A message from Austin Petersen, LP volunteer coordinator:
In keeping with solidarity:
Hello everyone, Austin Petersen is at your service! I’m hard at work building strong new coalitions across the country for our cause.
Ballot access is coming slowly but surely. I am scouring the internet for volunteers, placing ads, sending emails to Libertarian and Ron Paul meetups in specific states, making promotional videos, and doing the best I can to get people out there petitioning for ballot access. I have been directly emailing college students who are registered as libertarians on Myspace, and have deployed several volunteers using that method. Most of the volunteers I get come in from my direct emails, and randomly from surfing our website. Some have suggested I branch out into Facebook and am looking into that as well.
I recently scheduled an event for next Thursday evening here in D.C. Everyone is welcome. Join the meetup if you haven't already at: http://libertarian.meetup.com/364/
I am still very low on volunteers for South Dakota, Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. Anyone who is fired up and ready to defend their principles to the last man, should contact me to throw their hats in the ring, and collect signatures in your state. Or for those who filed their income tax, consider donating your stimulus check we borrowed from China to our ballot access efforts.
Join me: http://www.lp.org/action/volunteer.shtml
In Liberty,
Austin Petersen
The following are selected Daily Poll results from last month. A general synopsis of the results are that of those that responded: only 17 percent consider Obama to be a political outsider; most would prefer to face Hillary in the general election; nearly a majority believe McCain's military experience does not give him more credibility as a candidate; the issue Libertarians care about the most in 2008 is fiscal policy; half support the death penalty; the "Fair Tax" is the preferred system of tax reform, though only marginally so; Libertarians want most a communicator for a presidential candidate; and gas prices have impacted the driving habits of a majority of people.
If you have any poll suggestions for May, please email them to Andrew.davis@lp.org as you come up with them, and they may be used.
4/1/08
Do you consider Barack Obama to be "outside" the political establishment? (198 votes)
Yes - 34 (17%)
No - 150 (75%)
Maybe - 2 (6%)
Don't Know/No Response - 2 (1%)
4/2/08
What Democratic presidential candidate would be best for the LP to face in 2008? (98 votes)
Barack Obama - 33 (33%)
Hillary Clinton - 65 (66%)
4/09/08
Should the Iraqis be forced to spend oil surplus revenue on rebuilding their own country? (123 votes)
Yes - 90 (73%)
No - 27 (21%)
Maybe - 4 (3%)
Don't Know/No Response - 2 (1%)
4/10/08
Do you believe John McCain's military experience gives him more credibility as a presidential candidate? (164 votes)
Yes - 62 (37%)
No - 81 (49%)
Maybe - 21 (12%)
Don't Know/No Response - 0 (0%)
4/11/08
Out of these three political issues, what do you consider to be the most important in the 2008 elections? (329 votes)
Fiscal policy - 153 (46%)
War in Iraq - 64 (19%)
Civil liberties - 112 (34%)
4/14/08
Do you support the death penalty? (194 votes)
Yes - 97 (50%)
No - 86 (44%)
Maybe - 10 (5%)
Don't Know/No Response - 1 (0%)
4/15/08
What type of tax reform would you prefer? (125 votes)
Flat income tax - 25 (20%)
Consumed-income tax - 7 (5%)
National retail sales tax - 29 (23%)
"Fair Tax" - 36 (28%)
Other - 28 (22%)
4/17/08
Do you believe the government has a legitimate role to play in stopping climate change? (135 votes)
Yes - 27 (20%)
No - 93 (68%)
Maybe - 11 (8%)
Don't Know/No Response - 4 (2%)
4/24/08
What type of LP presidential candidate do you want? (409 votes)
A "purist" - 30 (7%)
A long established Libertarian activist - 22 (5%)
Someone who can communicate our basic message to voters outside our party - 357 (87%)
4/28/08
Has the price of gas impacted your driving habits? (95 votes)
Yes - 58 (61%)
No - 33 (34%)
Maybe - 1 (1%)
Don't Know/No Response - 3 (3%)
4/29/08
Do you support strengthening the GI Bill to help it cover today's tuition rates? (139 votes)
Yes - 72 (51%)
No - 50 (35%)
Maybe - 7 (5%)
Don't Know/No Response - 10 (7%)
LP Presidential Candidate FEC and Liberty Decides '08 Filings
Wayne Allyn Root
LD '08: $15,764.00
Individual: $29,988.00
Candidate: $4,421.90
Daniel Imperato
LD '08: $10,474.00
Individual: $0.00
Candidate: $0.00
Michael Jingozian
LD '08: $8,490.00
Individual: $13,090.79
Candidate: $0.00
Mike Gravel*^
LD '08: $895.00
Individual: $447,378.97
Candidate: $0.00
Steve Kubby**
LD '08: $1,280.00
Total: $2,951.22 [A typo on the candidate's filing incorrectly stated Election Cycle-to-Date contributions. The correct number is $16,219.77.]
Alden Link
LD '08: $885.00
Individual: $259.00
Candidate: $4,225.00
George Phillies
LD '08: n/a
Individual: $16,727.75
Candidate: $81,527.01
Mary Ruwart***
LD '08: $1,060.00
Individual: n/a
Candidate: n/a
Christine Smith**
LD '08: $2,460.00
Total: $16,244.00
Bob Barr (still in Presidential exploratory phase):
Total Reported by Candidate Web site: $53,163.64
Most Individual Contributions Raised: Root
Most Personal Money Contributed: Phillies
*Numbers reflect previous campaign for President in different political party
**No electronic report available. Only total available is net contributions that do not separate individual contributions and candidate contributions
***No FEC report available
^Candidate had failed to file April Quarterly Report when data was compiled
(LD '08 totals current as of May 5, 2008. FEC Filing data taken from Election Cycle-To-Date totals from candidates' April Quarterly filing. This information can be viewed at www.FEC.gov.)
On Thursday, the LP used a suggestion for its "Daily Poll" on the LP Web site. The question stayed up over the weekend, and quickly became one of the most responded to questions in recent memory. I thought the results were quite interesting, given the large response, but also more importantly, how diametric the results were. I do not wish to add commentary to the results, but simply wish to post the results for those who many not have had a chance to see them.
What type of LP presidential candidate do you want? (408 votes)
A "purist" - 30 (7%)
A long established Libertarian activist - 22 (5%)
Someone who can communicate our basic message to voters outside our party - 356 (87%)
