Sorry it took so long for me to respond to this, between working on finalizing the convention schedule and getting the bus off of me. The Convention Committee voted on this because I brought it to them. Jeff Hewitt, the current Libertarian Mayor of Calimesa, California, and the new Region 4 Representative called me to pitch the idea to me. The second he said Larry Elder I said, Yes. Then I heard the cost and said “Prolly not” but find a donor and it’s on. Jeff did, and it was on. Larry Elder is a well respected media personality that has ties to the Libertarian movement going way back. It seemed like a no-brainer, and it still is. People are worried because he made some pro-trump tweets after we selected him. And? Might he ask our candidates, “Why shouldn’t you drop out of the race to better help Trump beat Hillary?” If our presidential candidates can't handle that question and others with ease, then they need to step aside and let someone else take it. If our candidates can’t answer that then maybe I should vote for Trump. I have zero concern that I will be voting for the Donald this November. I would vote for NOTA first. I have faith that our people can handle this and other questions he may ask. In fact I think I would like that question to be asked. I suspect there are others that want to keep Mr. Elder on a tight leash. The guy is a professional and leashes are just so libertarian(I think I just ticked off the BDSM caucus). That said, I get it.. people use our platform all the time and then abuse that privilege. Like all things, we need to find the balance. Let me make it clear. I did it. I brought it to the committee. I sold them on the idea. ME. Not Wes. Not the other committee members. I can throw Jeff Hewitt in there with me too. He and I made this happen. If Elder comes out of our convention still TRUMPeting the Donald’s praises, big deal. We had a big media personality moderate our debate. We didn’t shy away from the hard moderator. We can embrace it. And What IF? What if he comes out of the Debate and says he changed his mind and is voting for the Libertarian nominee? We stand to gain so much more than we have at risk. Daniel Hayes Convention Committee Complaint Department
On May 5, 2016, at 6:35 PM, Wes Benedict <wes.benedict@lp.org> wrote:
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@lp.org facebook.com/libertarians @LPNational Join the Libertarian Party at: http://lp.org/membership _______________________________________________ Lnc-business mailing list Lnc-business@hq.lp.org http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org