| Vol. X, No. 5 | Editor: Robert Giedt | July 2000 |
Dear Libertarian,
More than 1000 Libertarian candidates have announced they will run for office in 2000, putting us halfway to our goal of running 2000 candidates across the country this year.
Without your help, the LP's goal of running 2000 candidates for the 2000 elections is only a goal, not an achievement. Your candidacy will turn the words into action.
Although the filing deadlines for Congress have passed in about 15 states, almost all states are still actively recruiting local candidates.
And while we would like to see active, competitive campaigns in every district, there is still great value in filling every possible slot. Fielding full slates brings more media, more manpower, more money, and more credibility for the LP. Time after time we see that the more candidates a state runs, the more media they get, the better the average vote for all their candidates, the better the top of the ticket does, and, most importantly, the more Libertarians they elect. You will greatly help our total efforteven if your campaign activities are limited just to putting your name on the ballot.
A political party exists for the purpose of moving public policy by fielding and electing candidates to public office. The more candidates we have, and the better campaigns they run, the further we will move policy along the road to freedom.
Our campaigns are the first exposure to Libertarian ideas that most Americans get. Without candidates and campaigns, we are invisible. Running for office is the single most effective way to promote the freedom philosophy.
Don't stand by and let big government just keep getting bigger and bigger. Give your neighbors the chance to vote for a candidate they really want, instead of a choice between two evils.
Make sure your ideal candidate is on the ballot. Join Team 2000 as a Libertarian candidate.
For a free information package about running for office, contact:
Ron Crickenberger, LP Political Director
RonCrickenberger@hq.LP.org, or 202/333-0008, ext. 227
Candidates must file Declarations of Candidacy during the nomination period, which takes place from mid-July to early August (check the address below for complete details). Forms are available at the Registration-Elections Division, 40 Tower Road, San Mateo. You can also check the web site at http://www.care.co.sanmateo.ca.us/
Federal Offices: Senate, House of Representatives (12th, 14th Dist.)
State Offices: Senate (11th Dist.), Assembly (12th, 19th, 21st Dist.)
School Districts: County Board of Education (Trustee Areas 4, 5, 6), Bayshore, Brisbane, Cabrillo Unified, Jefferson Union H.S., Laguna Salada Union Elementary, La Honda-Pescadero Unified, Las Lomitas Elementary, Menlo Park City Elementary, Ravenswood City Elementary , South San Francisco Unified
Healthcare Districts: Peninsula, Sequoia
Other Districts: Midpeninsula Regional Open Space (Ward 7), San Mateo County Harbor, North Coast County Water, Pescadero Municipal Advisory Council
Municipalities: Atherton, Colma, Daly City, East Palo Alto, Hillsborough , Menlo Park, Pacifica.
June's meeting was attended by few, but we discharged all of the pending central committee business.
Linden Hsu served as Chair Pro Tem, and was formally elected Vice Chair. (Jack was absent, but Linden will be leading future meetings too, to resolve the confusion that can arise when the Chair is also the most active speaker-as has been the case with Jack.) J.R. and I were restored to our old offices formally. All votes were unanimous; 3--0--0.
We formally endorsed Jack's PAVE2000 initiative 2--0--1 (Y--N--A), described in a previous issue.
Owing to dissatisfaction with listbot.com's many delays in delivering our e-mail, we voted 3--0--0 to move our local mailing lists to eGroups.com. This was completed subsequent to the meeting, and all San Mateo Libertarian subscribers (and anyone interested in the LPSM) are invited to sign up!
LPSM-Announce@eGroups.com is a one-way mailing list to which we send 2--4 messages monthly, announcing meeting times, special events, and the like, pertaining specifically to the LPSM. Subscriptions are "anonymous" (in that other subscribers cannot tell who is on the list).
LPSM-Discuss@eGroups.com is a free-for-all n-way mailing list for discussing anything of interest to the members. To date, postings have tended to be select announcements from other mailing lists (e.g., promoting an interesting speaker in San Francisco), but I'm hoping that this will evolve into a chattier forum for local libertarians. Members of this group do have access to each other's e-mail addresses (so they can know whom they are addressing). Additionally, members may add information to their eGroups profile and share subsets of that information with other members if they choose.
EGroups features free web-based polling, which we hope to make regular use of in the future. If you want to suggest a poll for the newsletter and LPSM-Announce, write to me. Or join LPSM-Discuss and poll that group's members yourself!
To sign up for a mailing list, follow one of the links above and click "Subscribe".
At dinner, Chuck Montgomery (who was unable to stay for the business portion of the meeting) related his recent experience as a volunteer working on the production of several Harry Browne commercials in southern California. Interesting stuff!
The next two business meetings will be held on Tuesday, July 11 and Tuesday, August 8. Mark your calendars!
Tuesdays, July 11; August 8
Hobee's Restaurant
(Directions to Hobee's)
1111
Shoreway Road, Belmont; just off Ralston, on the bay side of Highway 101
Dinner
and informal discussion: 6:00--7:30pm in the reserved dining room
Business meeting: 7:30--8:45pm in the dining room alcove.