The Humble Libertarian original

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 22, 2012 Libertarians To Hold Presidential Debate In Orlando ORLANDO – The Libertarian Party of Florida (LPF) will host a Presidential Debate at their annual convention on Saturday, February 11, 2012 at the Embassy Suites in Orlando during the weekend-long 2012 LPF Convention. The Libertarian Presidential candidates featured in the debate are two-term New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, LP stalwart Lee Wrights, Kiowa Nation member and Afghan war veteran R.J. Harris, renowned author and documentary filmmaker Bill Still, former Texas LP chair Roger Gary, private Attorney General Carl Person, and entrepreneur Leroy Saunders. The debate will be televised live nationwide, and is open to the public. Having achieved ballot access in nearly all 50 states, the Libertarian Presidential nominee will likely have a major impact on the outcome of the 2012 general Presidential election. In a three-way contest between Democrat Barack Obama, Republican Mitt Romn...

The speculation that Ron Paul will run third party predates his rise in the Iowa polls. Talk of a Paul third party run goes back at least to the last presidential election cycle. Receiving more questions about the possibility of a third party run the Texas congressman has been consistently non-committal, typically saying he “has no plans” or “no intention” of doing so. Retiring from congress at the end of this term, Paul’s reply leaves open the door for such a run. This possibility frightens the GOP on the basis not that he would win the presidency but he would guarantee the reelection of Barack Obama. This fear is exaggerated but it serves the party’s purpose of further marginalizing Paul. Read the rest of Carl Wicklander's piece at The RevoluTimes . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

I deeply respect and admire Gary Johnson, whose two terms as Governor of New Mexico are all I need to know that he'd make a great president. It is for that reason that I am disappointed in this move : Gary Johnson will quit the Republican primaries and seek the Libertarian Party nomination instead, POLITICO has learned. The former two-term New Mexico governor, whose campaign for the GOP nomination never caught fire, will make the announcement at a press conference in Santa Fe on Dec. 28. Johnson state directors will be informed of his plans on a campaign conference call Tuesday night, a Johnson campaign source told POLITICO. The move has been expected for weeks — Johnson had run a New Hampshire-centric effort that never got him past a blip in the polls. He appeared at only two nationally televised debates, and only one in which other major candidates took part. Johnson expressed deep disillusionment with the process as his libertarian message failed to catch fire and he r...

I recently conducted an absolutely awesome interview with Tisha Casida , who is running as an Independent for the U.S. Congress in Colorado's 3rd Congressional District. Just wanted to let you know in advance that I'll be publishing it this coming week at The Independent Voter Network, and that Tisha and I are likely to record an audio interview sometime in the next few weeks because her speaking ability is powerful beyond the capacity of the printed word to relate. Keep your eye out at the Humble Libertarian next week for a link to this excellent interview. Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Green Party presidential candidate, Dr. Jill Stein, recently announced her bid for the White House in 2012, drawing attention to her outside-the-beltway views, equal and consistent criticism of both major political parties, and her "Green New Deal" plan to boost the economy and create jobs while taking action to protect the environment. I had a chance to speak with her by phone this weekend and was greeted by a voice that emanated intelligence, enthusiasm, and compassion. Though she's a Green Party candidate, over the course of our brief interview, I wanted to learn what Jill Stein might have in common with Tea Party supporters and Ron Paul Republicans. Her scathing critique of corruption and tyranny in government-- especially the machinations of the banking sector-- seem like they would resonate with many libertarian-minded individuals. It might not be a stretch to describe Jill Stein by the portmanteau "liberaltarian." Here's Jill Stein in her own words...

"Adrian Galysh is not your typical candidate for a political office. Sporting a goatee and hair down to his shoulders, this rock musician plans on shaking things up with his bid for a California State Senate seat." Read the entire article at CAIVN . W. E. Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

“I hate both parties, and can’t vote for either.” I completely empathize with that statement, and yet, I still believe in the two-party system. Here’s why. Just this past week in Michigan, a group petitioned to get a third-party “Tea Party” candidate on the ballot . The problem was – no one from Michigan’s Tea Party was behind this. Right now, it looks like the effort came from a progressive democrat group. Why? Because Democrats know that a Tea Party candidate is likely to siphon votes from the Republican side in this political climate. Now, this strategy isn’t new. It’s been done countless times before. By both parties. Republican groups worked to get Nader on tickets during “Bush v. Kerry” because of how significant a role Nader played in the “Bush v. Gore” outcome. So, the reason I believe in the two-party system is because the party I like least doesn’t want me to. My goal then becomes to reform both existing parties. Convince Republicans to take their beliefs on economic freedom...

Last night I had the privilege of interviewing Arvin Vohra, a Libertarian Party candidate for a state office; a seat in Maryland's House of Delegates. Listen here . W. E. Messamore , Editor in Chief Articles

CAIVN , a premier independent voter think tank, is excited to announce that it will soon be launching its 'Declare your Independence' video contest. If you're tired of partisan politics and would like to win an iPad & other cool prizes, we encourage you to enter our upcoming contest. Entries should be around 60 seconds, explain why you're declaring your independence, and avoid partisan attacks. We have initially posted a sample entry to provide you with a concrete example. More details, such as specific deadlines, to follow.

Over at Poli-Tea (where the goal is to "Dump the Duopoly" -the so-called two-party system in the United States), there's a great little guide to the third-party and independent blogosphere: "Certainly there are innumerable blogs devoted to third party and independent politics across the political spectrum, but taken together they lack the cohesion characteristic of the networks dedicated to pushing the Democratic and Republican Parties and the two-party system. Of course, this is to be expected as reflective of reality under the conditions of the reigning two-party state. However, the picture becomes more coherent when viewed at the individual party level, at the state and local level, or in terms of third party and independent issue advocacy. Obviously, the following guide is by no means comprehensive, and admittedly provisional. It is a first attempt at offering a window into the third party and independent political web, and is informed by my own reading habits ...

That is correct. Ralph Nader is considering a run for US Senate on the Green Party ticket, challenging Christopher Dodd in Nader's home state of Connecticut (hat tip to the Left Coast Rebel for this excellent find): "Ralph Nader says he wants to gauge the level of grass-roots support before deciding whether to make a bid to represent Connecticut in the Senate." If Ralph Nader goes through with a potential 2010 Senate bid, it could be good news for Republican contender Peter Schiff , who has already raised over a million towards a 2010 run and was definitely right about the US economy's imminent recession years before it happened, when everyone else thought the party would last forever. How incredibly iconic would it be for Peter Schiff to challenge and defeat Christopher Dodd, one of the chief architects of the bubble that popped so destructively and hurt so many Americans in the past couple years? And if Ralph Nader makes a run for it, he'll likely split a lot...