ANNOUNCEMENTS

Dave Brady, the former 7th district State Representative, will be the guest speaker at the New Castle County monthly meeting at the Sheraton in downtown Wilmington 6pm Sunday January 19.

Bill Morris and John Colgan are starting an informal discussion group. The point is to get together to talk about various Libertarian topics. The first meeting is set for breakfast (9am) Saturday 1/18 to set a framework for subsequent get-togethers. The location has not been decided as of this writing. Contact John at 302-292-8781 or colgan@snip.net

The December State Board meeting had to be cancelled due to the lack of a quorum. Everyone was notified through the same channels that announce the meeting, so we do hope that no one was inconvenienced by the short notice.

Our annual convention is set for 10am to 5pm Saturday, March 8 at the Smyrna Fire House Social Hall, 103 W. Commerce, Smyrna (opposite 1st Presbyterian Church). I should have at least a partial program by next month.

CANDIDATE TIPS

22 Months to the next general election!

Continuing from last time, we are working on deciding to run, and then for what office. Southern Delaware, especially, is blessed with many small towns. Most town governments have Mayor or President, a Council or Commission that meets monthly, and have elections yearly. The first appendix at the end of this newsletter is a list of all the townships and the date they have their elections. Contact us for details if you are interested in attending a township meeting.

In the meantime, here are a selected 10 (of 40) questions that, according to the Leadership Institute, you must be able to answer before you announce you are running for office.

1. Why are you running? (10 seconds, 30 seconds, 2 minutes) 2. Why should someone vote for you? 3. How does your family feel about your running? 5. Will you run a negative campaign? Why or why not? 6. Why are you a Libertarian? 9. What is the first bill you would introduce 12. On what issues do you agree with your opponent(s)? 13. What is the major difference between you and your opponent(s)? 14. Why are you better than your opponent(s)? 37. What is the one thing you would most like to change?

I'll include more next month.

HELP WANTED

Convention Volunteers: Jay Lawrence (302.678.3883) and Jim Conk(jimc@ezol.com) are in charge of the March, 2003 annual convention. A tentative date and location have been set, but in order to make it a successful event, a lot more remains to be done. Finding a few good speakers comes to mind, for example. Contact Jay or Jim to see what you can do to help out.

RESOURCES

I attended a two day class on Grassroots Campaigning at the Leadership Institute in Arlington, VA early in December. It was oriented more towards the campaign manager than the candidate, but I was absolutely fascinated. No doubt the most fundamental principle I learned is so simple and obvious that I can't believe I didn't recognize it. Those of us who really pay attention to politics and are somewhat politically active 'are not normal people'. Let me explain that by local example. The majority of people reading this knew about SB 99 for over a year before it's passage. We even had a demonstration against this smoking ban at our 2002 convention. We wrote letters to the editor and called into radio talk shows. Have you asked yourself then, how it is possible that when the law took effect 11/26 EVERYONE was surprised, most particularly so many bar owners?

It's because they are normal people that pay attention to politics about 7 minutes/week on average. It is painfully obvious to me that we got so little response to our anti-SB99 candidates because we didn't acknowledge this simple fact.

Okay, live and learn. But I highly recommend any of you who is serious about politics to check out the Leadership Institute web site (www.LeadershipInstitute.org). The Institute is nonpartisan, but devoted to training conservative thinkers. Their classes are somewhat oriented towards the younger crowd (though there were enough old f**** around that I didn't feel at all out of place), so they are cheap. The list price of the class I took was $100. That includes breakfast and lunch (so to speak) for both days, and dorm style accommodations, if you wish to use them. They are also deserving of support, if you are not in the starving student category!

SPOILERS, CONTINUED ****

Last month, I started a discussion of whether or not Libertarians should be seen as spoilers, ie, if we are effective in a campaign at all, what we do is throw an election from a 'good' Republican to a 'bad' Democrat. As I said, it is my opinion that if we can't make a good case for voting for us in light of these two points, that we will never get a significant vote. Even if a voter doesn't ask us directly, it will be in the back of his or her mind.

I asked readers to submit their counter arguments, and several are appended to the end of the newsletter. Barbara Beeghley and Clayton Gulick both argue against the presumption that Libertarian votes come mostly at the expense of Republicans. R.W. Bradford also effectively makes this arguement in the January 2003 issue of Liberty. In fact, several articles in that issue touch on the subject. (Liberty Foundation does not have a web site, but back issues of Liberty are almost always available at NCC monthly meetings).

The rest of the comments go to the point of 'so what'. This is where I fall. My comments to Chuck Muth are part of the addendum. In addition, Harry Browne responded to the New York Times article. His comments are a little long to include here, but can be found at

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=29742

You might also enjoy a very related article he wrote just after the 2000 election:

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=13245

Thanks to all of you who took the time to respond.

CALENDAR

The Libertarian Party of Delaware state board meetings are open to the public, as are all of the county monthly meetings. As things are always subject to change, please email the indicated party before attending.

State Board: 2pm Sunday January 26 (last Sunday), South Smynra Email Jim Conk: jconk4@comcast.net

NC County: 6pm Sunday January 19 (third Sunday), downtown Wilmington Email Jim Holliday: j.m.holliday@verizon.net Kent County: 7pm Tuesday January 21 (third Tuesday), Dover Email Jim Conk: jconk4@comcast.net

Sussex County: 7pm Tuesday January 28 (fourth Tuesday), Bella Capri Restaurant, Georgetown Email Steve McCarron (thetaDVC343@cs.com) or John Elliot (tyre @dmv.com)

LPD Convention 10am Saturday March 8, Smyrna Fire House Social Hall, 103 W. Commerce, Smyrna

Next issue of First State Libertarian deadline for editorial content: Jan 28th

Join the Libertarian Party of Delaware. Visit our web site at www.de.lp.org

Thanks to Tim Young and 123clickit.com for making libertarian@123clickit.com available to us.

ADDENDA

Town election dates. (Thanks to Bill Morris for keying this data.)

County  Town                    Population      Election date
N       Delaware City           1682            1st tue ap
N       Elsmere         5935            last thu ap odd years
N       Middletown              8968            1st mon mar
N       Newark                  28547           2nd tue ap
N       New Castle              5164            2nd sat ap odd years
N       Newport         1240            1st mon ap
N       Odessa                  286             1st mon ap
N       Townsend                322             1st sat may
N       Wilmington              73250           nov every 4 years
K       Bowers Beach            417             1st sat mar
K       Camden                  2180            last sat feb
K       Cheswold                378             last tue mar
K       Clayton         1273            last tue mar
K       Dover                   32729           3rd tue ap
K       Farmington              122             last sat mar
K       Felton                  997             1st week mar
K       Frederica               761             1st sat mar
K       Harrington              3279            1st tue nov
K       Hartly                  107             last sat ap
K       Houston         487             last sat mar
K       Kenton                  232             1st mon mar
K       Leipsic         236             1st mon mar
K       Little Creek            172             1st sat mar
K       Magnolia                211             2nd tue jan
K       Smyrna                  6297            last mon ap
K       Viola                   162             last tue mar
K       Woodside                228             last sat mar
K       Wyoming         1141            last sat feb
K/S     Milford         6732            4th sat ap
S       Bethany Beach           4302            announced before July 1
S       Bethel                  188             4th sat feb
S       Blades                  956             1st mon mar
S       Bridgeville             1436            2nd sat jan
S       Dagsboro                398             1st sat dec
S       Delmar                  1407            1st mon oct every 2 years
S       Dewey Beach             1997            3rd sat sep
S       Ellendale               332             1st sat jan
S       Fenwick Island  1400            1st sat aug
S       Frankford               591             1st sat feb
S       Georgetown              4643            2nd sat may
S       Greenwood               837             3rd sat jan
S       Henlopen Acres  380             last sat aug
S       Laurel                  3814            4th thu mar every 2 years
S       Lewes                   2932            2nd sat may
S       Millsboro               2360            2nd sat june
S       Millville               206             1st sat mar
S       Milton                  1657            1st sat mar
S       Ocean View              1006            2nd sat ap
S       Rehoboth                6060            2nd sat aug
S       Seaford         6609            1st mon mar
S       Selbyville              1645            1st sat mar
S       Slaughter Beach 524             1st mon july
S       South Bethany           1848            last sat before last mon may

---

SPOILERS ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------- Clayton Gulick

The argument that the Libertarian party is causing "good conservatives" to lose elections is clearly nothing more than an angry backlash from an entrenched, outdated GOP.

There is absolutely no evidence that Libertarian votes are detracting from the GOP, and in fact, I would argue the opposite, I believe they detract from the democrats at least as much.

Consider why it is that most conscientious liberals consider themselves "Democrats". They believe in civil liberty. They believe in the Supreme Court decision of Roe vs Wade. They frequently believe that recreational marijuana users should not be criminalized. Most of them are not fans of "Big Government", most of them have simply been taught to fear the "Fascist" right wing. They believe that with their vote, they are protecting their way of life, their civil liberties, and preventing "Warmongers" and "Corporate stooges" from taking over their government.

The ideals of the Libertarian party appeal to those voters.

The assumption that every Libertarian vote is a lost conservative is clearly baseless. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------- Spear Lancaster (Candidate for Governor of Maryland)

You are overlooking one major fact. Who does this democracy belong to? Is it the sole property of the two biggies? Or to be more accurate the property of the two branches of the uni-party paid for and owned by the big MONEY?

Give me a break. I love it when both of the bigges whine that someone is taking something from them. Acting as if we are not playing fair. After all who in the hell do the Libertarians think they are offering the voters a choice? What's next honest elections? It's enough to make us pine for Stalin and fair elections. As Stalin was reported as saying "I don't care who votes as long as I get to pick the candidates.

Yes, Virginia they have been lying to you. You didn't really have a choice until the Libertarians came on the scene. And no it's not unfair to be offered a choice. In fact it's just bringing the free market to the ballot box.

Give my condolences to the Republicans who shout about the free market and can't stand choices at the ballot box. By the way another thing they make a big brouhaha about and don't live up to it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------- Brad Thomas (Candidate for Delaware US Representative)

A good argument against the "spoiler" rationale could be to notice the effects (negatively) of the Socialist Party. Despite very little electoral success, much of the Socialist platform(a heavy graduated income tax, moving toward nationalized health care, federal funding of education) has been instituted. Contrary to Chuck Muth, you do not have to change public officials to change public policy.

Republicans are supposedly free-market advocates. This should also apply in the political arena as well as in the economic world. Competition will bring out the best in all candidates. The Republicans will have to field candidates that *really* stand for freedom in order to win. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------- Jim Larsen

Don't get discourage folks. We too will have an influence. Our time will come here in DE as the Dems move further to the left with the Repubs following. We must push the NOTA write in alternative, run enough candidates, blowing our horns in what ever manner possible. When the NY Times acknowledges the LP spoiler effect we're making progress.

The only safe conclusion anyone can make about a third party vote is simple - those voters were not satisfied with either of the two party candidates. Obviously those voters did NOT think they were wasting their votes.

Using spoiler is the broadest sense the media makes it an issue only when the vote count is close enough to effect the outcome. Note in the NY Times article the reporter makes no reference to voter distaste for either of the two party candidates. The reporter wasn't bright enough to realize that third party votes is what shapes the philosophical direction of political parties.

Look at it another way. The Republicans are thinking they've got it made as the Dems move left, the center is theirs. If they were smart they would realize they lost more elections because of third party votes than the Dems.

As Sol said repeatedly in his campaign workshop - stress the positive. While a Libertarian candidate may spoil the election for one party or another what we are doing is offering a choice. It is the voter who chooses our candidate over the others that is the spoiler. Short of not voting it is the only way voters have of expressing their dissatisfaction with the major party candidates.

May I suggest that our official policy is - we offer a clear choice. If the media and the major parties call us spoilers they are the ones with the problem. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------- Barbara Beeghley (Candidate for Delaware State Rep)

We are assuming a faulty premise perhaps. Namely that all the third party votes would go to the one who lost. That may be a very interesting and improbable outcome (could you imagine any candidate ever receiving 100% of anything -- even third party votes!)

Actually I thought that voting third party was like getting another "choice," which I interpret as ALWAYS good (regardless of unintended consequences). Choice equals liberty, to me at least.

However, by being perceived as a "spoiler," the third party argument can be approached -- and broached -- by thinking of it as the lesser of two evils being voted down.

After all, people's votes are not taken away from the more popular candidate but usually from the least-liked or weaker candidate (Bush and Schnee). So it would seem the status quo (and percentage) would remain the same whether a spoiler is running or not.

Clinton may have been bad in retrospect but at the time he was an unknown and certainly "appeared better" (or more popular) than Bush. Bush was less popular at that time (and did anyone notice he did not really campaign -- he acted as if he did not want the job and that was telegraphed). I still think that Bush's losing to Clinton was not a totally unexpected outcome had Perot not even run.

So the spoiler argument appears to me to be a rationalization for someone who is simply less popular and may have lost regardless. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------- George Smith (Candidate for Delaware State Rep) (to Chuck Muth)

Don't you think it is just a little over the top to tar all Libertarians because of "bob" (see Temper, Temper below)? Do you think, just possibly, even a Republican goes off like this once and a while?

Actually, I have been intending to write about your recent anti-Libertarian series, so this seems an opportune time. Let me first say that I understand your basic argument. I doubt that I would have been able to vote for Harry Browne in 2000 if there was any doubt of how the presidential election would play out here in Delaware. It is something I am personally struggling with. Nevertheless I must ask just what you expect us to do?

With each issue of your newsletter, you have become more vitriolic about Libertarians. In fact, your language has dipped below insulting to just crude on occasion. Yet back on 11/16, you included a section labeled "Equal Time: GOP's Turn on the Hot Seat" In that you say that Republicans can't continue doing WHAT THEY ARE DOING and still expect conservatives to vote for them. But, that is exactly what you tell us to do, isn't it? Is it okay to run against RINO's? Will you give us a list before the next campaign of Republicans we are allowed to oppose? Or is any Republican better than any Democrat, meaning that we can never run? Well, maybe in a race where the Republican is unopposed.

Of course there is a difference between Delay and Pelosi. But is there a significant difference between the Republicans in charge and the Democrats in charge? Isn't discretionary spending growing faster with Bush than it did with Clinton? Are we not now facing a complete loss of privacy rights, among other of our civil rights under Bush? The latest database proposals from this administration puts Clinton's (perhaps more directly, Kennedy's) medical database to shame. Didn't Dept of Ed funding increase by leaps and bounds this year? Didn't Bush sign a truly disgraceful farm bill?

But it might be worse with Democrats running everything, so don't dare oppose a Republican.

How many years do you vote for these guys and have them not do what they said they would before you give up?

And you say we should stop all this foolishness unless we actually plan on getting someone elected. How are we to get someone elected if we don't run a candidate? And we should stop sitting on the fence complaining and not doing anything. As if Harry Browne's two years of nonstop campaigning were a relaxing vacation.

In the last election, I ran against my (otherwise unopposed) Republican incumbent. Why? Because even though he is basically conservative, he believes that government has all the answers. So, he votes for mandatory seat belt use, for example. He initiated the legislation that will ban smoking in ALL indoor 'public' spaces - such as private bars and restaurants - as of next week. We are friends, but I disagree with him so profoundly on many issues that I ran against him. Even though I didn't do door to door stuff, it was hard work, as I am sure you know!

Was that okay? If he had a Democrat opponent, would it still have been okay?

Fundamentally, the goal of the Libertarian Party is to drive the debate towards constitutionally limited government. We try to do that among the voters, and running a campaign is the only way to do it. Cato, (who gets my largest single contribution every year btw) on the other hand works at the lobbyist level. They are not interchangeable. The argument can be made that if we actually have the power to swing an election, then perhaps the Republicans will pay more attention to what we have to say. It certainly seems to work that way with the Greens and the Democrats.

Pragmatically, I support conservative Republicans (through the Club For Growth), and I agree that it is counter productive to put a lot of effort into opposing someone you agree with on the majority of the issues. All your words might be put to better use by arguing that races be looked at carefully in this light rather than just trying to get us all to unsubscribe from your newsletter. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------- Chuck Muth reply to George Smith

You obviously haven't been paying attention. No, I don't like RINOs any more than you do. But let's look at cold, hard reality here, huh? No Libertarian is going to be elected, let alone a Libertarian majority in Congress. The simple choice, for better or worse, is between the Democrats or the Republicans. As I've ALWAYS said, the solution isn't to be spoilers and elect Democrats in the general election, but to elect BETTER Republicans in the PRIMARY. And yes, I'm getting more and more pissed off at the Libertarians because all they are doing is making a bad situation WORSE by helping to elect WORSE Democrats. They are NOT a part of the solution, but a part of the problem and I'm tired of letting them get away with it scot-free. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------- Chuck Muth 11/11/2002

Equal Time: GOP's Turn on the Hot Seat

OK. I think I've made my position on the self-defeating political actions of the Libertarian Party pretty clear. The solution to bad Republicans is to replace them in the primary with better Republicans, not with worse Democrats in the general election.

Nevertheless, the GOP has to shoulder some of the blame itself for helping to create the political environment which has so distressed constitutional conservatives and drove them out of the GOP "tent" in the first place.

The pure and simple fact is that while many, if not most, of the Republicans running for office talk the talk of less government, all too many fail to walk the walk once in office. If their campaigns were a business they'd be prosecuted for the ol' "bait and switch" scam. Lord help 'em if a "truth in political labeling" law is ever passed.

I recognize and accept that political compromise is a necessary evil in a representative republic like ours; however, compromising on clear-cut matters of principle is something many of us find very difficult to swallow.

You can't keep voting for pet government projects, programs and laws that aren't authorized by the Constitution and expect true conservatives in the mold of Barry Goldwater to go along. You can't vote for something as clearly unconstitutional as this year's campaign finance reform bill and still hold yourself out as a defender of the Constitution.

You can't keep voting for the National Endowment for the Arts or a greater federal intrusion into our failing education system and then claim to be the party of "less government."

You can't enthusiastically back encroachments on personal liberties - as exists in the horribly misnamed "Patriot Act" or under the auspices of the failed "drug war" - and hope to appeal to those of us who still believe in Ben Franklin's admonition that those who choose a little temporary safety over liberty deserve neither.

If Republicans want to attract Libertarians back in the fold, it is incumbent upon them to pick up a copy of the Constitution and READ it - over and over again if necessary - and begin to take their oath to honor and defend it seriously.

The proof is in the pudding.

As long as unconstitutional government continues to grow - even if at a smaller rate than under the Democrats - we're failing the country. Period. As long as the government continues to do for the people what they can and should do for themselves, we're failing the country.

As long as the tax bite coming out of a family's paycheck remains at its current inexcusable and unacceptable level, we're failing the country. And as long as the long arm of government continues to interfere with and inject itself into the private relationships between consenting adults - in the home OR in the workplace - we're failing the country.

And as long as our God-given right to self-defense is restricted by government, we're failing the country.

Yes, the Libertarian Party is the equivalent of political kamikazes, but the failure of Republicans to walk-the-walk of limited government over recent years has sown the seeds of frustration and discontent of truly patriotic Americans. If the GOP wants to win such folks back it's simply going to have to do more than give lip service to the Constitution during the campaign season. They're going to have to stand and deliver once elected.

To borrow a phrase from the Nixon era, the people are not going to listen to what Republicans say, they're going to watch what Republicans do. The GOP now has control of the White House and both houses of Congress. What they do with it will determine whether or not we usher in a new political realignment dedicated to the restoration of Constitutional government and principles, or continue down the slippery slope of nanny-state, cradle-to-grave socialism.

The ball's in your court, Republicans.