LP Illinois News - July 2008 #2
Barr for U.S. President at 6%
Zogby International has Bob at 6% of the vote nationally and 5% of the vote in Illinois, a very healthy number at the time in the campaign. With 5% of the vote in Illinois, we would achieve established party status for the 2010 race for governor, a huge boost for our Party. With 10%, Bob gets into the Google debate in September; with 15%, the 3 big presidential debates. You can help us attain these numbers. Look for ideas on the BobBarr2008.com website. The campaign has opened an online store where you can purchase campaign apparel, signs, and more. Downloadable Barr brochures are available there as well (b&w, full color).
We would like to have a coordinator in all 102 counties in Illinois to coordinate distribution of Barr campaign materials and information. Our thanks to the volunteers who have already stepped forward: Mike Basso, southern Cook; Francine Brady, McHenry; Michael Fogelsanger, DeKalb; Robert Johnson, McLean (he is also the Central Illinois Regional Coordinator); Josh Laurent, Sangamon County; and Larry Stafford, Winnebago County. Contact Alex Talcott, the Barr Illinois Coordinator at 312-218-1539 or alex.talcott@gmail.com to join the ranks.
Steve Chapman wrote a Commentary in the July 10 Chicago Tribune titled “Obama, McCain and the coming fiscal disaster.” He writes how both of those candidates will continue the current policy of out-of-control government spending. He missed the fact that Americans can choose to vote for fiscal sanity by voting for Bob Barr, but you don’t have to. Write a letter to the editor, call a talk show, or email your friends and let them know that they have the power to rescue our nation from fiscal disaster by voting Libertarian in November.
Outreach Events
Operation Politically Homeless booths are a great way to find more libertarians and bring them to the Party. Volunteers are always needed to staff our booths, handing out Libertarian literature and assisting people taking the World’s Smallest Political Quiz. Call the contact of each event below for more information or to volunteer. If you’re in the area, stop by and say Hi!
- July 23-July 27, DuPage County Fair in Wheaton, Fran Holt (815) 584-2398
- July 30-August 3, McHenry County Fair in Woodstock, Julie Fox (847) 528-1126
August 9-August 10, Illinois Renewable Energy Association Show in Oregon, Val Vetter (800) 735-1776
Campaign Update: Larry Stafford for U.S. Senate
Larry has a new phone number for his campaign: 312-771-0090. You can also continue to reach Larry’s campaign via info@Stafford4Senate.com and his website, Stafford4Senate.com.
Larry will be attending all three of the outreach events listed above to meet Illinois voters. See the Events page at Stafford4Senate.com for the specific days and times.
Larry will participate in the MillerPolitics.com Illinois U.S. Senate candidate debate on Saturday, August 23, starting at 7:00 p.m. The debate will air online at BlogTalkRadio.com/millerpolitics and will last 1 ½ - 2 hours. All ballot qualified candidates were invited—we’ll have to see how many show.
Fair Ballot Access
First, the bad news: Our Libertarian candidates for U.S. Congress, Eric Ferguson and Dan Druck, were officially removed from the ballot in the 13th and 14th districts, respectively, on July 21. They each have 10 days from that date to legally file for a petition review to keep their candidacies alive.
Now, the good news: Dan’s campaign as well as our quest for fair ballot access in Illinois are both getting a boost from Ken Prazak’s letter, “Democracy a Missing Ingredient in Election Nominating Process,” that we published in our previous issue. The letter was picked up by both the Elgin CourierNews and the Daily Herald Newspapers. Mark Smith also got a Letter to the Editor published in the Aurora Beacon News on the challenge to Dan’s petitions.
Dan’s campaign status is summarized in the following letter:
Dear lover of freedom,
I have been a libertarian activist for over 30 years. I’ve seen promises of the best of times, and the resultant worst of times. I remember the exciting and promising late Seventies where books by libertarian writers made it to the best seller lists, when the Libertarian Party truly was the fastest growing political party in the United States. I saw the promise of Ron Paul in 1988 as the Libertarian Party candidate and the fervent principled leader and Indian activist, Russell Means, who challenged Ron Paul. I remember staying up past midnight when Libertarian presidential candidate Andre Marrou received the majority of votes in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire. I remember the promise of the candidacies of the famous Libertarian financial advisor, Harry Browne.
A lot of promise and a great deal of disappointment.
Call me an eternal optimist if you like but I have never liked our chances more than I do today.
Ron Paul has brought a rebirth to the freedom movement. I believe we are experiencing an exciting paradigm shift at this very moment. Ron Paul has done more to catapult the freedom movement to the limelight than all the other libertarian campaigns (presidential or other) combined.
Congressman Bob Barr, the LP’s presidential candidate is polling 6% at this time, unprecedented in Libertarian Party politics. If Mr. Barr’s conversion is real, this election could be huge for Libertarians.
But all of this does not fully explain my optimism. What does, is this: I have the honor of managing the campaign for the best Libertarian candidate with whom I have ever been associated. His name is Dan Druck and he is running for the 14th Congressional seat in Illinois, the same seat once held by former speaker of the House, Denny Hastert, and is now held by a Democrat in this heavy Republican district. The Republican candidate, Jim Oberweis is a four-time loser, a war monger, and hated throughout the district for his dirty campaign tactics. The Democrat, Bill Foster, won the special election after Hastert resigned, largely on his anti-war stance. Well, guess what... the first chance for Foster to show his mettle, his principles melted away as he voted to fund the war he so vigorously opposed during the special election campaign. Now Foster is just another statist-meddling socialist, happy to tax your hard earned income away for domestic and foreign boondoggles.
So why am I so excited about Dan? I could mention that he is a successful small businessman and an Air Force veteran. I could suggest that he is a principled libertarian and an articulate one to boot. I could state that he puts his money where his mouth is, pledging to match, dollar- for-dollar, campaign contributions up to $10,000. He has already made good on this pledge by contributing over $4000. These are all good reasons but not the best one for me. Dan Druck is a fighter and a leader and has the guts to go the distance.
And the distance for us Libertarians is a ballot access pot of gold: finishing off one of the most overbearing ballot access requirements in the country. Here in Illinois' 14th Congressional district, the Republican candidate for Congress was required to obtain 793 petition signatures to get on the ballot and the Democrat candidate needed to get 863 petition signatures. Those "third" party and independent candidates who are not in the power club need to get 9,995 petition signatures to get on the ballot, or twelve and a half times as many signatures. This is true for all Congressional districts and in all races - "third" parties and independents have to get huge multiples of signatures compared to the Republicans and Democrats who make the rules. Nonetheless, the Dan Druck campaign did pretty darn well in getting 7,153 signatures, nearly 10 times more than required for the Republicrats. So our petitions have been challenged for insufficiency. But we’re fighting back.
And Dan is a determined man. He has the will. And we have the expertise in Illinois’ ballot access guru, Andy Spiegel, as our attorney. We have the opinion of United States ballot access expert, Richard Winger, that we have a unique and excellent chance to change this ballot access law for the better. But unfortunately, as of this time, we don’t have sufficient resources to fight this battle properly.
This is where you come in. Sigh. I know, . . . many of us are tapped out. The economy is in bad shape. Yes, these are the times that try men’s souls. But Dan Druck is no sunshine patriot. Be not a summer soldier. Please, help us now in this ballot access fight so that many other Libertarians may run for Congress in the future, unimpeded by this outrageous unconstitutional ballot access law.
Please contribute all you can now, so that we have the funding and the power to take this fight to the Federal level, the place that all our experts expect this will have to go, recognizing the utter moral bankruptcy of the Illinois Board of Elections and the Illinois courts.
And since this is funding for a court case, the $2300 McCain-Feingold unconstitutional limit doesn’t apply. You may send a tax deductible contribution to the Foundation for Free Campaigns and Elections, which will in turn, help fund our ballot access fight. And with Richard Winger’s help, we have already received a $1000 contribution from them for our ballot access law suit. The Foundation thinks this case is worthy of their support. They think Dan is worthy of their support. I hope you think so too.
Please help this vital cause now. Dan will never disappoint you. He is in this for the long haul. I hope you are too. Join us now. Let’s make history.
Sincerely,
Ken Prazak
Druck for Congress Campaign Manager
PS - If you would like to keep the fight for Dan’s campaign moving forward, please contribute today at the TimeforDan.com website. We have a candidate in Dan and a case for fair ballot access that deserves our support.
Checks to either Committee to Elect Dan Druck or Foundation for Free Campaigns and Elections can be mailed to: 180 S. Western Avenue #201, Carpentersville, IL 60110. A card to return with your check can be downloaded at LPIllinois.org/campaigns/downloads/druck_return_card.pdf.
Wilmette Handgun Ban Repeal Vote
The Wilmette Village board meets tonight, July 22, from 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. at 1200 Wilmette Avenue. They are expected to vote on a repeal of their handgun ban. If you are a Wilmette resident or in the area you are urged to attend and defend the right to self-protection.
Help Wanted: Newsletter Editor
We are eagerly seeking a Libertarian with writing skills and an interest in libertarian topics and activism to take over as LP Illinois Newsletter Editor. Because communications are so critical to the success of our Party, the position rates a seat on the Executive Board—and that also gets the Editor the inside scoop on the Party. No experience is necessary; transition assistance will be provided. To discuss this great opportunity to contribute to the liberty movement, contact Crystal Jurczynski at 630-876-1935 or News@LPIllinois.org.