So two weeks ago Tyler Nixon announced here that Mike Castle was running for Congress and that he supports him. No surprise there. Then Delawaredem references that post in Around the Horn a couple days ago and throws off the comment that he'd like to know what I think. I answered and explained why I'm not supporting Castle (or Biden). Then Eric Dondero of Libertarian Republican drops by, sees my answer to DD's post, goes back to find Tyler's original post, and suddenly we have Delaware's Top Libertarian Endorses Republican Mike Castle of US Senate Political Stunner!!!! And in the process, Delawareliberal even gets a mention in passing at Libertarian Republican. I know they will be so proud. Several observations are important in this: 1) Despite Eric's connections to Delaware he somehow misses the fact that Tyler was a fusion Republican/Libertarian candidate in 2008, and that Tyler--while possessed of strong libertarian credentials--has been a registered Republi...

Caught in the tender clutches of United Airlines returning from Colorado I did not see the following comment at Delawareliberal by Libertarian 19th District State Senate candidate Wendy Jones until late last night--too late to make any reasoned response before falling asleep. Here is the part that Wendy wrote which is most problematic for me: “polio” – can you be sure it’s just polio if it’s the State that mandates it? Should it perhaps be a better idea that educating on the pros & cons rather than sticking a needle willy-nilly into your child filled with whatever they decide to tell you is in it? What if, through viral gene replacement technology, for instance, thought patterns & personalities could (& even might be) changed to eliminate “undesirables”, for instance, & ensure a dull, compliant populace? Mandated by the State? These statements are troubling for a variety of reasons. For the sake of intellectual consistency I need to parse them out, despite the fact [p...

Back to Gandhi: First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. Libertarian thought is emerging--one might even say oozing out around the edges--into the political discourse these days. One reason, I suspect [and hope], is that Libertarians are becoming more and more willing to stand up and confront social conservatives, who were never really small-government advocates, and who have proven [at least the political leaders] to be quite willing to use both force and fraud not only to maintain their hold on power, but to remove essential civil liberties from the American people. Or maybe--as Robert Heinlein would have put it--we're just in the silly season . But when you see Libertarianism used in such throwaway fashion as the NYT does here: No one really knows what to call the 150-pound pig roaming free in Panama City, Fla., but by eluding the authorities for five months, shaking off a Taser and four tranquilizer darts on Tuesday, the porker has beco...

No secret that DelDem and I have our issues, but it would be churlish of me not to acknowledge his classy cross-party endorsement of 19th District Libertarian State Senate candidate Wendy Jones over at Delawarelibera l: You know, I am now rooting for Wendy Jones to win this race. It would be something. A shot in the arm for Libertarians, a death blow to conservative Democrats and Republicans a like. This country and state need an honest and strong opposition party, and the Republicans are neither. It is time for the Libertarians to rise. DD also joined me (I can't find the link right this second) in noting that Polly ADAMS Mervine's campaign website was--charitably--a bit short in the issues department. Thank you, DelawareDem, for this statement of support for a new multi-party system. Who says we cannot find agreement in the Delaware blogosphere? Although I don't really think kavips' call for a blogosphere political party is going to take off anytime soon.

When I ran my original post about 19th District Libertarian State Senate candidate Wendy Jones , at least one of my regular commenters carped that she had a rather mediocre to non-existent record of public service or public policy experience [discounting her work with 2nd Amendment groups, LGBT groups, and the Sussex Mobility Consortium]. But now that I see Democrat ["Don't I look a lot like Sarah Palin"] Polly ADAMS Mervine's resume from her campaign website, I get it completely : Family: Husband S. Jay Mervine, Pilot, American Airlines Marine Capt. Desert Storm Son Stephen J. Mervine, Jr., 9th grade Sussex Tech Graduate Eagles Nest Christian Academy Greenwood Mennonite School Occupation: Co-owner Fauxbulous FX, Inc. Previous 2nd grade teacher North Laurel Elementary School Previous English teacher All Nippon Airways in Okinawa, Japan Education: Elementary Education Teach...

From Jim Rash, Chair of the Libertarian Party of Delaware: The Libertarian Party of Delaware is proud to announce that Gwendolyn (Wendy) Jones will run for the 19th Senate District in the special election to be held August 3rd on the Libertarian Party ticket. Wendy is looking forward to representing the people of the 19th District and bringing a new spirit of liberty to Legislative Hall. An active member of the Libertarian Party for almost 20 years, Wendy is a member of the LPD Executive Committee and currently serves as the LPD Sussex County Secretary. She is a strong supporter of individual rights and, as a long time small business owner, will work to restore free-market entrepreneurship, creating jobs for Delawareans. Her support of the Second Amendment is evidenced by being an NRA member for about 25 years, currently holding a Life-Endowment level membership. She is also a Gun Owners of America member and she is the Delaware representative for Pink Pistols. She carries a well worn ...

Longtime Sussex County Libertarian activist Wendy Jones has declared for what I guess has to be called the Thurman Adams memorial family-owned State Senate seat , and attended the candidate forum hosted by SCCOR along with GOPer Joe Booth. Here are the reviews from the SCCOR discussion site regarding how well the audience thought she did: The libertarian (candidate?) had more open and honest responses instead of a lot of sound bite monitoring and party-line bullcrap that Mr. Booth's answers resembled. ... "Wendy" Jones, the Libertarian candidate, for I believe she is running, I thought she did a GREAT job. I wish I lived in that district so I could vote. It's not fair. Wendy would have my vote in a heartbeat. Regardless of her political experience, I felt she represented MY opinions very well. ... I liked most of Wendy's answers too...the delivery wasn't great...doesn't bother me but it could hurt her chances. ... Wendy had better "lines" but th...

Some insider baseball: last year, during the controversies dogging the national Libertarian Party following the nomination of Bob Barr for President and the continuing party infighting (that in part I reported here), I advocated that the Libertarian movement could only benefit from having State parties contemplate disaffiliation. I even argued that some State parties might choose instead to affiliate with the Boston Tea Party. I don't disagree with my assessment of the national Libertarian Party, which I view more than ever as something of a lost cause, but I have come to realize that the BTP is not going to do anything either. However, at that time I wrote a post on a BTP blog in which I said I had discussed with leaders of the Libertarian Party of Delaware the possibility of disaffiliating with national and going over to the BTP. Here's the problem: I should have said that I met with some Libertarian leaders in Delaware or that I met with some leading Delaware libertarian...

Dana Garrett was an outstanding and gracious host, and we had a great discussion. George Donnelly says I say, "Ahhh" too much, which is certainly true. Half an hour is not a long time, but the Children's Theater of Delaware was waiting in the wings. You can listen to it here . My only real regrets: not mentioning the Libertarian Party of Delaware's great candidates like Mark Parks and Tyler Nixon, but, hey, Tyler was on a competing radio station at the same time, so he can get his own damn publicity.

I'm behind on my reading and posting, so I have kept letting this post by Waldo slip back in the "to do" pile, but I can't let it languish there forever. He raises the critical point, "Where are the compassionate conservatives now?" : One of the orthodoxies of conservatism for a long time has been that we can confidently cut off governmental funding to the homeless and hungry because back in the day private initiative and churches and charities took care of all that and we all did just fine, and given the chance, they will again- aided, of course by faith-based initiatives money from the feds and exemption from the civil rights laws. Well, we can all see that in the tanking market situation individuals, churches and charities are hurting too. As the need goes up, their ability to meet it is declining. You can read your local version of the story in your hometown paper. Even the Gates Foundation has reduced its grant-making plans for next year and the only p...

The Libertarian Party of Delaware has been achieving a higher statewide profile these days, thanks to an increasing number of people willing to identify themselves publicly as Libertarians. The latest is a letter to the editor in today's News Journal : After reviewing the election results for state offices, is there a Republican Party in Delaware? In New Castle County, so many offices were uncontested that I thought a coup had taken place. The fact that the only statewide office held by a Republican is the state auditor, who has been in office for 20 years, is pathetic. When he decides to leave and Mike Castle retires as congressman, these offices will probably go to Democrats. Republicans lost at least seven seats in the House and two Senate seats. It looks like the makeup of the Legislature will be 15-6 in the Senate and 26-15 in the House. As a libertarian, I believe that a one-party state is asking for big trouble. We have had 16 years of Democratic governors, and will make it ...

.... that the News Journal has the Phillies' World Series victory on the front page, and my letter supporting Libertarian candidates here . Phillies. Libertarians. Makes sense, doesn't it?

You don't often get to see the word Libertarian in the News Journal , but 23rd District House candidate Jesse Priester (running as a fusion Libertarian/Republican candidate) manages to pull it off. (Admittedly, they gave the Democratic incumbent the bulk of the article, but, hey, it's a start.)

The Boston Tea Party , which is advancing its case as the potential nationwide replacement for the essentially non-functional Libertarian National Committee as the central organizing group for individual liberty and smaller government, has turned its attention to Delaware. The BTP has now formally endorsed LPD Congressional candidate Mark Anthony Parks and LPD/GOP 4th District House candidate Tyler Nixon . For Tyler, this endorsement can be added to his earlier seal of approval from the Liberty Caucus . Given that I'd suspect only a few Libertarians and not many others have heard of the BTP (running Charles Jay and Thomas Knapp as their Presidential ticket), what significance does this have for our candidates? Primarily, it's another piece of national exposure, however modest. Libertarian candidates run not just to win (go, Tyler!), but also to make a point about the erosion of civil liberties and the continuing encroachment of government on our freedoms--both economic and s...

I've probably spent a lot more time thinking about this than it probably deserves. Or maybe not. I believe that the national Libertarian Party is day by day proving itself a hopelessly lost cause for those of us who believe that the cause of limited government, personal liberty, and individual freedom can be furthered at the ballot box. I have been talking for several weeks about something like a Libertarian Alliance of state parties organizing from the bottom up. But while I think it's a great idea, I keep wondering whether or not it's viable, whether or not anybody will do the necessary legwork to create it. At least for now, I'm thinking that the Boston Tea Party represents the best vehicle currently available. Yes, I know the BTP has a checkered organizational past, and that this could be merely another incarnation for dreamers who are not necessarily doers. The BTP has a simple platform: The Boston Tea Party supports reducing the size, scope and power of governm...

It's not up on the website yet, so I can't link to it until later, but on page 3 of the Local section in today's NJ Beth Miller covered the Libertarian Party of Delaware convention, mentioning all of our candidates. Go check it out.

Most of the time Eric Dondero and I don't see eye-to-eye on many issues, but I appreciate his picking up the Libertarian Party of Delaware fusion nominations of Tyler Nixon and Jesse Priester in a larger post at Libertarian Republican about fusion candidacies nationwide. Thank, Eric.

Since the Saturday LPD convention, we've been gaining considerable attention both in-State and nationwide. Last Free Voice ran our press release in its entirety. Ballot Access News picked that up, and did its own story on our use of fusion candidacy. George Donnelly's Libertarian Party Candidates 2008 has now updated the Delaware page to show Tyler Nixon (Tyler, I screwed up with the upload of the photo; he'll add that tomorrow) and Mark Anthony Parks; they'll add Jesse Priester as soon as he sends his info Mike Matthews at Down with Absolutes has picked up my revelations about the special interest fundraising bonanza enjoyed by Tyler's opponent Gerald Brady. The News Journal has promised me coverage within the next day or so. Pretty good so far; but let's see what else we can do.

For the State of Delaware, and for the Libertarian Party of Delaware, I consider the race between Libertarian/Republican Tyler Nixon and Democrat Gerald Brady to be the most important contest of the year. So at the risk of being Verbose [thanks for stroking my ego, Shirley], I am going into some detail on what it will take to put him in office. Here's the key comment Tyler made on Saturday at the LPD convention: “It’s time for government to stop regulating the American people, and time for the American people to start regulating their government.” He went on to talk about the Wilmington/New Castle County Instant Ticket program , under which bureaucrats can walk onto your property and assess you an instant $50 fine, which you can appeal only to the agency writing the ticket . "This is the concept of judge, jury, and executioner all rolled into one," Tyler told delegates, "and from every perspective it's simply wrong." By his actions in supporting HB 161 [Se...

10. Because we timed our convention to occur simultaneous with Joe Biden's announcement as Barack's VP pick, thus insuring we would be able to hold our deliberations unbothered by all the large, intrusive camera trucks that usually mark our affairs. 9. Because even when we found out that the East End Cafe in Newark was out of Colorado Sauce for the wings, we toughed it out and didn't leave. 8. Because Shirley Vandever came to our convention, and we bet she didn't come to yours. 7. Because we haven't nominated Mike Protack or Rick Atkins for anything. 6. Because our new State Chair actually has access to real office machinery. 5. Because Mark Anthony Parks, our candidate for the US House is younger than a fossil (Castle) and smarter than even an attractive box of rocks (O'Donnell). 4. Because we figured out a way to hang our banner (yes, damn it, we have one) from the mike stands on the stage when we couldn't reach the ceiling. 3. Because we had at le...