LPQC NewsLPQC News
The Official Newsletter of the Libertarian Party of Queens County
Volume 4, Number 4 Winter 1998
In This Issue . . .
Dan Conti Top LPNY Vote-Geter in
Election
Editorial: '98 Lessons Learned
Garvey and Election '98: What Are We In This For?
Libertarians Speak Out on Impeachment
Operation Politically Homeless Returns
Dan Conti Top LPNY Vote-Geter in
Election
Nassau attorney Dan Conti received nearly 20,000 (19,864) votes for Attorney General
November 3, making him the Libertarian Party of New York’s most successful statewide
candidate in 1998.
Conti’s vote totals were virtually the margin of difference in the AG election between Democrat Eliot Spitzer and Republican Dennis Vacco—a race decided only after several re-counts, and an inquiry into voter fraud charges. Mr. Conti’s extensive network of friends and professional relations aided in expanding his exposure statewide (although the bulk of his votes came from the Long Island region).
Conti also made numerous campaign stops during the fall
campaign, including an appearance at the LPQC’s October
meeting, to speak on the New York City’s zoning laws’ impact on local adult
entertainment establishments. In a witty
defense of property rights and free speech, Conti outlined the various loopholes and
maneuvers he has employed in his
own practice to protect the rights of adult bookshops and nightclubs to operate.
By John Clifton
Editorial:
‘98 Lessons Learned
As we roll into 1999, and into a new election cycle of Libertarian activism, a review of
local and national lessons of
the ‘98 elections is in order. The LPNY needs to absorb these lessons so as not
repeat the syndromes that yielded the
disappointing results of last year.
1) Some Gimmicks Work. From the amazing Reform Party victory of ex-wrestler Jesse (“The Body”) Ventura in becoming Governor of Minnesota, to the the Green Party’s successful use of actor “Grandpa” Al Lewis in New York, the judicious injection of a fad, humorous or celebrity element into a statewide candidacy has proven to be an effective way to generate attention and votes.
The Lewis example is particularly relevant, as LPQC News has
since learned, from Green Party sources, that their overall
operating budget and available activist base throughout 1998 was identical to that of
LPNY. (The Marijuana Reform Party failed to earn ballot status with slightly more
resources, but still got four times as many votes for Governor than LPNY.) The
Green’s selection of a non-political celebrity candidate was also tried in order to
tap into non-rational voters, who don’t participate in elections at all unless
someone “different” is on the ballot. Instead of trying to persuade the 40%
group of regular voters whose minds are already made up, this strategy was aimed at the
60% of unaligned non-voters.
This indicates a potential need by LPNY to more efficiently
utilize its resources to yield more votes. And perhaps the party
should also “lighten up” enough to select a local celebrity, without strictest
regard for ideological principle or “respectability” (after all, does anybody
care, post-election, how pure or coherent Lewis’ or Ventura’s platforms were?).
As with other parties, once elected or on the ballot, party officials can then promote
principled policy from an enhanced seat of power. Sound heretical? Maybe—but look
where humorless, one-dimensional orthodoxy has gotten us to date.
2) ‘One-Engine’ Campaigning Doesn’t Work. The
‘98 Counts resolution LPNY passed in 1995 was not followed up with
planning, fundraising, or organization appropriate to fulfill the ballot goal in the
Governor’s race. Efforts to field a high profile candidate—Roy Innis of
C.O.R.E.—amounted to the only major strategy the party attempted in ‘98, and we
lacked a back-up plan (as in ‘94) to succeed once that candidacy was withdrawn.
For yet another state election cycle, no commercial advertising campaign of consequence was staged by LPNY to efficiently increase visibility. This was despite efforts by candidates Chis Garvey and Don Silberger to gain air time where possible on regional TV and radio shows, and despite an heroic attempt by Elliott Werner to produce a cable TV commercial in the final weeks.
Money turned out not to be the main issue (the cost of
putting on a 30-second cable TV spot in prime time is feasible—e.g.,
about $400 per airing on CNN in the NYC market). A failure in planning, to raise funds
before 1998 towards developing a
sufficient advertising budget, was the culprit. Fortunately, LPNY State Committee members
have decided to rectify this
problem by establishing the Libertarian Campaign 2002 fund as of 1999, thus commencing a
several-year fundraising effort. This path may result in LPNY having far more options (or
engines) to run on, come the next gubernatorial year. A suggestion: Given that, in the
U.S. Senate race, Al D’Amato and Charles Schumer spent at least 36 million dollars to
win a New York race (at roughly $8 per vote cast), is it too much for our party to raise
$36,000 over four years to get 50,000 votes in 2002, or $.72 per vote?
3) More Local Campaigning Needed. LPNY Chair Jim Harris and State Com. member Dave Harnett have identified a lack of local LP activity statewide as a major drag on our progress. The more local campaigns, OPH, petitioning or other promotional events that occur, the more visibility the LP engenders, from county to county. Instead of a whole-hog, top-down effort, we can produce gains by “assembly,” running for dog-catcher, school boards, council seats, etc. throughout the state. So, the challenge to pursue LP success comes down to us. If you are a Libertarian who wants to run for something in Queens, contact LPQC immediately at 670-3270. Let’s take New York piece by piece, for Peace & Freedom!
By John Clifton
Garvey and Election ’98: What Are We In This For?
In his campaign flyer, Christopher Garvey said that if you vote for him, he would, among
other things, eliminate the state
sales tax “forever,” allow 18 to 21 year olds to legally drink alcohol again and
end the war on drugs. In other words, he
sounded like another politician, i.e., he wanted to win.
However laudable his desire to win may be, Chris seemed to
have forgotten why we fielded him as a candidate, which was to
obtain at least 50,000 votes for the LPNY. And since this is the case, he should’ve
aimed his flyer to sell not himself, but the
LP (although he did mention the LP in passing).Thus he should’ve told voters how much
money and effort was required to get him on the ballot, what the LP stands for and how
important it was for the LPNY to get at least 50,000 votes. And thus he might’ve
began his flyer:
“I’m Christopher Garvey and I’m the
Libertarian Party’s candidate for Governor. I know I can’t win, but I’m
running
because...” (Would Chris had gotten more votes had he done it that way, we’ll
never know. But in their campaign flyers, Al
Lewis and Joel Kovel, the Green’s Senate candidate, both alluded to that magic number
in somewhat cryptic fashions. But however they did it, the Green Party now has over 52,000
votes and permanent ballot status. Of course, we know that when we hit that magic number,
the LP will obtain a ballot line that will enable it to field candidates without all that
petitioning
nonsense. Also, it will enable voters to register as Libertarians, and we will also gain
more media attention once the LP becomes an “official” party.)
In any case, notwithstanding Chris’ wayward campaign
strategy, after I’ve seen his disappointingly dismal showing at the polls
(6,706 votes), a question came to mind: What in God’s sake are we in this for? Are we
just a bunch of dilettantes dabbling in
politics?
Ann DeLaney, in her book, Politics For Dummies, seems to think so, when she said:
“Third parties tend to be organized around an issue or
a philosophy. They are less interested in winning elections than
they are in focusing attention on issues or policies of importance to their membership.
Predictably, they don’t
generally receive many votes in any election. Our system of government is set up to
accommodate only two parties...”
And she went to on say that the public may not feel as
strongly about those issues, and may wonder why we are wasting
our time and effort tilting at windmills.
I disagree with DeLaney’s dismal analysis of
“Third Parties” as it relates to the LP. No doubt other LPNY members feel
likewise. Jim Harris is one. He sees this election, not as a setback, but as a base to
build new members on. Specifically, he
believes that given the roughly six to one ratio of votes Garvey received in the election
to the number of LPNY members, if we
obtain new members from that group of voters and double the membership every year for the
next four years, we could have
16,000 members in 2002, which, using the same six to one ratio of votes to members, will
easily ensure that magic 50,000 votes.
I find Jim’s hopefulness and enthusiasm both heartening
and infectious. As such, I am galvanized to set a goal for us to
elect a Libertarian governor in Albany by the year 2006 and a Libertarian president in
Washington by the year 2008. Our
“issues” and “philosophy” concerns not only our members but every
freedom loving American. Let us make the Libertarian Party not just “The Party of
Principle,” but also “The Can-do Party”!
It is now time for us to get serious. Dilettantes need not
apply. To Victory!
By Alton Yee
Libertarians
Speak Out on Impeachment
“(The President is) at all times liable to impeachment, trial, dismission from
office, incapacity to serve in any other, and
to the forfeiture of life and estate by subsequent prosecution in the common course of
law." —Alexander Hamilton
...Bill Clinton has committed many crimes against the Constitution. Among them are the
wars he waged against Iran, the Sudan, and Afghanistan without a Congressional declaration
of war. He trampled on the 1st Amendment by censoring the Internet, the 2nd Amendment by
enforcing the Brady Bill, the 4th Amendment with asset forfeitures, the 5th Amendment by
incinerating the Branch Davidians, and the 9th and 10th Amendments with programs the
Constitution doesn't authorize. In short, a power-mad President is oppressing the American
people. So for what offense are Republicans demanding his impeachment? That he lied
about an affair with an intern. By reacting to only the most petty of his sins, the
Republicans have endorsed, validated, and approved of all the other Constitutional crimes
Bill Clinton has committed.---Harry Browne, 1996 LP Presidential
Candidate, 11/4/98
...Leave aside Monica and forget the independent counsel. Clinton should have been
impeached at the very start of his term in 1993, with the FBI-BATF assault on the Branch
Davidian church in Waco, Texas. And everyone in the Justice Department who had anything to
do with planning it should also have been impeached. Is perjury in a sexual-harassment
case really worse than mass murder? The list of Clinton's high crimes and misdemeanors
only begins there.It extends to imperious executive orders, bombings of innocent
foreigners, gun grabbing in violation of the Bill of Rights, the raiding of the Exchange
Stabilization Fund to bail out Mexico, the financial shenanigans used to keep government
agencies running after Congress shut them down, his giving and taking of bribes, and much,
much more. A Congress serious about its history would impeach the heads and
managers of nearly every federal agency on grounds that they have exercised arbitrary
power. If the Supreme Court disagreed and tried to intervene, Congress would impeach the
judicial branch too. If this fast track to freedom sounds unthinkable to Republicans, all
the more proof that their talk of the framers and the Constitution is just the usual
partisan posturing.
----Lew Rockwell, President, Ludwig Von Mises Institute, 11/4/98
...For the Washingtonians who must decide his fate, however, the issue isn't whether
Clinton the man is a disgusting hypocrite, publicly sanctimonious and privately wicked.
It's whether he has abused or undermined his office. As long as Clinton's private
activities are truly private, then even perjury to cover them up does not rise to the
level of an impeachable offense. The resulting perjury is a personal crime, not a
political wrong. The distinction is important because impeachment and removal not only
punish the wrongdoer; they rebuke the voters who put him in office. (This does not mean
that removing the president would, as his defenders claim, "reverse the
election," since the vice president, for whom the same voters cast their ballots,
would take
office.) The question before Congress, then, is whether Clinton the man has subverted the
powers of Clinton the president to serve his private purposes. And of that high crime he
does indeed appear to be guilty...the conversations Clinton was trying to protect were, by
his own definition, about his private business, not the nation's. Going to court to shield
them was a form of deliberate deception--and a tactic not open to ordinary citizens
engaged in defending their private affairs. It was an abuse of office. ---Virginia
Postrel, Reason Magazine, 12/98
...If he's not ashamed to lie to his wife and his daughter about presidential fornication,
why would he be ashamed to lie to the American public about federal legislation? Now that
Clinton has admitted he's a liar, why would anyone believe his breathless promises about
health care, cigarette legislation, Internet censorship, the Brady Bill, saving Social
Security, global warming, troops in Bosnia -- or the hundreds of other policy proposals
he's made since becoming president? Americans should remember that fact next time Clinton
does his bite-the-lip, pound-the-podium, wag-the-fist, it's-for-the-kids schtick. And the
president's casual disregard for the truth should make Americans re-examine every promise
he's ever made. Keep in mind, for six years we've watched President Clinton go on
television and try to seduce us with the alleged benefits of some new government program.
We've watched his ongoing inappropriate relationship with the Constitution, and the fact
that he routinely cheats on the Bill of Rights while trying to expand the power of the
federal government. Each time, Clinton would earnestly promise us that if only we'd give
the federal government a little more of our money, or give up a little more freedom, or
let him hire a few more bureaucrats, then the government would solve all our
problems...Remember, Bill Clinton is not a sincere person -- he just plays one on TV. Keep
that in mind the next time he tries to sweet-talk us into supporting some government
program that decreases our liberty while making lying politicians like Bill Clinton more
powerful.
---Ron Crickenberger, LP National Director, Free Republic
Impeachment Rally, 12/5/98
...During the whole Lewinsky crisis, American voters have
told the pollsters that they think Clinton's job performance is good. I think they are
correct. Since Clinton's plan to socialize medicine was defeated, he has done remarkably
little to harm the country. He's basically gone along with some of the more enlightened
aspects of the Republican agenda. He's signed legislation that does away with an
individual's "right" to welfare. He's pretty much kept us out of military
conflicts. He hasn't raised taxes.
This is more than you can say for any Republican president since Eisenhower. And how much
harm can a president who is an acknowledged liar do? Every time I see that wonderful piece
of videotape of him looking into the camera, squinting his eyes to feign sincerity, point
his finger at the American people and say, "I want to say one thing to the American
people. I want you to
listen to me. I'm going to say this again: I did not have sexual relations with that
woman, Miss Lewinsky." I rejoice. How can anyone ever believe him again? Personally,
if I were a member of Congress, I don't know how I'd vote. As a lover of human liberty,
I'd vote to keep him in office. But as a lover of justice, I'd want him out of office,
disgraced and serving a jail term.
---R. W. Bradford, Liberty Magazine, 11/98
OPH—Operation
Politically Homeless Returns!
OPH is back in business, and volunteers are wanted! The LPQC and LPNY will be scheduling
the operation of promotional booths in various parts of Queens and the NYC area. The
"OPH" effort consists of conducting "the World's Smallest Political
Quiz" and distributing other libertarian literature at central locations or events,
to directly reach the general public. Interested
members are needed to help man the booth throughout the day. Please contact the LPQC (by
phone at (718) 670-3270, or at our meeting) for more information, or to lend a hand (P.S:
These promotions may be covered by the media!).
Until then, Peace and Freedom in '99!
The Drug War: Follow the Money
A Jamaica, Queens businessman and concerned parent (and
latent libertarian—I’m still working on him) recently shared his thoughts on
drug prohibition, in a letter to Univ.of Syracuse Prof. Jim Schofield (who is also a
member of the drug law
repeal group Reconsider). Excerpts below. —Ed.
...Drugs, regardless of what side you fall on, are a strand, woven into the fabric of this country. Let’s see! It is my understanding that marijuana is the Northwest’s largest cash crop; in fact, the economy there (under-ground or otherwise) probably relies more on pot, than it does on Nike or Microsoft to flourish. It boggles my mind to see news reports stating that a cache of cocaine worth 30 million dollars has been seized somewhere. Which seems to beg the question, hell, if that one shipment was worth that much, how much were all the others worth that were not intercepted. All that to say, drugs are not a problem, they are a commodity. The economic well being of this country is wedded to drugs.
Just as prohibition fueled the birth of the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, drugs has fueled its own economic base. A
base so economically strong, that it offers very little opportunity to be strategically
defeated. I, of course, would be remiss not to mention here all the drug law enforcement
programs and all the small police departments in middle America, whose very existence
relies on the seizure laws.
Or, for that matter, consider the massive growth of the
prison system, due to drug laws. Years ago, prisons were run by
wardens. Now, they are managed by Superintendents who oversee monthly payrolls of millions
of dollars. In the real world,
these men and women would be called CEO’s. In fact, the prison system has come a long
way in the business world from license plate making. New York State has its own prison
company, Corcraft. It now has its own marketing arm, and publishes a very nice brochure
touting its office products. In fact, I am sitting at a desk manufactured by that company.
In sum, as pragmatic as it may seem to legalize drugs, the
odds are against us. Laws are governed by politics. Politics are
driven by money. Drugs + Illegal = Money. Money is the fuel that drives the engine of the
economy. I am intrigued by the David vs. Goliath aspect of this issue. Do I think this
fight can be won? At this time, no; however, I do believe the dialogue may
be able to educate many people sufficiently enough to revisit their position.
By George Saint-Louis
Happy Birthday to Siggie Kress!
Friends and Libertarian colleagues from Queens and abroad gathered at Bohemian Hall on December 12, to honor Sieglinde (“Siggie”) Kress on her 65th birthday. Siggie is one of NYC’s most dedicated, long-term LP activists, and is a founding member of the Libertarian International, which later merged with the Society for Individual Liberty to form the present International Society for Individual Liberty. Our matriarch of freedom delivered an informative talk on the recent ISIL conference she attended, to a larger than usual LPQC meeting audience, after which a festive party (‘gettin’ Siggie with it’?) was held.
Happy Birthday, Siggie, and have 65 more! —Ed
Editor’s Newsletter Note:
I must apologize for the lateness of this edition of LPQC News. Personal circumstances, an historic impeachment, and a dearth of assistants caused me to decide to push back this issue until after the holidays. Once again, if you have the time, editing and writing abilities (and access to a PC) we are interested in your input in helping LPQC to continue publishing it. Please contact us ASAP at (718) 670-3270, fax (718) 639-3294, email us at LPQC@aol.com, or come to our upcoming meetings to tell us what you can do. Deadline for submissions to the next issue of LPQC News is: March 15.
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