Theproducer1776's Weblog

In Denver, a game of Chess…

theproducer1776 — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:45:15 +0000

In Denver, a game of Chess…
By: Austin Petersen
In one of the defining moments in my career as your Volunteer Coordinator, I attended the Libertarian National Convention in Denver Colorado last week. It was a remarkable experience that few people who care about politics get to experience. But, they should.
As a member of your staff, I am required to remain impartial. Thus I was told that I should either attend Stewart Floods party, attend no ones party, or attend everyone’s parties, so as to be certain of my neutrality. Well, I’ve never been the type to sit around while everyone else is having fun, so I decided to do it all.
The talented rascals from Tierra Eclipse who engineered the Ron Paul money bombs joined me in my adventures in the evenings. I was extremely impressed with their ability to skillfully turn out professional video clips in a short amount of time for the Barr campaign for the convention, and still have the energy to stay up late to visit everyone’s evening events. Their work was instrumental in giving the Barr campaign an extra coat of polish that it needed to win.
George Phillies, and The Outright Libertarians had an amusing get together where we read out loud a flier from a local religious group who protested our convention. The leaflet read that the Libertarian Party was “Officially Immoral”, and stated that, “If Ron Paul lived in Berlin in 1944 and had said, “While killing Jews is invalid, a federal law banning the holocaust across all Germany’s 16 states would be equally invalid.” Everyone got a good laugh from the silliness of that argument.
Steve Kubby was gracious enough to share an amazing story of the time that he got to ride in a Jet plane for a media tour. It was fascinating listening to him eloquently recount breaking the sound barrier and taking the joystick to fly the plane on his own. It really put into perspective for me how much I could learn from all our wonderful candidates.
In the morning before the voting began I was working out in the gym when one Wayne Root came in and started cycling. We chatted lightly about the events, and he gave me some very helpful advice on how to start my own business. I’m looking forward to reading his books and hope that he would have some time in the future to teach me to become a “Millionaire Libertarian.”
Setting up the board…
As the voting process began I made quick friends with Idaho Chair, the extraordinary Rob Oates, who patiently answered my questions about the voting processes and proceedings. It was exciting to watch the debates and hear why certain groups supported one candidate over another. As I watched the voting unfold, I was reminded of a strategic game of chess, where the pieces maneuver for placement on the board.
Pawns fall to Knights
After a hard fought battle for the Presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party, Michael Jingozian and Christine Smith were toppled by Kubby and Phillies.
Christine exited with bitter words for her opponent. The abandonment of principle, in her estimation, was the death knell of the party.
Jingozian graciously accepted defeat and in a surprising turn endorsed Senator Mike Gravel. Later he would accept the position of Vice Chair in a contest between himself and Chuck Moulton in a surprise upset. Although Chuck’s service to the party has been thoroughly professional, delegates spoke of how they were interested to see how Michael could use his marketing skills to grow the party. Many people were visibly upset by the decision to remove Chuck, and it was not an easy decision to watch being made from the sidelines.
The remaining pieces re-aligned for another match as the Pawns exited the game.
Knights fall to Bishops
Newly minted Libertarian Mike Gravel, and longtime Libertarian George Phillies, fell under the advance of Ruwart, Root, and Barr.
Many people in the auditorium were supporters of the stalwart advocate of the American self-governance, former Senator Mike Gravel. I would be lying if I didn’t say that I was genuinely sad to see his exit of the arena with the declaration that his career in politics was over.
The man who bravely released the Pentagon Papers to the American public and filibustered the draft bravely ended his career with a thumbing of the nose to the establishment that sought to quiet his voice. It is a mark of pride that the Libertarian party so graciously welcomed him despite economic differences of opinion. The game continued…
Bishop defeated, moves to defense of King
When it became clear that Wayne Allyn Root would not win the nomination, he conceded defeat graciously and expressed his support for the candidacy of Bob Barr. This all but assured a Barr victory after many back and forth exchanges with Ruwart, who would be unable to pull a majority out of the Radical bloc of voters. It appeared likely that the Root supporters would rally to Barr after loud declarations of BARR-ROOT were chanted by a majority of delegates.
As Roots delegates and supporters began their politicking with Barr’s people, the Ruwart supporters waved their heart signs and braced themselves for the final portion of the match.

King takes Queen
After 6 rounds of voting, Bob Barr defeated Mary Ruwart to win the nomination. Steve Kubby issued a statement of solidarity subsequent to the events which had the effect of galvanizing many of the Radicals base. We have seen many people take George Phillies at his word that the enemy is out there, not amongst us.
Although some are leery of Barr’s candidacy, membership has been growing, the volunteer trickle has become a steady flow, and media requests for interviews are piling up. No matter what happens in this election cycle, one thing we know is for sure. This will be an unforgettably historic year for the Libertarian Party. I am excited, and honored to be a part of it.

Just got back from CPAC!!! News from the Front Lines!

theproducer1776 — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 02:48:40 +0000

I just got back from the airport after attending the CPAC forum today, and here’s my brief recap. The majority of people there were McCain supporters, and these are people that have absolutely unequivocally decided to “go down with the ship”. These people are for the most part not convertible in my opinion and we shouldn’t waste time on anyone who supports McCain. But, after Romney gave up the fight today, their supporters were NOT in favor of McCain, they were VERY receptive to Dr. Pauls message. Oh and on another note… Hucka-who? Out of the thousands of people that were there, I had to literally search hard to find one Huckabee supporter. That should tell you something right there. Now here is the problem that we are ALL aware of and I just can’t sit back and stay quiet about it. The official campaign is NOT DOING THEIR JOB!

I arrived as a guest of the Libertarian Party and hung out with them most of the day. As I mingled around at the event, I realized that I didn’t see any Ron Paul buttons or stickers anywhere. I figured that there really must not be much support for him among the conservatives, but how wrong I was. Lots of people who were not McCain supporters were very eager to hear more about Dr. Paul and wanted flyers or stickers to wear, but the official campaign did NOT SET UP A BOOTH! At CPAC! I was flabbergasted and I called over to National HQ immediately where I got someone who didn’t know much, didn’t have any info about why they weren’t set up there, and didn’t have any materials really to bring over. I wanted to rip my hair out. When Dr. Paul was speaking I handed out as many liberty cards and things that I just happened to have in my wallet but could have done more. There were a few Ron Paul supporters there who had signs but precious little literature or pins or stickers. These are so important because everyone wears a sticker to identify themselves and strike up conversations on issues related to whatever issue or candidate they are supporting. I couldn’t even find a Ron Paul sticker for myself!

The Libertarian Party would do better in my opinion. These kinds of bush league (pun intended) mistakes would not be made and thousands of Romney supporters might have left there with Ron Paul slimjims.

The Republicans have decided to go down with the sinking ship (McCain) and I think we should let them. The Romney supporters, given enough time, would vote for Dr. Paul in a general election, as would many democrats and millions of other disaffected Americans. We have a chance to make history with the real possibility of a viable third party run. If the campaign presses forward on the Republican ticket, it really will be a Quixotic run. We cannot let that happen. History will judge us by what actions we take over the next few months.

Republican, Libertarian, Independent, in the end it doesn’t matter. What matters is that we DO NOT GIVE UP THIS FIGHT!

Good night and good luck.

Massive Sign Wave in Times Square New Years Eve in New York City!!

theproducer1776 — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 20:27:37 +0000

Massive sign wave around Times Square on New Years Eve in Times Square begins at 7PM meeting at Ron Paul Headquarters in NYC, gathering signs and materials and then marching to 42nd street and back to the party that night.

Where: 515 W. 29th St. between 10th and 11th Ave.

When: 7PM to return to HQ at 9PM for the big party!!

Ron Paul Nationwide Phone Bank Event Saturday Dec. 15th!!!

theproducer1776 — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:23:36 +0000

My name is Austin Petersen, and I am an assistant organizer for the Ron Paul NYC Meetup Group. As you may have heard, the libertarians have opened up their phone bank system for us to use and I am coordinating a nationwide home based phone bank. Here is the release I have sent out for the phone bank project to call New Hampshire. If you could forward this to everyone and anyone you know I would really appreciate it. The goal is to get 1000 callers from 1 to 5PM EST this Saturday. Alot of people have claimed that the campaign does not want us to do this. That is NOT true. Please help if you can by passing this on! The need to make these calls is crucial to the outcome of the race.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hello everyone,

Austin Petersen here! I need all of you and everyone you know across the USA to volunteer to help with the HUGE HOME BASED PHONE DRIVE!!!

The greatest part about this event is that you can do it from home, you don’t have to go anywhere. All you’ll need is a phone and a computer with an internet connection!

The Libertarian Party has opened up their phone banking website for us to use at

www.ballotbase.org
If you would like to participate please go to ballotbase.org and register on their website. Once you have finished, you will receive a confirmation email. Then you’ll have a username and login. Then on Saturday you just log in, pick up your phone, and call the phone numbers. In the website is a very simple tutorial on how to use the system, there’s an interface that allows you to record the status of the call. It’s very important to get as many people as we can all over the USA or even the world to call New Hampshire that day. The phone bank will start at 1PM EST and will end at 5PM.

If you prefer you may come to Headquarters that day. Bring a laptop, and phone and we will provide the internet connection.

Again, to participate:

1. Register at ballotbase.org

2. Familiarize yourself with the website and use the easy tutorials they provide. Password for system is LIBERTY

3. On Saturday at 1PM EST log in to the website and start making calls. The script will be there directly underneath.

If you have any questions please ask. Thanks and have a great day!

Austin Petersen
austinpetersen.com

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theproducer1776 — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 02:20:03 +0000

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