Will the LP be on all 50 state ballots in 2004?

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Dear Libertarian,

"Will the LP be on all 50 state ballots again in 2004?"

Your response to this e-mail will help answer that question for the 
Libertarian Party. So please -- read it through, and carefully consider 
the LP's ballot access strategy.

There is a lot of good news in this E-mail, but not a lot of hype. It's 
not filled with the words Emergency! and Crisis! in big letters. This 
is a serious appeal to serious Libertarians who believe in getting our 
candidates on the ballot.

There are many wonderful organizations working for freedom in today's 
world.  The Cato Institute, the Advocates for Self-Government, the 
Reason Foundation, and many more are tirelessly working to advance the 
Libertarian ideals of individual liberty and personal responsibility. 
Many of these organizations have budgets and staffs that are much 
larger than the LP's.

But none has more influence on public policy than the Libertarian 
Party!

As the media puts it:
"The Libertarian Party has influence in today's politics dramatically 
disproportionate to the number of votes its candidates receive..."
- - Columbia (MO) Daily Tribune

"Libertarians have quietly become America's best organized and most 
significant third party."
- - Bob Ewegen, The Denver Post

"Although Libertarians are small in number, they are winning local 
seats and influencing the national agenda -- including the debates on 
Social Security and IRS reform."
- - Donald Lambro, Insight Magazine

"Libertarians are more and more driving the political debate in this 
country."
- - Larry Hicks, The York (PA) Dispatch

"The Libertarian Party today wields influence far beyond its ranks..."
- - Congressional Quarterly's Researcher.

How does the LP exert influence far beyond the size of our money and 
manpower? It's simple: leverage. The political leverage that we get 
from having hundreds and thousands of candidates. Virtually everyone 
who hears the word Libertarian for the first time hears it from a 
Libertarian Party candidate.

As Sharon Harris of the Advocates for Self-Government said:
"The LP pulled the word 'libertarian' into the public vocabulary -- and 
in doing so has changed the face of American politics ... LP candidates 
have taken libertarian ideas to many millions. The LP has elected 
hundreds of candidates to office."

The leverage of running 1,640 candidates in 2002 supercharged our media 
coverage! In the first six months of 2002, our media clipping service 
reported that the word "Libertarian" appeared in an average of about 
130 news articles per month that reached 17 million individual readers.
But in October, the height of campaign season for our army of 
candidates, the number increased six-fold to 851 articles, reaching a 
phenomenal 151,708,688 readers!

And that does not even include the hundreds more articles in weekly 
papers, the thousands of interviews and debates, and the hundreds of 
thousands of pieces of literature that our candidates use to bring more 
voters to the libertarian fold.

Without ballot access, there would be no partisan Libertarian 
officeholders.

Without ballot access, there would be no partisan Libertarians on the 
ballot at all -- which is just what the Democrats and Republicans want.

"Republicans are running scared," said the Clovis (NM) News Journal.

"How could you have targeted a disabled war veteran like Senator Max
Cleland?" asked a distressed reporter from the Columbus (GA) Ledger 
Inquirer, upset at the LP's hand in defeating the Democratic drug 
warrior.

"Republicans can't ignore the Libertarians," said the National Review
Online.

"Libertarians tipped the balance in some of the nation's excruciatingly 
close gubernatorial races this year," moaned the Weekly Standard.

Ballot access is the key to the LP's political clout. It is the 
lifeblood of the party and our candidates.

The LP is the undisputed leader in ballot access for third parties. In 
fact, with our army of candidates carrying much of the ballot access 
load, by working at it election cycle after election cycle, and by 
planning ahead:

We do our petitioning better, cheaper, and faster.

- - We have not failed on a Presidential ballot drive since 1988!

- - We are already on the ballot in 27 states in '04. Our nearest 
competitors, the Greens, are only on in 20.

- - In 2000, Pat Buchanan spent over $250,000 just to get on the ballot 
in North Carolina -- more than seven times what the LP spent for that 
state.

- - We have had an LP presidential candidate on all 50 state ballots for 
3 election cycles in a row. No other third party in US history has even 
done so twice.

- - In 2000, our pre-eminent ballot status led us to become the first 
third party since 1920 to run candidates for the US House of 
Representatives in a majority of districts nationwide. Those
256 House candidates earned 1.7 million votes -- the first time any 
party other than the Dems and Reps had exceeded 1 million votes.

- - And in 2002, we became the first third party since 1920 to run 
candidates for at least 10% of state legislative races. Here again, our 
candidates earned more than 1 million votes.

As Sharon Harris put it:
"The LP -- more than any other organization -- has smashed the Iron 
Curtain of discriminatory ballot access laws that have choked 
alternative politics in America for half a century."

Our dedication to ballot access is what made those achievements 
possible.

Will the Libertarian Party remain the preeminent champion of ballot 
access and third party politics? Or will we relinquish that title to 
some other party -- like the Greens?

Your contribution will answer that question.

Most states don't need help in getting on the ballot. In states such as
Louisiana, all the LP has to do is remain an organized party to be able 
to run candidates at all levels. But in Oklahoma, we must collect 
enough signatures to equal 5% of the previous total vote for Governor. 
In 2000, we had to collect more than 98,000 signatures to meet the 
requirement.

We do expect our state parties to do their share of their ballot drive 
before we step in to help. So we created the 35/35 rule. Our rule of 
thumb is that the state LP must be prepared to collect at least 35 
volunteer signatures and/or dollars per party member. The Oklahoma LP 
only has about 150 members. To put themselves on the ballot without 
outside help, every single member of the Oklahoma LP would have to 
collect more than 650 signatures -- a nearly impossible requirement.

Here are the states that need help in 2003.

Ohio needs 32,290 valid signatures by December 31.
Oklahoma needs 50,179 valid sigs.
Alabama must have 40,938.
West Virginia calls for 12,963.
Arkansas needs 10,000 signatures to put partisan LP candidates on the 
ballot.

To make up for the inevitable invalid signatures from people who turn 
out to not be legally registered, we'll have to collect about a quarter 
of a million "raw" signatures to meet these requirements.

The year before the presidential race is the most important in the 4-
year ballot access cycle.  2003 is the year that we must get most of 
our biggest drives out of the way -- drives that are simply way too big 
for the state parties to handle on their own.

We must start our largest drive, Oklahoma, immediately to finish it 
before winter weather sets in. Delaying this drive so that it is 
completed in 2004 will lead to BIG increases in costs.

The bottom line: we must raise $70,000 immediately to start Oklahoma 
and finish Ohio quickly. To complete the rest of these 6 crucial drives 
before winter weather sets in, we'll need to raise an additional 
$160,000 this year. We may also have to assist drives in South Dakota, 
North Dakota, and other states as well.

Why is it so important to get these drives started now, and completed 
this year?

Three reasons: money, money, and money.

1. We can get the drives done cheaper this year, because it is the "off 
season" for petitioners.

A dollar spent on ballot access this year can buy up to two signatures.

A dollar spent on ballot access next year, when competition really 
heats up for the limited number of professional petitioners available, 
may only buy a half of a signature -- or less.

There's better cost control on a drive when it's done early. You can 
keep better track of validity, and use just the best, most cost-
effective petitioners. If you are up against the deadline, it is very 
easy to collect too many signatures at the very end of the drive and 
end up buying thousands of signatures you don't need.

The cost difference in doing a drive early and right, versus scrambling 
to meet a looming deadline, can be enormous. With plenty of lead-time, 
we completed the 2000 drives in Alabama and Ohio for 67 cents per 
signature. In Arizona, doing the drive at the last minute cost us $2.87 
per sig -- more than 4 times more.

2. By starting early, we can avoid the problem that nearly cost us 50-
state ballot status in 2000 -- the Oklahoma summer snowball.

We started the 2000 Oklahoma drive in mid-1999, but we didn't have the 
cash to finish the job that year.

BIG MISTAKE!

By the time we had raised the funds to continue, the Natural Law, 
Green, and Reform Parties were all petitioning as well -- upping the 
competition and costs for petitioners and locations.

As the drive dragged on into late spring of 2000, we even had to 
compete with ourselves for petitioners. To finish Oklahoma before its 
deadline, we had to rob petitioners from the Illinois drive and the 
other states we could not legally start until 2000.

Having robbed Illinois' petitioners to get Oklahoma done in time 
created a snowball effect.  We barely finished Illinois right at its 
deadline as well, upping the cost yet again. The snowball rolling 
through Illinois kept us from moving our petitioners into the next 
states on schedule, putting us behind everywhere.

This "Oklahoma summer snowball" meant we were playing catch-up for the 
rest of the summer, shoving us against an avalanche of deadlines and 
jacking up the cost of every single drive.

With enough early funding Oklahoma could have been done for 70 cents or 
so per signature. Instead, we spent $1.33 per signature -- twice as 
much -- for a total of $130,953.37.

But at least we made it: the Natural Law Party spent more than $100,000 
in Oklahoma, and failed to make the ballot. The Greens also failed.
Our other 2000 drives also cost many tens of thousands more than they 
should have -- all because of the Oklahoma summer snowball.

3. By getting these very difficult drives out of the way now, we'll 
have more money available for advertising next year.

In 2000, ballot access consumed most of our funds from January through
August -- more than half a million dollars in all.

By the time we had put Libertarian candidates on all 50 ballots, we had 
less than a quarter million dollars left for advertising for the rest 
of the campaign season.

The vote totals for all of our army of Libertarian candidates suffered 
for it.

We can do better than that for 2004. By getting all of the difficult 
drives out of the way this year, we can save many tens of thousands of 
dollars, and spend our money next year supporting our candidates with 
advertising.

Plus, as any LP state chair will tell you, it is much easier to recruit 
candidates once ballot access is assured. By getting ballot access out 
of the way early, we'll have more time to recruit more candidates -- to 
further leverage our dollars and earn even more free media next year.

Your donation will make our decision.

Will we continue to be the absolute champions of ballot access and 
third party politics?

Or will we take a step back and let some other party like the
Greens take our place?

50-state status hangs in the balance.

It's in your hands right now.

I know the Democrats and Republicans would like to see us fail. So 
would the Greens.

They'd like a free ride without Libertarian challengers.

Do you want to see another army of Libertarian candidates on the ballot 
in all 50 states for 2004? I hope so, because it's what real political 
parties do. I'm personally committed to 50-state status for the 
Libertarian Party in 2004. I hope you'll demonstrate your commitment to 
our candidates with a generous gift to our ballot access fund. 

To avoid the mistakes of 2000, we must raise $70,000 to start Oklahoma 
immediately, and put Maryland, Ohio, and Alabama on the road to 
completion. We need an additional $160,000 to accomplish all of our 
2003 ballot access goals.

Can you be a petitioning patriot, and make a contribution of $1,776?

A donation of $1,000 will make you a true ballot access hero, as well 
as make you a Life Member of the Libertarian Party.

$500 will buy as many as 1,000 signatures.

$100 will make you a minuteman on the front lines for freedom.

Or perhaps a monthly pledge of $10, $20, $50, or $100 would better suit 
your budget.

Your contribution, in any amount, will make a difference. When you 
help, we get the job done. Can we count on you?

Please visit 
http://www.lp.org/contribute?prog=ballotaccess2003&fund=2003-0050 and 
make your best contribution right now.

On behalf of our army of Libertarian candidates, thank you.

Yours for freedom,

Ron Crickenberger
Political Director
Libertarian Party National Headquarters


PS: Better - Cheaper - Faster. That's how we get the ballot access job 
done when you give us the resources.

We haven't failed on a presidential ballot drive since 1988. But we 
have spent way too much on way too many drives by not having the 
resources to get them done early.

Let's not make the mistakes of the past again. Instead, let's make 2003 
a year of ballot access success, and 2004 the year we bring the 
Libertarian message to America with more advertising and candidates 
than ever before.

When it comes to ballot access:

Success this year means success next year.
Success now means much lower costs.
Success now means more advertising next year.
Success now means more candidates next year.
Success now means more media next year.

Doesn't everyone in the country deserve the chance to vote for the 
freedom and prosperity that the Libertarian Party represents?

Don't we have a duty to bring them that choice?

Will you give your best possible donation for ballot access today at 
http://www.lp.org/contribute?prog=ballotaccess2003&fund=2003-0050?  
Thank you.


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