCESS IN ILLINOIS DEPENDS ON STRONG GRASSROOTS EFFORT.
Ballot Access Update 8/18/98 Libertarian Party activists in Illinois learned Monday from State Election Board representatives that they will need 10-15 Libertarian volunteers each day for at least the next two weeks (August 24-28 & August 31-Sept 4) to defeat the Republican challenge of the Libertarian ballot access petition. Despite filing a record 61,009 signatures to meet a 25,000 signature requirement, the ballot access petition filed by the Libertarian Party of Illinois is being challenged by the Republican Party. The Republicans, in a desperate attempt to keep LP candidate Jim Tobin off the ballot, are claiming that less than 20% of the signatures filed by the LPI are valid. Internal checks by LP officials show a validity rate well in excess of 60%. Beginning Monday, August 24 (tentatively), 10-15 teams from the State Election Board will begin checking each of the signatures and petition pages challenged by the Republicans. The LP must supply a representative to each team to retain its right to appeal any adverse rulings on individual signatures. If a member of an election board team rules a signature invalid, an LP representative must immediately challenge the ruling. IF THERE IS NO LIBERTARIAN REPRESENTATIVE PRESENT TO CHALLENGE THE RULING, THE RULING STANDS AND *CANNOT* BE APPEALED! The Republicans believe that we can't field enough Libertarians to defend against their bogus challenge. We have to prove them wrong. The LP of Illinois is lining up as many local volunteers as they can. However, there is a shortage of people available during regular business hours, which is when the checking will take place. We anticipate that additional help will be required to defeat the Republican challenge. We don't know how many out-of-state people will be needed, but it is vital that we find out who might be available ASAP. If you are available and are asked to come and help, travel, lodging, and meals will be provided. If you would be available to come to Illinois for one of the two weeks and help win this vital battle for liberty, please contact Steve Givot at LPI headquarters (312-360-1040, email givot@softwarena.com), Steve Dasbach at the national office (202-333-0008 ext 228, email stevedasbach@compuserve.com) or Ron Crickenberger at the national office (202-333-0008 ext 227, email roncrickenberger@compuserve.com). If you can't volunteer your time to help, we urgently need your financial support to help defeat this vicious attack by the Republicans against our candidates. If you have a recent version of Netscape or Internet Explorer, you can charge your contribution to your Visa or MasterCard online using the form at "http://www.lp.org/lp-ballot-access.html". Alternatively, call any of the numbers listed above to make a credit card contribution over the phone -- or if you have any questions about this project. Or, contact one of us by e-mail to discuss making a pledge to this effort -- money or time. Contributions can also be made by check or credit card by using the form below. The Republicans need to learn that Libertarians don't roll over and play dead when attacked - THEY FIGHT BACK AND WIN! If you can help by volunteering your time, THANK YOU! If you can help by contributing the dollars needed to support the efforts of those volunteers, THANK YOU! With your help, we will be on the ballot in Illinois in 1998, and on every ballot in 2000. ************************************************************ Ballot Access Update 08/18/98 Contribution Form ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ City:_______________________________ State:____ Zip:_________________ Phone:____________________ E-mail:___________________________________ Occupation:______________________ Employer:__________________________ Contribution amount: $25 $50 $100 $250 $500 $1000 $______ __ check enclosed __charge to: MasterCard Visa (Make payable to Card Number: _________________________ Libertarian Party) Expiration Date: _____________ Name on Card: ________________________ Signature:____________________________ Federal law requires political committees to report the name, address, and occupation and employer for each individual whose contributions aggregate in excess of $200 in a calendar year. Political contributions are not tax-deductible. Mail to: Libertarian Party 2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Suite 100 Washington, DC 20037 ************************************************************
There will be no candidate workshop on September 12! Please inform anyone you know that may have been planning to attend “Campaign Guerilla Tactics”, that this event has been postponed due to our loss of office space. The seminar was to be held at the Ferndale office, which is no longer available to us, and we don’t have another location lined up. If you know of a conference room setting that we can use for this event, please call (248)399-9177. We need to accommodate about 30 people in classroom style seating, with a lecturn at the front of the room. ”Campaign Guerilla Tactics: Last minute things to do on the campaign trail”, is a must for all candidates, whether active or educational. Workshop topics will include debate tactics, press interviews, and poll literature. We regret any inconvenience this postponement may have caused, and will let you know when and where the seminar is rescheduled. For current information, please call (248)399-9177. Hope to see you there (wherever “there” is!)!
The LP of MidWest Michigan operated an O.P.H. booth August 22nd and 23rd at Northern Michigan Dragway for it's annual All American Harley Days. The event included men's and women's Harley races, modified, pro-stock and pro-fuel dragsters, and an unusually high number of libertarians. While previous O.P.H. booths have generally reflected the national average of 20 to 21 percent libertarians, the results for this event jumped to an incredible 53.8%. Partially skewing the results was the fact that rather than set up where the fans had access to the booth, we chose to set up in the pit area where we could deal directly with the race participants. Knowing going in that we would probably find more libertarians than a regular booth we were still surprised at the results. In addition to those who took the quiz, about 100 pieces of literature, slate cards and applications were passed out. LPMWM Chair Brian Kluesner commented afterwards, "Clearly this is a group of people that should not be ignored if we hope to increase vote totals and membership, and it's definitely more fun than the livestock exhibits at the county fair."
[Sue Blevins is President of the Washington based Institute for Health Freedom] I'd like to share a personal perspective on one of the hottest topics in Washington this summer -- the tobacco deal. That is, the idea that Congress should raise taxes on tobacco products to get people, especially teens, to stop smoking, then use the funds to pay for government-funded biomedical research.
No Fan of Tobacco Simply put, I am no fan of tobacco. Like Al Gore and Newt Gingrich, I have also lost a family member to lung cancer. It was the most grueling death I had ever witnessed in all my years as a registered nurse. So I have a lot of sympathy with the public health advocates who want to help Americans, especially teenagers, to quit smoking. But are today's politicians going about reducing teen smoking in the right way? Probably not.
Effective Policy? Supporters of comprehensive tobacco reform claim they want to prevent teenagers from starting to smoke in the first place. But they are raising tobacco taxes for everyone -- not just teenagers. Surely, if politicians were serious about reducing teen smoking, they would enforce existing laws already created to do just that. Yet, most politicians seem more interested in raising "new" money by passing new tobacco laws, rather than stopping teenage smoking by enforcing existing laws. Some politicians (from both major political parties) want to use the tobacco deal money to help pay for medical research. The idea sounds admirable. But increasing medical research funding will not guarantee a reduction in teen smoking. It will merely funnel taxpayers' money to medical schools without much media attention being paid to the fact that these schools already receive billions of dollars of government subsidies given in the name of research. Of course, the medical school researchers cannot guarantee that they will reduce teen smoking based on the amount of money they are given. If that were possible, then politicians could truthfully make the case that funding medical research will reduce teen smoking. Most Americans agree that the tobacco industry should not get off the hook by lying to the American public while manipulating their children into nicotine addiction with altered products and seductive advertising. Equally, politicians should not be given a free ride when they manipulate the American public by claiming that the tobacco deal is about reducing teen smoking, when it's really about expanding government. Reprinted with permission from the July/August 1998 issue of Health Freedom Watch, the bi-monthly publication of the Institute for Health Freedom. http://www.ihf-healthfreedom.org Copyright (c) 1998, The Institute for Health Freedom |
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