Good evening Ed! Ed Fischang wrote to everyone...
> http://www.chuckmuth.com/ > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > "Taunting the Libertarian Bull" > by Chuck Muth > December 26, 2004 I read this through, in its entirity, and this is perhaps one of the most stellar reflections on Washington State politics that I have seen in a very long while. The Libertarian Party of Washington has played a tremendous role in forcing the GOP in Washington to reflect upon itself in a way that no other force has been able to do. When Slade Gordon lost four years ago, due to the presence of a Libertarian candidate that denied him the election, that fact was not made widely known. It appears to be happening all over again this year, with Dino Rossi perhaps losing by less than 200 votes, while the LP candidate captured thousands of votes that would have easily put him over the top! I wish there was a way to make this point clear to each and every GOP voter who believed the crap that they were voting for the lesser of two evils! The GOP leadership in Washington State ought to be shaken to the core right now after losing two tremendously important elections, due only to the presence of Libertarian candidates denying them victories, and business as usual! I 'almost' did that here in this year's State election in Idaho. In Bonner County, Idaho, there was a dead tie vote between Eric Anderson (R) and Steve Elgar (D) -- I kid you not. My vote total was only 810 votes in this three-man race. However, Boundary County tipped the balance and still gave Eric the edge, an edge enough to win with a razor's edge and keep the GOP in control of Region I. A lot of GOP money and resources went into all of that, at the very last minute to pull that off, but the point is, it almost didn't work! It did, only marginally. That's about ALL I can, or will say about this election. We're NOT the Washington State LP, in Idaho, far from it. We don't even have a statewide LP presence in idaho anymore. That's why I am backing off big time in the next election cycle here. I probably, or at least, most likely won't have anything to do with running or supporting LP candidates in a local election here next time. The current leadership in the LP of Idaho has become largely counter productive to Party growth. It is the ONLY political Party that I have witnessed in recent times that refuses: 1. To support it's own candidates for public office; 2. Has disenfranchized large segments of this state from having anymore to do with it (even former Party leaders who have opted out and joined the GOP); 3. The currrent LP of Idaho Party leadership has become zilch! 4. Hostility toward the current leadership (admittedly some of which has come from me because I believe it is certainly most deserving) precludes anything even remotely funtional in this State for the next several years at least. In spite of all the above negatives, I will keep my membership in the national party active, and hopefully work toward eventually resolving this stinking mess that the LP is in currently in Idaho. I wish 'Taunting the Libertarian Bull' in Idaho was practical today. We appear rather to have become the laughing stock of the local media, and hardly in a position over the next few years to regain all of the strength we lost in such a short time span. I can't imagine, for instance, strong LP leaders emerging in north Idaho again, at least not until the current leadership has been removed, and how that might happen is anyone's guess. Kindest regards, Frank _______________________________________________ Libnw mailing list Libnw@immosys.com List info and subscriber options: http://immosys.com/mailman/listinfo/libnw Archives: http://immosys.com/mailman//pipermail/libnw
