Published by the Libertarian Party of Washington State
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For the latest on events, speakers, etc., see the ''Updates'' Calendar on the main LPWS web site, http://LPWS.org/events.htm.

Libertarian candidates seek state legislature

So far, three Libertarians are announced candidates for the state legislature. Their campaigns are still being organized. Each will be profiled in greater detail next time. For now, please offer your support as a campaign volunteer.

James Brown (Bellevue) is challenging incumbent Ida Ballasiotes in the 41st District, and has already been endorsed by the Fully Informed Jury Association. His ''target'' issue is criminal justice reform. (425) 643-7846

Michael Harrington (Richland) faces off against an 8th District GOP incumbent who opposes I-200 and supported both stadiums. (509) 946-2476.

In the 14th, District, Matthew Manker (Yakima) vies with a GOP incumbent who supported both sports stadiums and won’t comment on I-200. (509) 965-8085.

Justice Sanders draws record turnout

Nation’s highest elected libertarian wows East King LP

Ernie Ludwick

A record-setting crowd attended the East King LP May dinner meeting. For most, it was their first-ever eastside meeting. They came from as far away as Tacoma and Vashon Island. The attraction was State Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders. Sanders, the highest-ranking self-proclaimed libertarian elected to public office nationwide, is waging a tough reelection campaign this year.

Just a few weeks earlier, Justice Sanders had been unanimously endorsed by our state convention. Who is this man, and why are so many Libertarians working so hard for his reelection?

Instead of his own rhetoric, Justice Sanders was more likely to quote the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. and State Constitutions, or the nation’s Founders. He drew frequent applause with his frequent condemnations of government overstepping its bounds.

In quoting his own opinions and dissents, which were distributed as handouts, Justice Sanders defended his record of siding with the ''little guy'' against police abuse of power. He expressed disappointment that the sniper who shot Randy Weaver’s wife at Ruby Ridge was not held accountable. He criticized his peers on the Court for supporting corporate welfare ''emergencies'' like stadiums and parking garages.

It was music to the ears of frustrated activists.

When asked about his role as the nation’s highest ranking libertarian, he quipped, ''When I first ran for election, the press kept trying to nail me down. ‘Are you a conservative?’ ‘Are you a liberal?’ I told them, ‘No, I’m a Libertarian’. Since they didn’t know what that was, they left me alone.''

When pressed further, Justice Sanders stated that, although his job is non-partisan, he is not. He is definitely one of us.

His speech outlined the decline of liberty and the growth of government beyond its constitutional bounds. He linked this trend to several misguided decisions by our State Supreme Court. He defined for us our mission, and a major theme of his campaign. We must not only elect a legislature that makes good laws, we must also elect a Supreme Court that properly interprets those laws.

In accordance with judicial canons, Justice Sanders left the room before the crowd enthusiastically committed both time and money to his campaign. It was exciting that someone who shares our principles had attained so high an office. Now we need to keep him there. Contributions can be sent to: Sanders for Supreme Court, 2800 East Madison, #300, Seattle, WA 98112

Running in ‘99?

The subtheme for this year’s state convention was, ''The 1999 election starts here and now.''

Yes, we still have partisan candidates to support this year. But a serious ‘99 campaign needs to be in active planning before this November. Initial steps toward forming a campaign organization should be completed by yearend.

Talks have already begun, at the state and county levels, for still-tentative autumn workshops at multiple locations around the state.

Next year’s nonpartisan races, mostly city and schools, are the ones we need to enter and can win — especially in rural areas. Increasing Libertarians in public office is critical to our year 2000 partisan strategy and longer-term goals.

If you attended the campaigns workshop, or even if you didn’t, are you planning to run next year? Would a mini-workshop in your area help you decide? Looking for a campaign to manage?.

First, tell your Regional Chair. Also contact the State Director to receive a brief survey.

If not you, then who?

What makes a good candidate?

At the May meeting of the Snohomish County LP, discussion turned to candidate recruiting and development. Vice Chair Bill McCord, a solid campaigner himself, supplied an insight often ignored. ''Most successful candidates start from a sense of outrage.''

But mere outrage is not enough, he added. Most folks are outraged at government these days, but government keeps getting larger and more abusive. Good candidates practice what McCord calls ''constructive outrage.'' Outrage must be converted into positive and constructive solutions, then sold to voters.

Radical notion, eh? Most of us heard the same principle at our Mother’s knee. ''Anybody can criticize ….''

It worked for me. I first became outraged at a falsely presented school levy. The levy failed once, but I knew that facts alone would not prevail. Without a constructive alternative, schools keep submitting levies until they pass —typically the second or third try.

Well, we defeated it eight times. But to get our constructive alternative on the ballot, two of us had to get elected, then force the needed spending cuts. At each step I could feel myself getting ''sucked in'' — deeper and deeper, with great reluctance.

Many good candidates are simply sucked into running. What keeps us going? Outrage. In fact, Washington Libertarian has a hidden agenda. When we urge you to attend local board and council meetings, we’re hoping you too will get ''sucked in.'' Is that so bad? You’re already outraged. And you know the political establishment has nothing to offer. If not you, then who?

Attend a few meetings, and you may just see how to channel that outrage into something constructive. Or maybe not. Some of us are simply too shy for public office. Other than that, don’t rule out public office, elected or appointed, without attending a few public meetings.

-MJH

Letters
Your Turn ...

Washington Libertarian welcomes brief letters regarding items published here, or providing a Libertarian perspective on current issues. Include phone or email for confirmation. May be edited for length.

Here we go again…

The recent events at schools across the country are tragic but they are not caused by the availability of guns. I will leave it to objective, non-political experts in psychology to devise ways to make these incidents less common, but what remains is the need to defend myself.

A long time ago, common folks traded guns for a system of justice. That system existed to protect the innocent; it provided a sure message to would-be evildoers that the price was not worth the act. No longer is that the case. Almost anyone who would injure me or take my property now selects from a catalog of excuses; perhaps his great grandfather was humiliated by slavery, or her ex-husband beat her. Perhaps a child found belonging in a gang. Maybe he had a drug addiction.

I do not like guns; they scare me. When I had young children I disarmed mine. No matter the statistics, I was unwilling to risk my children hurting themselves or others. But that was my choice. Others may choose differently.

My kids are grown and gone now, and my pistols are armed once again. When(?) we return to a society that treats criminals as criminals and is willing to make prison the most miserable place to be, I will surrender my pistols. Others may or may not do the same; it is not my place to deny them their 2nd Amendment rights.

John Tyson, Olympia

National Convention
Delegates Still Needed

By convention resolution, all current LPWS members were named Alternate Delegates to this year’s National Convention, July 2-5 in Washington, DC. We now have roughly half our allotted delegation.

You can still attend as a voting delegate. Check any recent LP News for convention details, and/or contact the state Director.

LPWS influence may be the largest ever this year. Karen Allard, outgoing National Vice Chair, sits on the Bylaws Committee. The National Platform Committee includes Tom Stahl, nominated by the LPWS, and Mike Hihn, nominated by the National Committee. Hihn is also a candidate for an At-Large seat on the National Committee.

Editorial changes

Two changes continue the ongoing effort to make Washington Libertarian a more useful tool for members and activists, and to recognize the contributions to liberty by so many individual members.

Brien Bartels has been published twice in WL, and will now appear regularly as a Contributing Editor. Brien is assistant editor for Liberty magazine, and newly-elected LPWS PR Chair. His first regular column follows.

John Tyson, also now a Contributing Editor, hosted the convention roundtable on Letters to the Editor. He‘s been published in newspapers across the state. John’s first column is a letter, but to a politician.

One familiar name is regrettably missing: G.E. Morton. Gary has long been nearly synonymous with Washington Libertarian, as a writer, a columnist and as WL’s editor. When the party desperately needed an editor, Gary merged his own Spokane-area New Liberal Review with the state newsletter.

Last year, the editorship became too demanding of Gary’s time. His ''Growlings'' column continued to provide Gary’s unique insights on current events. Gary has now shifted his personal battle for liberty — by writing for the more intellectual journals which will eventually determine ''conventional wisdom'' years and even decades from now. We wish him well.

Correction

Your editor has lived in this state for eight years, but still managed to place Clallam and Jefferson counties on the Kitsap Peninsula. On page one no less. Olympic Peninsula … Olympic Peninsula ….

New PR Committee

Brien Bartels

I was the most surprised person at the State Convention when I was elected Public Relations Chair. Proud and happy, yes, but mostly surprised. And I have a surprise for the readers of this newsletter, to share the wealth, as it were.

I’m hereby appointing every one of you to the PR Committee. You now have the power to help set our agenda. And here's how. Our society is heavy on information but badly short on context. We all receive news of government's depredations daily. But news is merely noise if it has no context; the perspective added by some individual with unique inside knowledge.

So, when you read in your local newspaper or hear on your local radio station a piece of news that gets your particular hackles up, alert the PR chair. Drop us a clipping or a synopsis of the story with a card explaining why this affects the state at large. The angle, if you like. The peg. The thing that will make an editor somewhere jump out of his editor's cubicle and start assigning reporters to the story. Your story.

Here's an example. Say you live in my old home of Kittitas County. The state employees of Ellensburg have pushed through a county-wide sales tax increase to buy a huge memorial to Central Washington University's unknown janitor. This is duly reported in the Daily Record. What you know is the new tax will fall most heavily on the farmers of the county, since they buy hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment every few seasons. This tax will make their food more costly for everyone else.

That's all it takes. A clipping and a few lines on a card. We'll take it from there. Or, if you've got a good story, and get along with the media types in your area, place it yourself.

Send your info to Brien Bartels, LPWS PR Chair, 832 Water St. #2 Port Townsend WA 98368.

From the Chair
Let's keep the momentum

Mary Maas

Hello fellow Libertarians. It was great to meet so many of you at our state convention. I heard, repeatedly, that it was the best convention we’ve ever had.

Now we must keep the momentum going and build that new major political party from the grassroots up.

There was energy, synergy and determination among those who attended. The convention was a mixture of grassroots campaign and activism workshops, coupled with inspiring speakers each giving us good advice on how to better market the greatest product on earth; the Libertarian Party.

The questions I ask each of you are how much time can you reasonably devote to building the Libertarian Party of Washington State into a major political party, and what are your skills? Each activity you participate in should help in some way to elect either yourself or someone else to office. That must be our focus.

Your state party, while growing, needs to grow manifold to become a major party. We must run candidates for elective or appointive office, partisan or non-partisan. We also need to educate ourselves on how to help candidates get elected.

We must channel our renewed energy into productive uses such as marketing our candidates better and using their campaign funding wisely.

We need all the exposure we can get. Please consider doing a Nolan Booth this summer at a local fair. If you missed Tom Isenberg’s seminar on doing a Nolan Booth, please contact the State Director for a copy of Tom’s handout.

Please contact your Regional Chair to discuss how you can help Libertarians govern Washington in greater numbers.

If you are looking for a project for your region, you may want to go to your county auditor’s office and see what elective and appointive positions are available for 1998 and 1999. Then decide who should run for those positions and how each county member can help.

We must do two things to succeed; engage our current membership (read ourselves) and grow our membership. Those will feed off each other. Candidates will attract membership and the increased membership will offer more potential candidates and people to support those candidates.

Each Regional Chair will soon receive a set of convention tapes, as described elsewhere, or you may obtain your own set. They contain useful and inspiring information.

We must seize the opportunity to turn the strong libertarian movement into a new major political party. Please help...unless you are happy with what Democrats and Republicans have done to our freedom.

Around the state

Andria Frost gains appointment
In July, Andria Frost will join the growing list of Libertarians in public office, already at a record high. Frost will be appointed to the City of Seattle Solid Waste Commission. The commission provides input on how government interacts with citizens and businesses to more efficiently dispose of solid waste. Frost is Research Chair for the state party, Regional Rep for the West King County LP, and edits the King County Libertarian.

Tax Day rallies attract media
The Spokane and East King parties staged successful Tax Day rallies on April 15th, using kits supplied by the national party. Each group targeted evening tax filers at their local post office, and each got media coverage.

Spokane‘s rally, organized by Janice Moerschel, made page one in the Spokesman-Review. Party member Dave Kerns was prominently pictured, along with the sign, ''Honk if you hate taxes. Libertarian Party.'' Another sign, ''Libertarians say you can spend it better'' got shouts of agreement from tax filers.

Spokane Libertarians distributed over 2000 ''million dollar'' bills. Our own fake currency (as opposed to the fake legal stuff) highlights the million dollars spent every five seconds by the federal government. Regional chair Frank Grigaliunas obtained two radio interviews and light coverage by all three local TV stations.

Michael Justice organized the East King rally, which fell on the same day as their monthly meeting. John Evans mailed postcards announcing, ''Unusual meeting this month — it’s outdoors, and everyone gets to speak.'' Several westsiders also participated, nearly twenty Libertarians in all. Brian Brewer obtained signs from previous protests. Justice and West King Chair Ken Houghton ordered ''million dollar bills'' from National. East King Chair James Gordon secured a local talk show interview. KOMO-TV News broadcast a brief segment.

Both parties reported strong public acceptance. Grigaliunas concluded, ''Isn’t it amazing that ‘extremist’ Libertarians can generate so many thumbs up from the average man on the street?''

Sell the Tacoma Dome?!
The Pierce County LP discussed selling the Tacoma Dome as a possible local initiative, at their May meeting. Vice Chair David Franta volunteered to obtain the facility’s financials.

Public support for selling this type of facility generally requires that it be losing money. ''That’s how conservatives do it,'' says Regional Chair Kelly Haughton. ''As Libertarians, we oppose government ownership on principle.'' Fine for us, but what about voters?

For ‘profitable’ government facilities, Haughton would give shares to every taxpayer. ''Each taxpayer could then sell their own shares, leave them to their children, or whatever.'' In the process, Libertarians can provide a simple contrast between communal and private ownership. If you can’t sell it, you don’t own it.

Project Everywhere: WA style
Larey McLaren (Snohomish County) runs an ''Adopt A Shelter'' program. His inspiration came from seeing all those ''Adopt A Highway'' freeway signs. Larey had negotiated a bus shelter in front of his corner house, on the condition that he be responsible for keeping it cleaned. The shelter sports a small sign ''Maintained by the Libertarian Party of Snohomish County.''

Don Post (Jefferson County) promoted a lengthy piece on the Libertarian Party in his flying club’s newsletter. The piece quotes several paragraphs from the new LPWS brochure, includes our state Web address and 800 number, notes Don as vice chair of the Jefferson LP, and gives contact information for the Kitsap LP. Don’s inspiration came when the editor wrote that club members need to get politically active. Don responded by mailing the LPWS brochure and World’s Smallest Political Quiz, then called National HQ to order an Info Kit for the newsletter’s editor.

Tony Smullin (Everett) took a National LP press release, rewrote it as a letter, and got published in the Everett Herald.

There are now over 1000 of us and ''everywhere'' also means anywhere. Write and tell us about your own action. No effort is too small. Not when we need to be everywhere.

More regional newsletters
In addition to King County Libertarian, reported last month, Spokane Region Libertarian mailed its first edition in early June. Pierce County will mail shortly, edited by Dan Johnson. Snohomish now has an editor, Paul Erickson, shooting for a July launch. Brien Bartels will edit the Jefferson County Libertarian. Other regional parties still need editors. Please contact your chair.

For smaller regions, a newsletter may be a bit grandiose for now. Tony Smullin, Snohomish LP Chair, substituted announcement postcards in May. The card also asked for email addresses. Meeting attendance doubled, plus five other members responded directly with their email address.

Frost & Houghton to wed
After last year’s state convention, WL reported that one couple attended on a date. Now they’re about to be married.

Ken Houghton is Regional Chair, and Andria Frost is Regional Rep, for the West king County LP. The June 13th wedding will be performed by Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders.

Lesson from Dad

Mike Hihn

I never did convert my father to libertarianism. But I learned something far more valuable from him — I didn’t have to.

There are several libertarian positions Dad could never support. But I wasn’t recruiting him as a party member; I was recruiting him as a voter. Members need to be converted — voters do not. That seems obvious enough, but we often ignore the difference.

Dad knew economic regulation was a failure. He came to accept (with frequent reminders) that social regulation was just as bad. He liked Barry Goldwater, so I modified a Goldwater theme: any government big enough to ban dirty books is big enough to ban the Bible. Dad didn’t live long enough to see government indeed banning both, but he grasped the principle: tolerating dirty books is the price he had to pay, grudgingly, for the limited government he already knew was best.

(Salesmanship 101: You’re not there to prove your prospect wrong. You’re there to show your prospect is right, and that your product will best deliver what he already wants.)

I didn’t get Dad’s agreement, but I did get his acceptance. There’s a major difference between active support for Libertarian positions and passive (even grudging) acceptance.'' Active supporters are potential members and contributors. Passive acceptors are potential voters.

Most folks vote for the lesser of two evils. We complain about that a lot (but vote mostly that way ourselves). Let’s accept reality, and become the lesser of three evils.

We shall prevail, not when a majority of voters supports (for example) legalizing drugs and prostitution. We shall prevail when voters accept these notions, even grudgingly, as a price they’re willing to pay — for whatever they hope to gain in the free society we offer.

I call that the social contract version of TANSTAAFL (There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch). Liberty does have a price. We pay for it with Tolerance. Live and let live.

Even liberals understand TANSTAAFL. Have you heard this? —''Tolerance for others is the price we pay to have our own values respected.'' That’s how liberals condemn a Free Lunch, something for nothing, when defending social tolerance. Let’s turn that around. Reframe economic liberty as economic tolerance.

We don’t need liberals to actively support economic rights. We need only their acceptance of the notion, even if grudgingly — in exchange for a tolerant society.

Increasing party memberships is important. But this is a political party, not a club. In our personal activism, membership recruiting must come second to voter recruiting. Can you imagine anyone joining us, before they’re willing to vote for our candidates? Of course not. Get them as voters first, then go for the conversion.

In states with partisan registration, registered Libertarians tend to be twenty times greater than dues-paying members. So for each of our friends who is a potential member, there are at least twenty more who will passively accept our package. Those are averages. You yourself may not know any potential converts. Okay, how many likely passive supporters (aka likely voters) can you recruit? Only fifteen? Just ten? One?

Don’t give up if your circle of friends and co-workers includes no potential party members. Sell simple acceptance of our total liberty agenda, even if that means positioning us as the lesser of three evils. Your job, and our job, will then be a lot easier during actual campaigns.

And recall what Harry Browne says when someone tells him, ''The Libertarian candidate won’t win.'' He simply states, ''Then neither will you.''

Point/Counterpoint
Who should we recruit:
Republicans or Democrats?

Heavily condensed from the Spokane Region Libertarian. You can read this as a debate and pick a winner. Or consider each writer a winner, for showing how (and why) to recruit from both older parties.

What a year!

For Libertarians, this year’s election holds unusual interest. We have three LP candidates for the legislature so far, two endorsed Supreme Court candidates, and the Washington State Civil Rights Initiative. The ''No Car Tax'' measure, still seeking ballot access, would repeal the largest tax most people pay with a single check.

These aren’t campaigns to just watch and support. They’re campaigns to get actively involved with and learn from. The Sundberg campaign is especially well managed. Others are still powering up. Consider volunteering.

Dear Jack Metcalf:

You wrote me, asking for money, telling how great the Republicans are ...

John M. Tyson

I have been a Republican most of my life. In November 1994, I thought I had been released from prison. The Republicans won and boy were they pissed. Big government was going to get smaller; it was going to get out of our lives; it was going to take less of our money.

It took me only a year to understand the dream was empty. Republicans are only a little less democrat than Democrats. I understand now that you intend to take my wealth—albeit a little slower than the Democrats. I understand that you want to continue to punish my sons by giving minorities government jobs and contracts—though you are not as open and honest about it as the Democrats.

I understand Republicans will bankrupt my kids with entitlement programs you refuse to disband and I fully understand you expect to control every form of speech. You will regulate what my sons can and cannot say to others—on the Net, on the phone, in the press—irrespective of what others may say to them. You will regulate their business—telling them who they must hire and why they can’t fire.

After you have destroyed society, bringing us to the brink of bankruptcy and racial civil war, you will then take my gun so I have no ability to protect myself from the violence you have fostered. Oh, the Democrats want to do that too. They have made that clear. At least folks who vote for them make that choice deliberately and (however misguided) think disarming innocent citizens is a good plan.

Both the Republicans and the Democrats intend to strip my children of every right they thought they had under the constitution. You are working with the Democrats to create a society that is more dangerous than at any other time since the Civil War … and you want me to give you money for that?

A year ago I defected to the Libertarian Party. I don’t know how long it will be until Libertarians can win a number of elections sufficient to influence national politics, but I no longer choose ''lesser of evils.'' I notice in your letter that you credit government with ''...bestowing rights on individuals'' (I appreciate knowing that; I had no idea that government was the creator of all ''rights'').

When you demonstrate to me that the only function of government is to protect individuals as they lawfully pursue Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness, then please ask me again for money.

On second thought, don’t bother. It will have been the Libertarians who would have caused you to bring sanity to your course. I’ll write the check to them.

Either way, you lose.

State Convention: Saturday
100+ attend Saturday session, televised statewide

Barron, Allard and Isenberg honored at banquet.

It was standing room only, as speeches by David Bergland and Harry Browne closed the highly productive Saturday convention session. TVW, the state equivalent of CSPAN, taped the entire session for later broadcast. Browne’s address was broadcast five times.

The session had begun with a Keynote Address by State Chair Mary Maas. Maas, mindful of the TV audience, detailed the past year’s explosive growth in state memberships and organized regional parties, along with plans to achieve Major Party status. Other major themes are summarized in her column this month.

Then … showtime.

Part entertainer, part teacher, and all Libertarian, Michael Cloud’s seminar previewed themes from his new book, The Secret of Political Persuasion, due out later this year. It was old-fashioned sales training, applied to the concept of a Liberty Store. How do we draw people into our store, and how do we sell each item in that store?

Attendance was much higher than anticipated at the formal workshop for candidates and campaign managers. Nearly half the delegates attended this one, despite several informal roundtables running at the same time. Workshop host, National Director Ron Crickenberger, later said he’d never seen so much serious note taking. Bottom line: we’re better trained for the 1999 and 2000 elections than we’d hoped.

Attendance was also gratifying at Tom Isenberg’s roundtable on how to run a Nolan Booth —using the World‘s Smallest Political Quiz to solicit prospects and members at fairs, gun shows, Hemp Fest, etc. We hope to run more booths than ever this summer, and now have several dozen people trained to man them.

Harry Browne‘s ''Prospects for Liberty in America'' was a riveting balance between our opportunities and our challenges. Polls show Americans increasingly distrustful of both government and the two older political parties. But as we saw in 1996, voters aren’t aggressively seeking alternatives, so they don’t really hear ours.

The prospects for liberty are greater now than they’ve been in decades — but Libertarians need both the size and the money to compete — and Browne detailed a plan to do both.

Hall of Fame Banquet
Award banquets are a tradition in many state parties. This was our first, so there were three inductees. Skip Barron, who attended with his proud wife and three sons, founded the state party in 1972, qualified our first Presidential ticket for the ballot a week later, and went on to deliver the highest number of votes from any state. His 1974 legislative race received one of the highest vote percentages in the country that year. Skip was instrumental in bringing the 1987 National Convention to Seattle, and served two terms on the National Committee.

Karen Allard joined the party during the 1980 Ed Clark campaign, served three terms as State Chair, and ran three times for the legislature. Her Puget Sound Supper Club, 1987-1993, was a movable outreach tool, independent of the party and hosted at different locations. Karen has been on the National Committee since 1989 and National vice Chair since 1993.

Tom Isenberg, best known for his talk hosting on KVI radio, became a Libertarian in 1986. He’s held several party offices at both the state and county (East King) level, and brought a new standard of professionalism to the role of LPWS Office Manager.. In two campaigns, for State Representative and Lt. Governor, he received a voter mandate to continue working at Microsoft (his words). Tom has run a speakers bureau for high school Civics classes, produced a libertarian interview program on public access cable, and mentored a UW student group.

The awards were presented by Harry Browne.

Project support generous
Michael Cloud raised nearly $6000 for LPWS Projects, by promoting our statewide ad campaign at the banquet and at a VIP luncheon. Over $4000 was designated to Saturation, which can now expand after current testing is completed. (Cloud, a professional fundraiser, does convention appeals at no charge.)

Convention Report - Sunday
Sunday session struggles, perseveres

Delegates may have needed all of Saturday’s motivation, as they overcame the near-lethal combination of a heavy agenda and parliamentary overkill.

Despite a tight schedule, nearly 3/4 of an hour was spent just on motions to extend time and suspend rules — which of course left even less time. Ruth Bennett, a seasoned Parliamentarian, did her best to keep things moving, often interrupting with suggestions.

Potential crisis erupted with a Motion to Adjourn at 3:05 PM. The Platform then contained two statements of principle, and nothing else. The ''No Car Tax'' Initiative was still on the table. Major issues were still unresolved. It had been a long and tough day; adjournment is non-debatable; many were nervous.

Motion defeated. A few wanted to go home early, but a majority repeatedly passed every motion to stay in session until overall time expired. All but one issue was resolved. A fine slate of new officers was elected. All resolutions and ballot endorsements were ratified.

Elections
The short-handed Judicial Committee gained three new members, Paul Smith, Lynne Gearhart, and Art Rathjen. Michael Leary was also elected. He promptly showed his fitness for the job by reading the bylaws and learning his term of office would be only 13 days — the length of his party membership. He has since retired from office.

Ken Houghton resigned as Treasurer just prior to the convention, saying he wanted to focus his energies as West King County Chair. Chris Caputo was elected Treasurer. Brien Bartels was elected PR Chair. Each will serve two years, and be profiled next time.

Platform
The Platform Committee, chaired by Tom Stahl, again proposed a major paring of the state Platform, as published in the April WL. Floor amendments dealt mostly with style and phrasing, plus retaining the existing preamble. See the new platform at http://LPWS.org/members/docs/platform.htm, or request a mailed copy from the State Director. The companion proposal, a new Statement of Positions, was still on the table when overall time expired. In a separate vote, the Statement of Principles was shifted from the platform to the Constitution.

Constitution and Bylaws
The only disappointment (see sidebar, ''What’s Broken?'') Last May, the Executive Committee, as part of planning for growth, commissioned a Special Task Force to propose a new organization structure, appropriate for a party three times its current size. Six months later, the Constitution and Bylaws Committee chose to duplicate that effort. That could have been confusing, but delegates seemed to appreciate having an alternative, initially. By a nearly 2/3 vote, delegates voted to consider only the Task Force proposal — which then failed to obtain the required 2/3 for passage.

Finally, in desperation, Rich Shepard and Mike Hihn huddled in the back of the hall to fashion a compromise proposal. Delegates again voted additional time, listened, but defeated the compromise by an even larger margin.

Resolutions
Delegates approved three resolutions, with no dissenting votes. Tom Stahl’s resolution condemns government-mandated ''smart cards'' with computer chips, noting a New Jersey test of driver’s licenses as a violation of personal privacy. Stahl also sponsored a Resolution of Support For The State Director.

Mike Hihn sponsored a Member Privacy Resolution, directing the Executive Committee to continue the party’s long-standing practice of legally avoiding any filings with the Public Disclosure Commission, and encouraging the formation of independent Political Action Committees.

Ballot Endorsements
Supreme Court candidate Kris Sundberg’s eloquent remarks supported individual liberties and judicial principle, while opposing taxpayer subsidies for stadiums and parking garages. Sundberg was still leaving the podium as delegates swiftly and unanimously endorsed his candidacy. Incumbent Justice Richard Sanders could not attend, but received a unanimous endorsement on his record alone.

The ''No-Car-Tax'' Initiative, to repeal the yearly excise tax on automobiles over two years, was also endorsed. The petition deadline is June 26th. Contact the State Director for petitions, or phone the campaign at 206-522-4824.

Last but not least ...
Many thanks to the volunteers who helped make this year’s convention a success: Doug Thornton, John Tyson, Bruce Coe, Mark Hamilton, Tom Isenberg, Jesse Malkin, David Swann, Chris Caputo, Andria Frost, and especially Matt McCally who also arranged the TVW coverage.

Publisher: Libertarian Party of Washington State. PO Box 69223, Seatlle, WA 98168-9223 Seattle: 206-329-5669. Toll-free: 800-353-1776 Editor: Mike Hihn, editor@LPWS.org 206-241-6058, fax: 206-241-6128 Contributing Editors: Brian Bartels, Janice Moerschel, Doug Thornton, John Tyson, Rep. Brian Thomas Regional Correspondents: Janice Moerschel (Spokane) Change of Address: Notifying either the state or national party will do for both. Advertising Rates: Click here to download a rate sheet in Acrobat (pdf) format. Click here to request a rate sheet via snailmail. Mailed prox the 1st of even-numbered months. Editorial and advertising close 15th of the prior month. Submissions are encouraged, preferably in any PC format. Please query the editor before submitting.