Title:
LPM and Johnson campaign file suit against SOS for ballot status
Author:
Bill Hall
Date:
6/26/2012
Year:
2012
Article:
–News Release from LPM legal consultant Bill Hall–
[Addressed to LP of Michigan]
Instead [of encouraging the media to focus on the Johnson campaign’s failure to meet a bureaucratic deadline], we need to hit hard the facts that:
1. The Michigan sore loser law doesn’t apply and never has applied to presidential candidates.
2. The fair, honorable and respected long-time Democratic Secretary of State Richard Austin did not apply it to John Anderson in identical circumstances in 1980.
3. The SOS admits Gary Johnson could petition on as independent, at great cost in time and money. So what “sore loser” compelling State interest is served by having Gary Johnson on the ballot as an independent instead of a Libertarian? [hint: NONE]
4. This is all about the fact that Mitt Romney, his Michigan Campaign Chair Bill Schuette and the Republican Party are running scared, because there is no way Mitt Romney can win a close race in Michigan if Gary Johnson is permitted to stay on the ballot.
This is a free speech and equal protection case. Should the Libertarian Party have the right to pick its presidential candidate, or let the Republican Party decide who may be our nominee? Should Gary Johnson be treated fairly, like John Anderson, or not?
Please don’t cater to some media fixation on the 3-minute issue. Act like a candidate. Don’t mention the 3-minute issue. If asked, answer the 3-minute question, and then switch gears and talk about what you want to talk about. We must define the case. Don’t let the media do it for us.
