May 2016 - Lnc-business - Moellman Enterprises Email

I predict 48 state ballot access
by Wes Benedict 12 May '16

12 May '16

Dear LNC: I predict 48 state ballot access. That's if we work very hard from now until the end. If we slack off even slightly, it will be more like 46. It's going to take a major paid petitioner recruiting effort to hit 50. I'm going to put out a very strongly worded call for new people to help petition in several states. We need to hire 20 paid petitioners ASAP. If you don't believe me, ask Joshua Katz how many signatures we have collected in Connecticut, and when the start date of that petition was. When did we approve funds for Ohio? Quite some time ago. I just got a contract today (I'm about to countersign) from the petitioner we planned to hire weeks ago. Ask Bill Redpath how many signatures we've collected in Illinois, when we started, and when the deadline is. The LNC hasn't spent a dime in Illinois yet. They haven't collected enough to need the money. Part of that is good, because their local fundraising has gone very well. But their rate of collection so far is far below what's needed to finish on time. Ask Carla Howell how many signatures have been turned in, in Pennsylvania. Make sure she clarifies how many have actually been "turned in" versus ones we think are in people's hands out there. We get burned by imaginary overestimates of signatures in hand all the time. We actually have the funds to pay for this now, thanks to strong performance from recent fundraising letters and lots of new dues-paying members. I don't think we have enough to pay for summer states yet, like Massachusetts or New York, but hopefully we will after our convention if things go well. What I really need are new workers, and I need the LNC, the Chair, and Staff, to focus on getting these new petitioners on the ground in the states where they are needed, and to get the forms and instructions in their hands. I've discussed this with Bill Redpath, Carla Howell and Bob Johnston. I need the LNC to let us focus on this. There's a chance we'll need to increase some ballot access budgets. If so, when appropriate, I'll need the LNC to approve those. It's not certain we'll have to increase budgets in all states though. Now for the good news. South Dakota, which was supposed to be done last October, is 98% complete. I showed you graphs and charts of progress in Oklahoma along the way. I told you we're 98% in South Dakota because I know the actual numbers. The fact that I can't report detailed numbers to you on the other states should be a warning sign right there. I don't like sharing bad news or telling you we let things reach the urgent state. But I haven't seen anyone else share this news publicly. I keep hearing "we're going to be on the ballot in all 50 states." I don't want failure to get on 50 to be a surprise that only a few of us saw coming. We can get 50, if we do what it takes, instead of other time-burning things. -- Wes Benedict, Executive Director Libertarian National Committee, Inc. 1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314 (202) 333-0008 ext. 232, wes.benedict(a)lp.org facebook.com/libertarians @LPNational Join the Libertarian Party at: http://lp.org/membership

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The Confessions of Congressman X
by Scott L. 12 May '16

12 May '16

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Libertarian Presidential Nominees to be on Glenn Beck's radio show next week?
by Scott L. 10 May '16

10 May '16

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Incumbents vs challengers
by Scott L. 10 May '16

10 May '16

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Letter to all of the Presidential candidates
by Nicholas Sarwark 09 May '16

09 May '16

Dear All, Attached is a letter that I have sent to all of the Presidential candidates. Rather than ask for a commitment to a particular contract, I have asked that they commit to some core provisions we would like to have our nominee agree to. Yours in liberty, Nick

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Larry Elder to moderate convention debate
by Wes Benedict 08 May '16

08 May '16

The Convention Committee has chosen Larry Elder to serve as the moderator of the Libertarian Party presidential debate, March 28, at our national convention in Orlando. Mr. Elder, a long-time radio and television host, is an interesting choice. Not everyone was for it. He's been a fairly strong supporter of libertarian principles on many issues over the years, and voted for Libertarian Harry Browne for President in 2000. However, when it comes to foreign policy, he's been rather hawkish, and he voted for Bush in 2004. Some would also have differences with Elder on some civil liberties issues. Mr. Elder has recently tweeted positive comments about Donald Trump. I should note that, once it became clear on May 3rd that Donald Trump would be the Republican nominee, our new dues-paying memberships at https://www.lp.org/membership started skyrocketing, and people were leaving negative comments about Trump. We're picking up a lot of the anti-Trump folks, and I don't want people to mistakenly associate Libertarians with Trump. On one hand, you might think we shouldn't invite someone like Elder to our convention, and find someone more consistently supportive of the Libertarian Party. On the other hand, the Republican and Democratic nominees routinely face hostile debate moderators. I wouldn't call Mr. Elder a hostile interviewer. He might be tough on some issues, but I'm confident our candidates can handle it. Mr. Elder was recruited by a Libertarian who also found a donor to cover the entire cost of having Mr. Elder attend. I point that out because I know that some of our members would be upset if they thought their contributions were helping to fund Mr. Elder's participation in our convention. The decision was not mine. I just want to let people know in advance, so it's not a big surprise to everyone at the last minute. Finally, I encourage all of our candidates for President to be prepared for tough questions, especially on foreign policy, and be prepared to knock them out of the park! You can purchase a ticket to the debate for $20 here: http://libertarian.nationbuilder.com/register See you in Orlando! Thanks, -- Wes Benedict, Executive Director Libertarian National Committee, Inc. 1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314 (202) 333-0008 ext. 232, wes.benedict(a)lp.org facebook.com/libertarians @LPNational Join the Libertarian Party at: http://lp.org/membership

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Re: [Lnc-business] Larry Elder to moderate convention debate
by Scott L. 07 May '16

07 May '16

_______________________________________________ Lnc-business mailing list Lnc-business(a)hq.lp.org http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org

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online daily donor count up
by Wes Benedict 07 May '16

07 May '16

Our number of online donors at LP.org increased significantly the past few days. The graph below is from LP.org/membership and LP.org/contribute. It doesn't include other donation pages like https://www.lp.org/ballotfund (there are several others) that have also seen increases. I think the mostly likely reason is recent Trump developments, but it could be the weather: http://www.examiner.com/article/libertarian-party-sees-spike-registration-a… -- Wes Benedict, Executive Director Libertarian National Committee, Inc. *New address: 1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314* (202) 333-0008 ext. 232, wes.benedict(a)lp.org facebook.com/libertarians @LPNational Join the Libertarian Party at: http://lp.org/membership

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update on 2018 convention plans
by Alicia Mattson 06 May '16

06 May '16

Obviously, the Convention Oversight Committee is pretty busy right now. Not only is it peak season for the 2016 details, but we're also hoping to wrap up the 2018 New Orleans contract before the end of the term. I wanted to give you an update on a matter that the LNC discussed in Phoenix when we made the 2018 site selection. I relayed to our search agent the board's interest in trying to get wi-fi in the convention hall for delegates to use. She was able to negotiate a contract clause for 2018 which says if we use the hotel's in-house A/V provider, we'll get free wi-fi for up to 600 connections in the main hall. That's a high-value concession that I thought you'd be pleased to hear. We often, but not always, use the in-house A/V company. A/V is one of the largest cost categories for our events, and it sometimes pays to shop around. Obviously for 2018, the value of the in-house wi-fi concession will have to be factored into the consideration of any competing bids from outside vendors. -Alicia

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Re: [Lnc-business] Mary Matalin switches to the LP?
by Scott L. 06 May '16

06 May '16

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