independentsforkerry.org

ManhattanLP.org lists Gary Johnson, the former two term Governor of New Mexico and former candidate for the Republican nomination who switched to the Libertarian Party on December 28, as one of the guests at their upcoming convention on Saturday January 21st, along with several other candidates for the Libertarian presidential nomination – Bill Still, Carl Person and RJ Harris.

NY.LP.ORG lists additional details:

Ukrainian East Village Restaurant
140 Second Ave, New York, NY
(Between St. Marks and 9th St.)

Schedule:
10:30 Late registration
11:00 Convention business/election of officers
12:30 Lunch
1:30 Speakers

Members with 2012 dues paid may participate in the business meeting and vote in elections. To join or renew send name, address, email address, phone and to Manhattan Libertarian Party, c/o Mark Axinn, 338 East 78th Street, NY, NY 10075.
OR join via the web at www.manhattanlp.org.

To Register for lunch and speakers:
Before Jan 19: ; students . After Jan. 19: ; Students
Send checks to Manhattan Libertarian Party, c/o Mark Axinn, 338 East 78th Street, NY, NY 10075 or via PayPal at www.manhattanlp.org.

Guest Speakers:
Carl Oberg – Executive Director of the Foundation for Economic Education
Jim Babb – We Won’t Fly

The site does not yet say whether the candidates will debate each other or just each give a speech. However, at least one Manhattan LP member in IPR comments on a previous post referred to the appearances as a debate.

Additionally, the Fort Worth Telegram reports that

The Texas Libertarian Party will hold a presidential campaign debate in Grapevine next month, a local party official confirmed Wednesday.

The debate is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Feb. 25 at the DFW Airport North Outdoor World hotel in Grapevine and will be open to the public, according to John Spivey, chairman of the Tarrant County Libertarian Party. Candidates will take questions selected by a debate committee and posed by the audience.

Gary Johnson, a former Republican governor of New Mexico, has confirmed that he will attend the debate, Spivey said. Last month, Johnson quit the GOP presidential primaries to vie for the Libertarian nomination.

Candidates R.J. Harris of Oklahoma, and Roger Gary and Lee Wrights, both of Texas, will also attend the debate, Spivey said. Several other candidates running for the party’s nomination have been invited.

The party’s nominee will be selected at the national convention in Las Vegas in May. Along with Texas, where the party already has ballot access, officials have said they expect their candidate to be on the ballot in at least 45 states.

It seems that Johnson, who was excluded from most of the debates when he was seeking the Republican presidential nomination, is not shy about debating other candidates for the Libertarian nomination.

In 2008, former Republican Congressman Bob Barr did not officially announce for the Libertarian nomination until the day after the last state convention, and did not appear in debates with most of the other candidates (except for one joint forum with Wayne Root and Mike Gravel). He also was the only candidate to skip all of the informal debates at the LP national convention, appearing only in the CSPAN televised debate.

Independent Political Report

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From Chris Hedges’ column this week at Truthdig:
“We have got to attempt to tell the truth, and that truth is painful,” [Professor Cornel West] says. “It is a truth that is against the thick lies of the mainstream. In telling that truth [...]
Green Party Watch

From Gary Odom:

The National Committee of the Constitution Party, meeting in Harrisburg, PA, has, by unanimous resolution, adopted on April 30, 2011, put itself on record urging former Virginia Congressman, Virgil Goode, to seek the Presidential nomination of the Constitution Party!

Immediately upon conclusion of Virgil Goode’s speech; one in which he extolled the virtues of protecting America’s national sovereignty, condemned foreign aid and demanded the the United States start taking care of America’s problem first instead of meddling in the affairs of the rest of the world, providing a rousing climax to the 2011 Spring National Committee of the Constitution Party; a motion from the floor was made, urging Goode to seek the Constitution Party’s Presidential nomination. Th motion was quickly seconded and was passed unanimously by the party’s national committee.
(The full text will be available in a later edition)

This resolution should not be confused with a nomination (which can only be made by the national convention–the highest authority of the national party) nor even an outright endorsement, however it can certainly be viewed as a statement of deep appreciation for Virgil Goode’s activities in the Constitution Party over the past two years and may equally be viewed as a clear statement that the National Committee views Virgil Goode as an excellent choice to be the Constitution Party nominee for President of the United States and for that reason strongly encourages him to seek its nomination.

Goode has made it clear to members in private and public comments at the meeting and prior thereto that he has a strong interest in seeking the party’s nomination, though he has made no public announcement to that effect as of yet. Many Constitution Party leaders are hopeful that Goode has a strong campaign well underway by the time of the Constitution Party National Convention in mid-April of 2012, and it was hoped that this resolution would encourage him to take the steps necessary to become a full fledged candidate.

Independent Political Report

Email from James L. Burns, a candidate for the Libertarian Presidential nomination:

My neighbor, Harry Friend, and I have put together a
presentation. I like it and I hope you will like it too.
The production takes a little over 30 minutes which
can be followed by questions and answers.

Mr. Friend opens with mostly some LP background
about me and then sets the stage for my interpretation
of Patrick Henry’s speech (in costume) which I follow
with a talk outlining my reasons for seeking the 2012 LP
nomination for president and then Mr. Friend closes, then
we can finish or I can follow by answering questions.

We gave our first production on Monday, March 7, 2011,
in San Diego. It was a small group of libertarians, but I am
pleased with what happened and I am confident we will improve.

Mr. Friend and I are going to travel around giving our show to
those who invite us, starting in the last week of this month. First
to Denver on the 31st of March, then an LP convention in Wisconsin
on the 2nd of April, then an LP meeting La Porte, IN on the 3rd of April.
There may be meetings in NH on the 9th and New Mexico on the 16th
of April. On the 30th of April we are set to address the NY convention.
Then we will be making our way home.

I ask you: Please invite us to give our performance to your group, large
or small. We have very limited funds so we will need to be within striking
distance, but we are willing and will make our best efforts to attend and give
a good show. When not on our way to speak to an LP group, we have friends
where we can stay at no cost to us in Western PA and OK city OK. Please
contact me to see if we can arrange something.

After late May, we hope to do things on the West coast.

Best Wishes,

Jim Burns
http://www.jimburnsforpresident.com/
PO Box 1139
Beatty, NV 89003
541-261-4163
702-722-9494

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