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The Libertarian Party of Michigan is starting to recruit candidates for the 2002 General Election. If you are interested in helping the Libertarian Party please contact Stephen M. Townsend at president@makingfreedomring.com
Just a reminder. The deadline for newsletter submissions for the September/October 2001 Michigan Libertarian is September 1. Please email your articles to: newsletter@michiganlp.org I know everybody is working hard. Please remember to write articles about the great work that you are doing so people around the state can share in the satisfaction of your accomplishments.
The best places to get signatures are fairs, parades, festivals, concerts, political rallies, or where people are waiting in line. At such places it is easy to get 30 signatures an hour. (I usually get 40 an hour.) On Labor Day weekend and during September, many communities sponsor free concerts, festivals, and art fairs. In the fall there also are many students milling about outdoors at college and community college campuses. There first question you should ask is, "Are you registered to vote in Michigan." If they are registered, ask them to sign. Be brief. My usually pitch is, "Please sign this petition to allow the Libertarian Party to remain on the ballot. I'm not asking you to vote for us. Just allow our candidates to stay on the ballot." Some persons will ask for information about the party. Either summarize libertarianism in one or two sentences or say something like, "We're just another small party that wants to give voters another choice." If they ask for additional information, say "Our platform is on our website, lp.org." Then quickly walk away and ask someone else. Don't waste your time discussing politics. Just ask many persons as quickly as you can. Some persons will ask what benefit you get. (They may suspect that you are a paid petitioner.) Say something like, "If the Libertarian Party is not on the ballot, I will have no one to vote for." Don't be discouraged by rejection. Usually half the persons will refuse to sign. I have collected about 1700 signatures at free concerts and festivals, while enjoying the music and sights. No one has ever been impolite.
In an effort to find a way to build the Libertarian Party as fast as possible so that I can selfishly see real freedom in my lifetime, I am continually asking people how and why they became Libertarians. One response that is quickly becoming the main reason that people have become Libertarians, is that the person received a flyer from a candidate. They tell me that the flyer made sense to them and wore on them until they said, "the hell with it!", and made the switch or joined the effort. Candidates are, in my opinion, the most effective educators, and guess what? Even though there are Libertarian think tanks, Libertarian foundations, and Libertarian philosophers out there, the Libertarian Party is the only entity that can field an army of the most effective educators this country will ever see. Candidates can influence people and public policy faster than anything else. By speaking, by advertising and by distributing flyers, etc., candidates reach massive numbers of people and get more people thinking about freedom than anyone or anything else. An army of active or semi-active candidates will not only end ballot access problems, they will influence public policy forever. Every vote counts to Republicans and Democrats. All they care about is winning. When Libertarians start taking 3%, 5% or 10% of the votes, freedom becomes the issue. Public policy will immediately change. Candidates do not have to win, to win--athough winning will come too, believe me. Every Libertarian Party member should seriously consider running for office and becoming the most effective educator there is for freedom. If you can afford some signs or flyers, your effort will help the Libertarian Party explode onto the scene. Think about becoming a real freedom fighter and express your interest in being a candidate today. Contact the Libertarian candidate recruitment chair, Stephen Townsend and join the already growing list of candidates for 2002. This the only real way to make things happen. Your party needs you!
As of Friday, August 24, we have collected 18,368
signatures toward the restoration of our ballot access. We
have until October 20 to collect the remaining 31,632
signatures. That’s 52 days (7 weeks, 4 days) from today.
We need 591 signatures per day, or 4,519 per week. The time
has come for all good Libertarians to come out from behind
our computers and get to work! Name Sigs. Leonard C. Schwartz 1647 Albert J Titran 875 Jerry E Bloom 722 Ben Steele 603 Richard E Jozwiak 495 Violet Steele 380 Charles Goodman 306 Greg Dirasian 270 Lloyd Sherman II 267 Fred Collins 262 Trafton Jean 252 Bill Gelineau 246 David James Eisenbacher 239 Constance Catalfio 232 Trevor Peck 230 Paul Hitch 217 James L. Hudler 213 Barbara B. Goushaw 187 Andrew LeCureaux 187 William White 185 Following is the current status of each affiliate in terms of meeting its “fair share” goals. Each affiliate’s fair share is determined by multiplying the number of members in the affiliate by 27. That is the number each would need to collect for the LPM’s 50,000 signature target to meet the state’s requirement. The first percentage is signatures collected. The second percentage is signatures collected plus monetary donations. Note: Last week I referred to database problems we were having which we ultimately succeeded in sorting out. One of these problems was that the program had been crediting the Washtenaw affiliate with the signatures from one of our paid petitioners. Washtenaw is still doing well despite the reduced numbers caused by the removal of the paid petitioner’s signatures. I have no doubt they will exceed their affiliate’s goal by the time the campaign is through. My apologies for any confusion this may have caused. Affiliate Collected Goal % Of Goal $+Sigs. % 0f Goal Allegan 95 560 17.0% 165 29.5% Berrien 107 560 19.1% 137 24.5% Branch-Hillsdale 48 351 13.7% 108 30.8% Clare-Gladwin 269 320 84.0% 269 84.0% Ionia 23 240 9.6% 23 9.6% Kalamazoo 84 1013 8.3% 129 12.7% Lapeer-Genesee 627 1413 44.4% 814 57.6% Livingston 95 1732 5.5% 791 45.7% Macomb 1493 5784 25.8% 2909 50.3% Mid-Michigan 515 2852 18.1% 851 29.9% Midwest Michigan 305 560 54.5% 371 66.3% Oakland 4978 10688 46.6% 7331 72.3% Ottawa 83 800 10.4% 86 10.8% S. Central Mich 43 1652 2.6% 77 4.7% Shiawassee 1443 293 492.5% 1483 506.1% Saint Clair 11 693 1.6% 11 1.6% Traverse Bay 9 773 1.2% 29 3.8% Tri-Cities 769 1173 65.6% 1097 93.5% Upper Peninsula 39 1119 3.5% 284 25.4% Van Buren 172 426 40.4% 192 45.1% Washtenaw 1083 2799 38.7% 1975 70.6% Wayne 1145 8422 13.6% 2512 29.8% West Michigan 487 2799 17.4% 931 33.3% Remember: if you don’t have the time or inclination to collect signatures, say it with money. We’ll hire someone to collect your signatures for you. Every dollar you send will buy us one signature from a paid petitioner AND will count towards both your personal and affiliate goals. Send donations to: LPM BARC 619 E. Nine Mile Road Hazel Park, MI 48130-1836 |
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