Libertarian Party National Convention 2008

Libertarian delegates from across the country met in Denver on Memorial Day weekend. We shared an amazing time learning and organizing to take the Party to new heights, as fitting for the mile-high city. The theme of the Convention was "A Better Choice for America" and we showed why the Libertarian Party is just that.

LP Party Business

The Platform Committee, led by Alicia Mattson (right) and including our own John Howell, did a stellar job in long months of work. With just a few additions, the streamlined platform they proposed was adopted in full.

Planks added include topics such as education, health care, taxation, national defense, and international affairs, rounding out our Platform. The Libertarian Party Platform can be found on the LP.org website.

We also elected LP Party officers for the next 2 year term:

• Chair: Bill Redpath (right)
• Vice-chair: Mike Jingozian
• Treasurer: Aaron Star
• Secretary: Bob Sullentrup

Our thanks to them for taking a leadership role in our Party's success.

The National Party is divided into geographic regions. The Libertarian Party of Illinois joined with other midwest states to form a new region. Joining us are Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Our own Julie Fox volunteered to be our Regional Representative and Jake Porter, from Iowa, is our Alternate Representative.

Other Activities

There were a lot of workshops going on concurrent with the business meetings. They included:

• Campus Organizing with Jim Lark (right)
• Free Markets in Transportation
• Alternative Medicine
• Restorative Justice

Exceptional Libertarians of the year were celebrated with the:

• Sam Adams Award for Outstanding Party Activist -- Bill Hall of Michigan
• Thomas Paine Award for Outstanding Party Communicator -- Michael Ferguson of Missouri and Eric Schansberg of Indiana
• Thomas Jefferson Lifetime Achievement Award -- Ruth Bennett, right, who also told us she was next going to run for governor of Washington State and Virginia Libertarian Jim Lark

Throughout the weekend, a number of great Libertarian speakers addressed the delegates, including:

• David Nolan (right), one of the Party founders and source of the World's Smallest Political Quiz (sometimes referred to as the Nolan Chart)
• Sharon Harris, President of the Advocates for Self Government, taught us 6 principles for "sticky communications"
• Ed Thompson, mayor of Tomah, Wisconsin inspired all at the Presidential Banquet on Sunday evening

An extra-special event this year showed Libertarian women having their hair cut on the main stage. The hair was donated to Locks of Love, a non-profit that. provides hairpieces to disadvantaged children suffering from medical conditions, such as cancer, that cause long-term hair loss.

The President and Vice President Elections

The Party nominated a first-class field of candidates:

• Bob Barr, former U.S. Congressman from Georgia
• Mike Gravel (right), former U.S. Senator from Alaska
• Mike Jingozian, business owner and founder of Reset America
• Steve Kubby, Libertarian activist and leader against the drug war
• George Phillies, State Chair of Massachusetts and activist
• Wayne Root, businessman and television host from Nevada
• Mary Ruwart (right), long-time Libertarian activist and author
• Christine Smith, Libertarian writer, activist, and philanthropist

The candidates participated in a Presidential debate covered live on C-SPAN Saturday night. If you missed it, you can watch the recording of the debate on the C-SPAN website.

All the candidates did a great job describing how more liberty is the best way to address situations our country faces, like healthcare, energy, and national security.

Sunday began with nominating speeches for the Presidential candidates followed by the voting. You can watch most of it on the C-SPAN website.

The Illinois delegation was led by State Chair Val Vetter, center right, counting our votes.

And the Winner Is...

After five rounds of increasing excitement, Bob Barr and Mary Ruwart were the two finalists. Bob won in the sixth round by a 324 to 276 vote. Bob made a gracious acceptance speech, noting how he would like to see his fellow Libertarian candidates in a Barr cabinet.

The Vice Presidential Race

Bob asked to have Wayne Root join him as his running mate and the membership voted for Wayne 287 vs. 257 for Steve Kubby in the second round of Vice Presidential voting.

The Barr/Root ticket brings a powerful combination of credible experience and enthusiasm for liberty to our Party.

Learn more about Bob and Wayne at BobBarr2008.com.