Instead of providing an answer, the campaign attacked its scapegoat. In the April 24th LibertyWire, Perry Willis wrote: “Our fundraising has been declining since Jacob Hornberger began his latest series of attacks against Harry Browne and the LP leadership…Unfortunately, our good name within the LP has been damaged to the point where the good will of a significant segment of…
Posts published in “Libertarian Party”
Chapter Fourteen Browne’s Campaign Went Broke, It Claimed April 2000 On April 24, 2000, the Browne Campaign made a surprise announcement: It was out of cash, with $83,343 in bills it could not pay. If Party members did not open their checkbooks, the campaign would have to shut its doors. Either the Browne campaign got a serious cash infusion immediately,…
We are in receipt of a letter from Larry Gillis of Florida announcing that he is running for one of the vacant At-Large Seats on the Libertarian national Committee. He writes: Dear Steve [Nekhaila]: Depending entirely on the actual needs of the Party, I would appreciate being considered to fill one of the two current vacancies on the LNC. I…
Hornberger also sent a letter to the FEC. The letter included the key phrase that the letter was not a complaint. As released to the public, it was also not notarized. The FEC has extremely specific rules about what it may act on as a complaint (You can find them for yourself at www.fec.gov.). Under FEC regulations, Hornberger’s letter was…
As written in the early 2000s. To the author, the FEC responses appear to be pro forma assurances to the public that if a person broke Federal Election Campaign Laws, that person would potentially be subject to legal action. From the broad wording used by their spokesman, it is not clear that there was a specific intent by the FEC…
Chapter Thirteen Refusing to File March 2000 In March, campaign income plummeted from February’s $118,500 to less than $75,000. Despite a further loan from the candidate, the Browne campaign was very nearly broke. Only $6302 was on hand at the month’s end. The Browne Campaign responded with a new fundraising gimmick, a prospective lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission. I…
February 2000 Spending followed much the same lines as January. Spending on the campaign’s associates rose to $32,083, but spending on their firms fell to $5176. Other major expense lines came to $46,484, with total spending of $115,895. February saw the addition of another associate, Robert Brunner, with expenses for travel, supply, and salary. Spending for people associated with the…
In the end, Sun Tzu’s advice turned out to be in the best interests of the Campaign, though not necessarily in the best interests of the Party. The Browne Campaign ran its candidate. Browne fought for delegates all the way to the 2000 Libertarian National Convention, held in Anaheim, CA over the Independence Day weekend. Browne won the nomination. What…
Pietro Salvatore Geraci has announced that he is a candidate for election to the Libertarian National Committee, which currently has two open At-Large positions. He writes us: I’m declaring my candidacy to fill one of the vacant at-large positions on the LNC. I believe we need to prioritize fundraising and memberships and cut down on drama in the public list.…
How did the Browne campaign survive these failures? Membership recruitment was said to be a task for the National Party. Failure to recruit members was a failure of the National Party, not the Browne Campaign. To his credit, Browne repeatedly urged Libertarians to support Project Archimedes, so these failings lay not on his shoulders but on the shoulders of his…