Dasbach’s interpretation is astonishing. The Policy Manual provided a blanket ban on ‘support’ with absolutely no qualification as to whether the support consisted of material goods or intangible services, whether it was donated or paid for, or whether or not it was reciprocated by the campaign. The claim that ‘support’ ceases to be ‘support’ if the supporter calls himself a vendor is extremely inventive. In any event, we know from Willis’s confession that he provided ample support to Browne without being paid for it.
Dasbach was the Party’s CEO. It was the National Committee’s duty to speak up if it disagreed with him. The National Committee instead remained silent, not even asking how much a campaign had to pay to transform support into non-support. Commercial rates? Non-profit rates? One dollar? One red cent? The failure of the National Committee to challenge Dasbach on his claimed interpretation is disappointing, but perhaps to be expected. As critics have noted, in 1995 most members of the National Committee were vigorous Browne supporters who may have been inclined to forgive their candidate what they viewed as an apparently minor oversight.
Ignored in much, but not all, of the ensuing debate about when ‘support’ is ‘support’ were the Party By-Laws, Article I, Section 3:
“It shall be the affirmative responsibility of…each Libertarian Party (hereafter party) officer or employee to disclose to the LNC in connection with the performance of their respective duties: (a) if such person’s own economic or other interests might conflict with the interests of the Party in the discharge of such duties, or (b) if such person’s duty to others might conflict with the interests of the Party…Any such disclosure shall be made…prior to the discharge of such duties…”
It might very well not have been in the best interests of the Party to nominate Harry Browne. By working for the Browne campaign Willis and Winter had both gained economic interests that might conflict with the Party’s interests. Willis and Winter had both perhaps gained obligations whose dutiful fulfillment might have conflicted with the Party’s interests. To the day on which this was written, neither Willis nor Winter has made any disclosure to the LNC about any possible conflict of interest between their work for the Party and their work for Browne’s 1996 campaign.
The LNC Minutes go on to explain the Browne Campaign’s original organization. “…Michael (Cloud) was asked to run Mr. Browne’s campaign; (Cloud) asked the woman Mr. Willis was living with to be the primary staffer…” Willis claimed he was not initially involved in the campaign “…except as giving some advice.” According to the Minutes, there had then been personnel changes in the Browne campaign. Cloud and Delamare left; Sharon Ayres took control.
Cloud is a Libertarian fundraiser. In 1991, he was liaison to the National Committee from Andre Marrou’s 1992 Libertarian Presidential campaign. In 1992, his connections with the Marrou campaign were terminated. Note that Cloud changed his name; records from 1991 refer to him as “Michael Emerling”. In 1994-1995 he was apparently lead staffer for the nascent Browne campaign; Sharon Ayres took over the campaign in February 1995 or so. Cloud was co-Chair of the “Project 51 in 92” PAC, which was supposed to raise large sums for ballot access petitioning, but which proved to be financially inefficient. Cloud had also by report assisted the “Project 51 in 96” PAC.
The woman was Kiana Delamare; her qualifications as a staffer are unclear. Ayres is the wife of 1984 Libertarian Presidential candidate David Bergland. Bergland was also the Party’s 1976 Vice Presidential candidate, had served in the 70s as the Party’s National Chair, and had repeatedly been involved in producing resolutions to disputes within the Party. He is also a well-known Libertarian author, whose works were distributed to new Party members. He became Browne’s Campaign co-chair and, eventually, the 1998-2000 Party National Chair.
An obscure sentence in the April LNC Minutes provided a cover story as to the nature of Willis’s winter-1995 activities for the Browne campaign. “…Mr. Willis decided to go to the next major investment conference. Sharon Ayres asked Mr Willis to write a campaign plan to be given to the people at the investment conference to try to boost their interest in ballot access.” According to documents released by John Famularo, in late May Willis billed the Browne Campaign $2000 for preparing the campaign plan. Contrary to the April LNC Minutes, Willis’s earlier payments reflected other activities, not the campaign plan.
Browne’s Summer Campaign
Browne’s May, 1995 letter was ‘Our plan to get 5% of the vote in New Hampshire. $270,000 in TV ads.’ Many Libertarians believed that Browne had promised to go to New Hampshire and campaign vigorously, seeking to duplicate and better Andre Marrou’s 1992 triumph. In 1992, for many hours Marrou led all Democrats and Republicans by virtue of having carried the vote in Dixville Notch, a small New Hampshire town whose residents all vote at the stroke of midnight, so that until the next evening the one vote total available for the media to cover is the vote from Dixville Notch.
Within a few months, the drive to contest the New Hampshire primary was dropped. $270,000 turned out to be more than Browne spent in airing TV ads in both of his Presidential campaigns combined.
