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As I mentioned in my INDEPENDENCE DAY edition, we all need to renew and
re-energize our efforts to return the good ol' USA to its founding
principles.
Here's a darn good place to start and a way for YOU to help...
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Dear News & Views Subscriber,
If you're like me - not to mention the Founding Fathers - you favor the
"radical" notion that the role of the federal government in our daily lives
should be strictly limited, that our tax burden should be a bare-bones
minimum and that responsible adults in society should adopt a
live-and-let-live philosophy as long as it doesn't interfere with the rights
of others.
You extremist.
Unfortunately, people like you and me are in the decided minority these
days.
For decades now, the American Left has been slowing but surely chipping
away at both the letter and spirit of our nation's Constitution and other
founding documents and principles.
But I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here.
So what can or should we do about it? Two choices.
(1) Throw up our hands, accept the inevitable defeat and just hope it doesn
't come too soon, or.
(2) Do something about it.
If I was going with #1, you wouldn't be getting this letter.
No, I'm 100% committed to fighting every day to, not just "slow down"
America's slippery slide into social liberalism, but to reverse it. And I
could use your help.
The reality of political life in these United States is that to change
public policy, you need to change public officials...period.
You cannot "lobby" folks like Hillary Clinton and Maxine Waters to change
their minds on matters of public policy. Their minds are already made up.
No amount of lobbying or pressure will change them.
The only way to change their votes IN office is to vote them OUT of office.
If you want to change public policy, you have to change public officials.
And to do that, you have to WIN elections. It's just that simple.
And to win any given election, you need, with rare exceptions, the
following four main ingredients.
A) A winnable, competitive district
B) A qualified, credible candidate
C) Competent and experienced campaign management
D) Money
Let's face it. Some districts, because of the way the lines are drawn or
the demographic make-up, just aren't winnable for limited-government
candidates. The only way to beat a socialist such as Rep. Maxine Waters of
California is to run another socialist against her in the Democrat primary.
Realistically, though, that would just be a waste of valuable time and
effort. We need to accept those things we cannot change and focus on
changing those we can.
Also, it does us no good to run clearly unqualified "paper" candidates. We
just look silly, or worse, incompetent. The solution is better, more
aggressive and pro-active candidate recruitment in targeted, winnable races.
Now, about credibility.
Like it or not, for better or worse, credibility is in the eyes of the
beholder. It doesn't matter how "credible" candidates and their supporters,
adorned in rose-colored glasses, THINK they are. What matters is what the
VOTERS and the PRESS think.
So this brings up the decades-old disagreement between members of the
Republican and Libertarian parties: Which party should constitutional,
limited-government, pro-liberty candidates register with?
Well, as much as many might wish otherwise, the fact is the Libertarians,
over the last three decades, have been decidedly unsuccessful at electing
its candidates to anything other than non-descript, non-partisan races. And
for a political party, that seriously calls into question the "credibility"
of ANY of its candidates - justified or not. That's just the reality.
There are rare exceptions, one of which I'll discuss later, but they ARE
exceptions.
So that leaves us with the Republicans.
Don't even get me started.
Yes, many are inconsistent in their support of constitutional principles.
Yes, many have spines made of Jello (if you can find one at all).
Yes, many attempt to use the levers of government to impose their own
personal views on everyone else.
However.
As a party, the fact is they have a proven ability to actually get their
candidates elected in partisan races.
And slowly but surely, more principled pro-liberty Republicans are getting
elected to the highest levels of government. Dr. Ron Paul, a former
Libertarian candidate for president, came back as a Republican and now
serves in Congress as a representative from Texas. And his "Liberty
Committee" caucus among GOP House members continues to grow.
Next we need to make sure our candidates are fully trained in the nuts &
bolts of campaigning and are provided experienced, competent campaign
management.
As you know, a well-managed campaign for a marginal candidate will beat a
poorly-managed campaign for a great candidate almost every time. We simply
cannot overlook this political reality.
And finally...money.
Money is the gas that makes a campaign go. You can have a Ferrari in the
driveway ... but without gas, it's gonna STAY in the driveway. Ditto a
campaign without sufficient money to communicate with large numbers of
voters.
Which brings me to the reason I'm writing you today.
I have two pro-liberty candidates running for the Nevada state
Legislature - one a registered Republican, the other a registered
Libertarian - who I hope you'll consider helping financially this election
cycle.
Even if you don't live in Nevada, we have to start somewhere . . . and
these two candidates are as good a place to start as anywhere.
First, the Libertarian: James Dan.
No GOP candidate filed to run in this Assembly District 28 race, so there's
no conflict with Republicans supporting Mr. Dan, who has indicated he would
caucus with the GOP on leadership votes if elected.
While this is a strong middle-class Democrat-majority district, it suffers
from historically low voter turnout, providing an opportunity for a
candidate who devotes considerable time and attention to get-out-the-vote
(GOTV) efforts.
James ran for this same seat two years ago against the Democrat incumbent
and pulled around 45% of the vote - an electoral performance that exceeded
all but two GOP challengers for the state assembly in Southern Nevada that
year. So this race is certainly competitive.
James has hired an experienced campaign management team and has been
thoroughly trained in grassroots politics.
The incumbent is not well regarded these days by members of her own caucus.
Not only did they draw her out of this district during reapportionment, but
they've also put a very credible candidate up against her in the Democrat
primary.
If any Libertarian Party candidate has a shot to actually get elected to
partisan office this year, James Dan is likely the guy who could pull it
off.
Next, the Republican: Mark Warden.
Mark ran for the Nevada state senate in 2000 as a Libertarian. At the
time, he had no campaign experience, no campaign training, no campaign
management, no campaign money . and was up against one of the most
consistent and dependable conservatives in the Nevada state legislature.
The election day result was exactly what you would have expected.
Afterwards, Mark re-registered as a Republican - just as Rep. Ron Paul
did - and is now running for an "open" state assembly seat in GOP-friendly
District 13. He faces a contested GOP primary, the winner of which is
likely to win in the general election.
Since the 2000 campaign, Mark has attended and graduated from the
Leadership Institute's "Campaign Management School," has hired a full-time,
experienced campaign manager, put together a team of competent and
experienced vendors and consultants and raised a respectable amount of
campaign "seed" money for his race.
Mark has signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge promising not to vote for
ANY tax increases and has called for a Nevada-version of the "Grace
Commission" to make recommendations for serious cuts in government
expenditures, as well as privatization.
In addition, Mark has signed the Liberty Compact, pledging to, "Promote
liberty, not restrict it; shrink government, not expand it; reduce taxes,
not raise them; abolish programs, not create them; promote the freedom and
independence of citizens, not the interference of government in their lives;
and observe the limited, enumerated powers of our Constitution, not ignore
them."
His primary opponent is a young guy who has little-to-no political or
campaign experience; who appears to have voted only once in his lifetime;
has not signed either the Taxpayer Protection Pledge or the Liberty Compact;
and appears to be a single-issue candidate.
So Mark certainly has an excellent chance to win his primary on September
3rd and, ultimately, the general election in November.
Which brings me to you...
As someone known to support the "radical" notion of limited government, I
hope you'll give serious consideration to making a contribution of $100 .
$50 . $25 ... or whatever you feel appropriate to each of these two
campaigns.
While other candidates running for high-profile races often get much more
media and financial attention, these two pro-liberty candidates have a darn
good chance to get elected and, therefore, actually begin to change public
policy from the ground up.
Please make your checks payable to either/or:
Mark Warden for Assembly 13 or James Dan for Assembly 28 ... and mail to:
The Majority Project
P.O. Box 13616
Las Vegas, NV 89112-1616
Or, if you prefer, you can go right online to each candidate's web site and
make your secure contribution using a Visa or MasterCard.
For Warden, go to: http://www.MarkWarden.com
For Dan, go to: http://www.JamesDan.com
I hope you'll join me in helping these very deserving and potentially
winning candidates by returning your most generous financial contribution
today. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely yours,
Chuck Muth
P.S. In brief: If you want to change public policy, you need to change
public officials. To do so, we need to change from the bottom up, not the
top down. And you simply can't get a better start than by supporting James
Dan and Mark Warden in their state assembly races this year in Nevada . EVEN
IF YOU DON'T LIVE IN NEVADA. We have to start somewhere. So please make
your most generous contribution today.
