Libertarian Party of New York
Annual Convention, 1998 March 14

 

    This has been a very exciting year for our party!

Personally, I'm not all that impressed by entertainers and other celebrities declaring themselves "libertarian". What is more meaningful, politically, is that a number of politicians have switched to the Libertarian Party. I'm much more interested in Clint Eastwood as the former Mayor of Carmel joining our party.

You may have noticed that our relationship with other parties is starting to change dramatically, all across the country. The big parties are starting to regard us a force to be reckoned with. We have obtained swing votes and caused upsets, e.g. Sabrin's impact on the NJ governor race, or Libertarians forcing a runoff for U.S. Senate in Georgia.

In "fusion" states, Libertarians were elected to office by running on two or more ballot lines. (e.g. Becky Wilber in NY; state legislators in NH.)

The Libertarian Party is coming out of the minors and is poised on the doorstep of the big leagues. This could be the shape of the near future, perhaps before this century is over:

And it's just beginning. Here are some recent examples, just in New York.

You all know the pattern that is starting to emerge in these events. (It is just the tip of the iceberg. because I am impatient, after 30 years in politics, I hope that what we are hearing is the tiny warning sounds before the avalanche.)

Well, my story is different. My reason for coming before this convention is exactly the opposite of the people I mentioned above.

  • My name is Bruce Martin
  • I was both an Objectivist and a Libertarian even before John Hospers personally explained the second word to me in 1962.
  • I am a founding Charter member of the Suffolk County affiliate.
  • I ran the first Libertarian campaign in Suffolk County: Virginia Shields Walker for 1st Assembly District, against the Speaker of the Assembly, Perry Duryea.
  • Since then, I've worked on dozens of Libertarian campaigns and petition drives.
  • I've been a national Delegate, a candidate for the Judicial Committee, a County Vice Chair, a Member-at-Large of the State Committee, and so forth.
  • I petitioned and campaigned for Jim Hedbor in Vermont and Don Ernsberger in Pennsylvania.
  • I've done advance work for and escorted Roger MacBride, David Koch, Russell Means, Ron Paul, and Andre Marrou, just to name a few.
  • I arranged Nancy Lord's visit to long Island, and the escort on the Ferry ride too. (That was just before she went to NYC and her clothes were stolen!)
  • I spent many, many hours with Andre Marrou, escorting, arranging appearances, and just strategizing for the campaign.
  • I first contacted Bob Schulz, screened him on libertarian principles, and invited him to be our candidate for Governor. Later, I participated in his lawsuit, which overturned ballot access provisions and won us the right to get data from the Board of Elections (like this CD rom we just picked up). []
  • I got 8 local candidates to run in 1994, so that we could petition for them together with the governor's.
  • I reactivated our SIL chapter and got it meeting space at the college, to host the new "Long Island Liberty Coalition".
  • I now serve (temporarily) as campaign committee chair for Suffolk County, where we expect to run several candidates as Libertarians and also on other lines with fusion arrangements.

    So, why do I feel it necessary to break tradition, to be so immodest, and to list my Libertarian credentials at this time? Because I want your "blessing" to pursue an opportunity which has a realistic chance of having a candidate run on the Libertarian Party ballot line and actually get elected to the United States Congress.

    I hold in my hand some of the most important words in my life, almost as important as those of Ayn Rand. These are the words written by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence and the words of the Constitution of the United States.

    Today, I am thrilled to inform my friends and everyone here at my party's 1998 convention about the growing possibility that in early 1999 I may be asked to stand in the Well of the House of Representatives and swear or affirm to uphold these words.

    If you told me a month ago that there was even a remote possibility of this, even a 100:1 chance, I'd have said you're crazy. All I was trying to do was to find a Libertarian to run for Congress in a certain district, where the incumbent is a walking disaster, and, IMO unfit for public office.

    I thought that a Libertarian could also run as a fusion candidate with an additional line from one of the other minor parties, at least to deny that line to the incumbent in that district. I dreamed that maybe we could get a few percent on each of the two lines, maybe even reach a double-digit percentage and earn a story in LP News -- while at the same time helping Roy Innis or someone else to get 50,000 votes and lift us out of that deep hole that the Election law has kept us in for the quarter century I've been in this party.

    ????? I really had no intention of being a candidate myself. (I prefer working behind the scenes, and making things happen.) But in this case, with this particular district and its incumbent, I was so determined to accomplish this, to have some Libertarian run and also challenge the incumbent for the other minor party line, that I promised myself I wouldn't give up -- even if I had to put in my own name as a placeholder, at least until the committee on vacancies could find a more-willing candidate. (BTW, the Constitution [***] says that any qualified inhabitant of New York may run, regardless of district -- so don't assume that a candiate's address tells you what district he's trying to represent. Besides, most members of the House really live in Washington, anyway.)

    As chair of my chapter's Campaign Committee, I've been working hard to prepare for running as many local candidates as possible in 1998, to petition for LP candidates, and to arrange for primary contests in other minor parties wherever possible, while also looking for a real candidate to challenge this incumbent. I seem to have failed in that last task, so for the first time in my life I found myself seriously considering a run for office (at least to the extent that running as an LP candidatee can be called a serious run for office :-).

    That was the whole story until a few days ago, when I was approached by an official of a major party to run as the candidate that party. I said "NO". If I run, I run as a Libertarian. But I'd consider also accepting an additional endorsement from other parties. She said OK.

    This may not go anywhere. Lots of things could derail it. There will be interviews and a candidate screening. Frankly, I expect to be kicked out during screening because I will be up-front about my philosophy and my political views. I wil accentuate the positive and I'll try to cross-dress and so forth, but I won't hide. Then, there may be a primary battle. Maybe two. But stranger things have happened, and it actually could go thru. I want to be prepared, just in case.

    Today, I am announcing to the convention of my party that I am a Libertarian candidate for the House of Representatives for an unspecified district. (The district number will be announced at a later time.) While any encouragement to do so certainly is very welcome, what I am reallyu asking for is the "blessing" of this convention upon my plans to explore this opportunity -- which may lead to also seeking an additional endorsement from another party, as a "fusion" candidate.

    I have made it clear that the Libertarian ballot line is a must. (They might even help us get it.) I am a Libertatian candidate for Congress (as I just announced). I will accept additional nominations from other parties, but it will always be clear that THEY are cross-endorsing a Libertarian party candidate -- not the other way around.

    And I assure this convention that I am, always was, and always will be first a Libertarian -- even after accepting other endorsements.

    If they do nominate me, then there will be joint appearances, and that sort of thing. The press will probably describe me as part of another party, and I may not succeed in getting corrections or getting the LP name into every article. A successful fusion candidate must be cordial to his other-party running mates; that will be hard, but I'll do it. One of the first votes will be for Speaker, and the likely choice will be between Gingrich and Gephardt. I've already said I couldn't vote for their guy as Speaker. They're OK with that, as long as I promise not to vote for the other guy Problem solved.)

    Finally, I will never, ever support anything that reduces liberty. I will never support a bill that increases taxes or that expands government powers beyond those stated in Article I Section 8 -- not even in exchange for some other good bill.

    Of course, I will immediately join Ron Paul's Liberty Caucus, but I'd probably have to join the caucus of a major party. Now there's where problems will arise. Party discipline is a serious thing, and members are always pressured, for the sake of 'solidarity" or some such nonsense, to "go along".

    I won't.

    That's where I have a secret weapon: [***]. . It is this Constitution, which I will have sworn or affirmed to uphold. It, and it alone dictates what Congress may or may not do.

    So, I'm running as an uncompromising Libertarian. But, I'm receiving support from people with other agendas. (What else is new? That's politics.) I don't want to worry that my party will misconstrue my actions or my intentions, particularly when another party is dominating the campaign. Theyy will probably say things to keep their troops happy. But there are NO STRINGS attached to me.

    I ask this convention for an indication of support for my attempts to explore these opportunities and to explore various possibilities, including seeking cross-endorsements from other parties for my Libertarian candidacy for Congress.