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