Letter from James Gillen to Wes Benedict, Executive Director of the Libertarian Party
Subject: The LP Store
Dear Wes,
As a card-carrying Libertarian, I’m glad to get notices and ads from you, but I’m sorry that I am not able to buy the election/promotional materials you advertise for the Johnson/Weld campaign. I am in fact so broke that I wasn’t able to afford the parking fee to attend the Gary Johnson event at the MGM in October, where you were handing out the materials.
In any case, I’m afraid there isn’t much to advertise. You see, I did early voting in Nevada, and I did vote for Gary Johnson. I had wanted to vote Libertarian all the way down ballot, but there was one problem: There WERE no other Libertarian candidates. For the Senate, for my Congressional District, or my State Assembly district. We DO have candidates for the Independent American Party, and they’re the guys who want the Bible taught in schools. I think that in the next series of elections, especially the midterms, you would be much better served by putting such resources you have into recruiting candidates for offices OTHER than President, so I can tell people that there are other people to vote for.
If I may make a suggestion for the immediate future: Do you have any T-Shirts or bumper stickers saying “Don’t Blame Me, I Voted For Gary Johnson”? I predict those will be VERY popular in the next 12 months.
Sincerely,
JAMES GILLEN
(UPDATE: Response from Wes Benedict:
Soon, we’ll be offering a sticker that says “Don’t blame me, I voted Libertarian”. When you see us promoting it, send me an email and I’ll send you a free one.
We’ll be encourage people to run for more Libertarian offices in 2018. This year we do have people running in 600 offices, but not many are in Nevada.
Thanks for your interest.
Wes Benedict, Executive Director Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
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Thanks, Wes!)