Libertarian says Mitt not fit to serve

GOP ACTIONS UN-AMERICAN

Wilkes-Barre, PA—Lou Jasikoff, former Chair for the Pennsylvania Libertarian Party, blasted today’s challenge brought by the establishment Pennsylvania Republican Party to keep Libertarian presidential candidate Gov. Gary Johnson from appearing on the November ballot as patently un-American. “Every registered Republican in the state of Pennsylvania should hang their head in shame over their party leadership’s actions,” Jasikoff commented. “We have men and women fighting and dying all over the world in the name of democracy and yet it is easier for an Independent to get on the ballot in Russia or Iraq than right here in Pennsylvania. The American public is sick and tired of these same old political games. For the Republican Party to trample the very cornerstone of our democracy is an affront to our military, our Constitution, and every fair minded voter,” said Jasikoff. Jasikoff continued, “I call on all Independents, Tea Partiers, and conservative talk show hosts to halt all support for Pennsylvania Republican candidates until they publicly denounce the PAGOP's most recent actions. Forget the Health Care Bill, balanced budgets, or deficit fights, what does it matter if the candidates you are supporting cannot decry the most basic of all rights which is the ability to appear on the ballot and for voters to have a choice.” “The Republican Party is already attempting to suppress the voter turnout in Pennsylvania, and now they want to make sure they do not have to compete in the arena of ideas as well. We cannot allow the PAGOP to use the courts and dirty tricks from keeping Libertarians from appearing on the November ballot,” added Jasikoff. Jasikoff concluded, “I call on Mitt Romney himself to show some backbone and exhibit that he really stands for the Constitution, the military, and freedom of voter choice, not by what he says, but by the actions he takes. If he does not step up and denounce this this cowardly action taken by the PAGOP then he himself is complicit with such actions and is not fit to serve in public office.

Libertarian Candidate makes the PA US Senate race

 Meet Rayburn Smith, a retired postal worker from Clarion County who is running as a libertarian. He collected enough signatures to appear on the November Pennsylvania ballot, although they are being challenged by the state Republican Party.

I have invited both Mr. Smith's to Blogfest.

Gary Johnson for President

Libertarians Tap Johnson as Presidential Candidate

Judge James P. Gray picked for Vice-Presidential slot

Wilkes-Barre, PA—At its National Convention this past weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Libertarian Party nominated former two-term Governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson as its Presidential candidate and California Judge James P. Gray as his Vice-Presidential running mate according to Lou Jasikoff, delegate at the convention and former Chair of the Pennsylvania Libertarian Party.

A successful businessman, Johnson first ran for office in 1994, when he beat all odds and was elected as Republican Governor of heavily Democratic New Mexico. Prior to his election, Johnson built one of the state's largest construction companies, amassing over 1000 employees. As Governor he cut taxes fourteen times, while never raising them. He vetoed over 750 bills, with a mere two vetoes being overridden, and upon his departure New Mexico was one of only four states in the country to have achieved a balanced budget.

Johnson retired from public office in 2003 after being term-limited to eight years. He is an avid skier, adventurer, and bicyclist and has climbed the highest peak on four of the seven continents, including a successful ascent of Mount Everest. He has promised to submit to Congress a balanced federal budget in 2013, necessitating an unprecedented year-over-year reduction in federal outlays.

Judge James P. Gray is a highly regarded jurist who served on California's Orange County Superior Court from 1989 to 2010. In 2009, the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Orange County named its annual “Judge of the Year” award after Judge Gray.

Jasikoff beamed, “The Libertarian Party has arrived not only on the national scene but also in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Locally the Libertarian Party will be running candidates in state assembly races where there is currently only one candidate on the ballot, and in addition, Betsy Summers will be the Libertarian candidate for State Auditor. We must have competition in politics and the Libertarian Party will provide viable choices to voters in Pennsylvania as well as throughout the Union.”

                                                                                 

Libertarians and others in town

The PA Libertarian Party Convention is being held this weekend at the FM Kirby Center it is also being billed as Restoring Freedoms with speakers from other points of view.

I stopped by and the first thing I see is a guy wearing a NRA tee shirt with a handgun strapped to his belt. Oh boy. I didn't engage the young man but it reminded me of the time I ran into a similar situation a few years ago when I was in a restaurant and somebody came in packing a gun in plain sight. I asked him why he would do such a thing? He responded "because that is my right." I said it's also probably your right to ride a pogo stick into church but do you really want to do that. Cooler heads got in between us so the incident didn't get out of hand.

I ran into a few friends including my lifelong pal Green Party activist Carl Romanelli.. I reminded everyone that the most dangerous place in a room is the space between Carl and a microphone. He is scheduled to speak for 20 minutes tomorrow and he said they have a trap door set in case he goes over the time allotted. It was a pleasure to see Doreen Shutz again. She is  passionate and committed to the Libertarian cause.

It was great fun talking with "recovering politician" Dr. David Madeira who was accompanied by one his daughters. We discussed the latest manufactured controversy over the stay at home mom thing and it if is  worse that a 10 year old boy ate dog meat or a a 36 year old man strapped a dog to the top of his car for a 10 hour trip. Dave is now a radio host on 94.3 The Talker who has a better time slot than he started with. M-F 9-Noon. His website lists Gort42 as my favorite liberal blogger. I will return the favor and get him back on the blogroll.

The headliner was 2 term New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson who is running for President on the Libertarian ticket.. I got a chance to talk with him and asked how he got excluded from the Republican Presidential debates. He explained that he needed to get over the 1% threshold in the national polls but the pollsters didn't include him last year in their surveys. In a CNN survey 8 months later  he got 2% polling ahead of Huntsman and Cain but they still kept him out.The networks decided a  pizza guy is more entertaining than a 2 term Governor. Cable news is entertainment.

Below is a pic of  Governor Gary Johnson  with event organizer Lou Jasikoff

Gary Johnson for President

2 term New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson is the headliner of the PA Libertarian Party Convention starting Friday at the Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre. Johnson started off running for the Republican Presidential nomination but the networks decided he wasn't a serious candidate and excluded him from those very entertaining debates. How they decided that the pizza guy was more credible than a 2 term Governor is beyond me.

The Libertarian confab is also being billed as the Restoring Liberty celebration with speakers addressing the legacy of Dr. King and a Green Party perspective on ballot access.

A couple of agenda's have been posted

Libertarian State Convention 2012 - April 20th - April 22nd

RESTORING FREEDOMS SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

This is confusing and dilutes the identity of the convention just like trying to turn a political event into something else.

A Ron Paul Bus trip is scheduled for Sunday.

Some music is scheduled with IDOL Contestant Krista Branch , Justin Haigh and more. Some of the other speakers include Lou Jasikoff, Robert Mansfield, Betsy Summers, Dave Madeira and Carl Romanelli.

I hear that Betsy Summers will be running for PA Auditor General again but not have heard that any Libertarians or Greens will contesting the Congressional or State Rep races. In 2010 3 Libs made a run for State Rep locally.