LPQC Newsletter

The official Newsletter of the Libertarian party of Queens County

Volume 2, Number 5

November/December 1996

In this issue

Harry Browne Delivers Big Gains for Liberty

Issues '97: The Mayoral Race and Beyond

The LPQC's Treasury: Our First Two Years

Income and Expense Statement

Masthead

Harry Browne Delivers Big Gains for Liberty

Whether or not Harry Browne wins the presidential election on November 5, his tireless campaigning as the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate has generated a renewed interest in liberty in America. A review of this year's breakthroughs:

Unprecedented Media Exposure-For the first time in LP history, our presidential candidate achieved sustained national visibility via the burgeoning media of talk radio and the Internet. Browne won virtually all of the online polls conducted throughout 1996 and was named one of the five most-discussed figures on talk radio by that industry. A number of talk-radio hosts declared their intention to vote for Browne and promoted his campaign. In addition to this saturation grassroots coverage, Browne appeared on more mainstream national TV shows than previous LP candidates combined. He was on PBS's The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, CNN's Inside Politics and Larry King Live, CNBC's Cal Thomas and Politics shows, and even Comedy Central's Politically Incorrect. This exposure led in turn to endorsements for Browne's inclusion in the debates from talk-show hosts and newspaper columnists throughout the country.

Three significant points about this trend: (1) this grassroots audience is a political base that Libertarians can build on for 2000; (2) the grassroots media seem to be an incubator for discussion about individual rights and limited government-people are becoming converted to the pro-liberty philosophy as they tune in and go online; and (3) this audience and these new media are on the cutting edge, and growing. If certain technology projections come to pass, computers and TV will soon merge, permitting tens of millions of consumers to go online and thus bypass the establishment press. Exposure to alternative information sources and libertarian thought will then reach critical mass-and Browne has already laid the foundation for exciting LP growth on this front.

Debate Exclusion Debate-Millions of Americans have learned about the exclusion process practiced by Republicans and Democrats. Harry Browne, Ross Perot, John Hagelin, Howard K. Phillips, and Ralph Nader were all at least arguably qualified for inclusion in the presidential debates, yet were elbowed out by the two-party Dynamic Duo and the national media. Browne supporters drew attention to this racket with a "Stop the Browne-Out" campaign, sending tons of mail, e-mail and faxes to the debate commission. A Browne-sponsored poll in September, which showed that up to 70% of the public favored third-party inclusion, short-circuited any intention of the establishment to quietly marginalize the issue of third-party participation. As the debate about the debates intensified, the Libertarian Party was mentioned more times by the national media than ever before. And the seeds for eventual inclusion of the LP in the debates-including third-party representation on the Commission on Presidential Debates itself-have been laid, thanks to the Browne campaign.

LP Membership Jump-The national membership of the Libertarian Party has doubled in the last few months as a direct result of the Browne campaign and media coverage of our national convention. The fundraisers held during the convention were among the most successful in the Party's history. Many people decided to join after reading Browne's book, Why Government Doesn't Work, which is still selling well a year after its publication.

Matching Funds Qualification-Harry Browne is the first LP candidate to qualify for federal matching campaign funds. More significantly, he is the first candidate in history to turn them down. Although some argued that this represented a "purer than God" approach that jeopardized Browne's chances to be included in the debates, that question turned out to be moot when Perot was also excluded despite having accepted $30 million in such funds. And Browne's declining to accept matching funds gave us an easy answer to the question, "Why should anyone believe that the Libertarians are different from any other politicians?" It's elementary: we're the party of principle.

A Browne victory may be a long shot. But Browne's accomplishments in promoting the Libertarian Party-and the cause of liberty itself-are not a long shot; they're a reality.

By John Clifton

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From the Chair

Issues '97: The Mayoral Race and Beyond

After Election Day 1996, Libertarians must begin turning their attention towards the next election cycle. In New York City, the 1997 mayoral race is already in progress. Al Sharpton has announced his candidacy, and Borough Presidents Ferrer and Messinger have all but declared. Mayor Giuliani opened storefront offices months ago to promote his reelection. So, in the midst of all this mobilizing, where are the Libertarians? Are we ready for '97, or at least getting prepared?

In September I attended a meeting of the Fund to Elect the Next Black Mayor of NYC (FENBN), a grassroots group trying to put together a citywide caucus and convention process to select a (black liberal) "people's candidate" for the campaign, and provide strong early money to get him or her going. FENBN's plan is to have sponsors pay $500 each to submit their prospective candidate's name into a caucus process; the money will be pooled to provide early cash for the nominee selected at its convention. Although we disagree with FENBN's agenda, I was impressed by its work on getting a candidate fielded and funded. I came away from the meeting persuaded that the LP needs to emulate this degree of foresight and planning.

Because this is the first City election following the breakup of the citywide LP affiliate, an effort to derive official input from all boroughs towards suggesting a LP candidate must be undertaken. The LPQC will try to jump start this project at its December 14 meeting, which we are encouraging all City LP members to attend. Some of the questions to be addressed: Who will be the candidate? How can we raise funds for a campaign? Should the candidate be bound to a detailed local Party platform? What must we do to get a Libertarian Party candidate on the ballot? Should we try to support candidates for the city council as well? What about the referendum on holding a constitutional convention for New York State? And so on.

This meeting will serve as a caucus for the mayoral selection process, and we hope other established LP chapters in the City will hold caucuses in parallel with ours. From these meetings, the current level of LP activism across the City can be measured and focused toward resolving the mayoral selection/funding issues at a citywide convention.

In relation to this, for our third annual convention, the LPQC is considering organizing a five-borough nominating convention in early 1997 to develop the mayoral project and raise money for all active LP entities in New York City. If you have further ideas along this front, please let us know. In any event, I hope to see you all this December. As always, Peace and Freedom!

By John Clifton

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From the Treasurer

The LPQC's Treasury: Our First Two Years

The LPQC's financial life began in December 1994 with six dues payments and six contributions totaling $120. The table on page 4 summarizes our income and expenses from that time through September 1996. Some observations on our financial history:

Most of our money has been spent on getting news about our activities to our members and the public. Postage, mailing supplies, and copying have been our big three expenses. We send meeting notices and LPQC News not only to our members but also to news organizations, LPNY officers, and prospective members. In the short term this is expensive (our mailings aren't big enough to qualify for bulk postal rates), but the officers' committee believes that it's worthwhile because it spreads awareness of Libertarian Party activities.

These figures don't reflect all of the money that has been spent on behalf of the LPQC. For example, several people contributed substantially to cover our 1995 Annual Convention expenses (mailings and meeting-space rental) and made quantity purchases of LP literature but didn't ask to be reimbursed by the LPQC treasury. The total of these expenditures is about $400.

Regular, modest contributions-and occasional large ones-have been our most stable source of income. We aren't geared up to do the mailings necessary for a periodic pledge program, but we hope you won't let that stop you from contributing from time to time. Whenever you realize that it's been a while since you contributed to the LPQC, just send us a check, small or large-it will be duly acknowledged and spent on promoting liberty.

Because we offer the option of joining the LPNY and LP through the LPQC, we have received, and promptly paid out, dues on behalf of those organizations. These amounts are not included in the table because they are not LPQC monies; the total for the period covered is $255.

The amounts in this summary can't be divided by the number of months to get monthly averages because our expenses have rollercoastered to some extent. For example, before each Annual Convention, mailing costs have soared. Similarly, we have had a voice-mail line only since August 1995 (it costs about $10 per month).

It's been suggested that we try to recoup some of our expenses for literature, mailings, and advertising by charging for literature instead of sending it out for free. That should be possible, but before doing it we must understand any applicable reporting requirements for political committees and then strictly comply with them. Also, we'd have to be sure we could fill orders promptly. To date, we haven't had the volunteer staff to study the laws and ensure compliance. If you could help in this area, please let us know.

So far, we're a handful of volunteers, and our financial resources are on the same scale as our human resources. But our ideas are huge: We want to build a party that can support successful Libertarian campaigns throughout Queens County. The experience we've gained in managing a treasury during our first two years will help us reach that goal.

By Jim Strawhorn

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The Libertarian Party of Queens County

Income and Expenses
December 1994 through September 1996

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LPQC News

Jim Strawhorn, Editor

Bradford R. Arter, Associate Editor

John Clifton, Contributing Editor

Elliott Werner, Web Site Editor

LPQC News is published bimonthly by the Libertarian Party of Queens County (LPQC). Subscriptions: included free with LPQC membership; $6/year to non-members. Opinions expressed in LPQC News are not necessarily official positions of the membership or the officers of the LPQC. Please direct all correspondence to: LPQC News, 33-17 84th Street, Box C1, Jackson Heights, NY 11372; or call (718) 670-3270.

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