Have you all watched the videos of the "debate" between Ernest Hancock and Wayne Allyn Root at the New York LP convention on May 10? There's some very interesting material! At 7:35 of this video, part 6 of 11 or so -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch6t1rd_7-s&feature=related -- check out what Tom Stevens, a delegate from Queens, asks Root, and how Root responds!
Dr. Stevens:
"We've tried your big tent philosophy in Queens and it's very successful." [He goes into some local examples of outreach to non-Libertarians.] "On the national level -- I have to ask you this question, I sent it to you by email, I didn't get a response, so I'll ask again -- there seems to be a movement to *lower* the allotment of delegates allowed to affiliates, to have *fewer* conventions, to have a conflict of interest rule to kick people out of the party if they are involved in other parties, whereas here in New York we cross-endorsed [Halloran?] and others. And even motions at the convention floor, there's a proposal to (have) *20* people to have to stand up to second a motion."
"All of these are efforts in our view, in Queens, to -- to *minimize* participation, to *lower* the amount of delegates, to *lower* the amount of people involved. And I'd like to know your position on that... And also mandatory registration fees, another issue too that would *exclude* participation. And Queens is concerned. Because we're a very big tent. We just cross-endorsed three Republican candidates running for Assembly who came to *us* for our endorsement [indistinct]"
Here Root breaks in and launches into an extended irrelevant commentary about his parents founding the New York Conservative Party, and being part of that effort as a kid. After being reminded repeatedly to answer the question, he gets frustrated and at the beginning of the next video segment -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmemYVDYKs0&feature=related -- gives this incredibly revealing response:
"I'm getting to it, I'm getting to it! First of all, let me tell you about the Libertarian Party. The Libertarian Party wants people to answer questions straight. Maybe that's why we failed for 39 years! Republicans and Democrats don't answer questions straight, 'cause they know it turns people off when you give them an answer they don't want to hear, so they talk around it, and people vote for them! Did it ever occur to you that's the right way to do it? (Pauses, then gives a quick laugh at his own "joke" when nobody else laughs.) Does anybody *get* that? I'm trying to change our culture, so we support the *same things* Ernie does, but do it in a way that gets us elected. Barack Obama is without question a Marxist. But he didn't campaign as a Marxist...."
Root continues talking about Obama for a bit, and then says,
"So to answer Tom's question, cause you want a direct answer, I support only, ONLY things that will make us a bigger tent party." [Here he talks some more about getting a "seat at the table" by being willing to endorse Republicans and Democrats and play politics]. "So my point to you is, ANYTHING that brings up the tent and makes it bigger, that makes the Tea Party people like us, is what we need to do."
"W.A.R." then goes on to talk about Ron Paul, and how he is supposedly "Ron Paul on steroids".
The kicker is, despite saying he's going to give a direct answer, he *never does* address the main theme of the question, namely the national trend in the LP of reducing the ability of ordinary LP members to participate and run the party! This trend, by the way, is exactly what I've been talking about for years, and is a big part of what I came up with the Grassroots Libertarians Caucus and its Five Key Values in order to counter!
Here's what Root is really saying:
"I want to change the culture of the Libertarian Party to one where candidates no longer have to be honest, because you don't win by being honest. You win by learning to obfuscate and lie the way the Democrats and Republicans do! And that's what I'm going to do, because I want to win. I'll tell you I support what Ernie supports, even though my actions say otherwise, because that's what you want to hear."
But even though he all but admits, for those who are listening carefully, that he is bamboozling them and is seeking to make the LP a place where they can be bamboozled on a routine basis, W.A.R. relies on his Libertarian audience feeling like they are insiders in the know, since he has already revealed to them -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DiFhWgKaEs&feature=related -- how he's going to center his chairmanship around a disingenuous "contract" that will get other people outside the room who will supply the money and votes to buy into his "schtick":
"The most important thing in the world in politics, no matter what Ernie says, ALL that matters in politics is -- ALL that matters -- MONEY is the mother's milk of politics. And we as Libertarians never raise any money, and THAT'S the problem. And so I'm also going to lead us with a Contract with America, like the Republicans did in 1994, and swept to victory. You know what my contract is, that we're going to have every Libertarian candidate in the nation sign...? We're going to be the party where every candidate in the party agrees we're never taking a dime from corporations, from unions, or from lobbyists, only from the people. And that's going to be the SCHTICK that sells. All you New Yorkers know the word 'schtick?' You gotta have SCHTICK if you have any chance in life.
One thing people are going to remember it's SCHTICK. And our schtick is we don't accept money from corporations, we're the only party. We don't accept it from lobbyists, we're the only party. We don't accept it from unions, we're the only party. You know why that's easy to make that pledge? Because we never get any checks from any of them anyway. And we never will! Because I'm anti-union, I'm anti-big-corporation, and I'm anti-lobbyist. They were never gonna give me a check anyway. And we will use that mantra to get people to write checks like NEVER BEFORE, who think the same way as us, but we haven't given up a darn thing, because we weren't getting checks from (the unions, corporations and lobbyists) anyway!"
I hope you all will make every effort to come to the St. Louis convention and help stop this guy from destroying the Party of Principle!
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))