I am profoundly disappointed that today the solid majority of the convention of the Libertarian Party of New York chose to step back from becoming coalition partners in an anti-war and anti-patriot act movement that, without their participation, will remain far too easy for the government and media to discredit as the domain of left-wing anti-Americans. Instead the LPNY chose to tread water (at best) with an independent candidacy featuring an unknown person with no recognition in, or access to, the media and general public, or work history within the aforementioned movements, who has never before run for office, and who will now be in competition, rather than in cooperation with, other peace & civil liberties candidates. It underscores the previous day's inaction by the LPNY, which, although gathered in Albany for the state convention and regularly reminding itself (and nobody else) of its anti-war position, declined the invitation to participate in a city-wide anti-war march and rally that was being amply covered by the mainstream media and actually contained one young Libertarian who would have liked to meet you. The famed invisibility of the LPNY within the movements that share many of its causes was preserved, which seems to be the real goal of many of its most active members.
There is no question that democracy prevailed at today's LPNY convention, which on the one hand is very nice to see because most parties don't bother to observe such anachronistic pleasantries, but there is equally no question that, as with the habits of the electorate at large, poor judgment was exercised and votes were cast against the interests of advancing the highest-priority issues for Libertarians and for our nation as a whole. The "Party of Principle" chose to affirm itself as the "Party of Insularity."
I admit to my disconsolate frame of mind as I write this, but it derives not so much from losing the LPNY nomination, but from the issues themselves losing. I'm still in the Green Party race, and I'm still going to carry the anti-war and anti-Patriot Act message to the voters. But what I was seeking was to maximize the impact of the fight against the powers of oppression by joining the strongest and most strategically balanced elements of those movements together. The LPNY state convention majority has chosen to keep the movements divided, to withhold its potential contribution to the public interest, and to give its insular comfort zone higher priority than making progress towards its key goals.
This is no small matter. The LPNY has just given the war parties their greatest gift. Should the LPNY Senate nominee Jeff Russell generate any attention at all (which is unlikely), the war parties will marginalize his efforts by pointing out that he wants to abolish public schools and legalize crack. To whatever degree I or any other Green generates any attention, the war parties will marginalize me as a clueless leftist who hates America and wants to socialize medicine and place the interests of salamanders over private property. This despite my being an Eagle Scout, a volunteer firefighter, and an Ivy League graduate with a degree in economics.
Worst of all, as we now continue down our separate paths, it must be noted that the LPNY has chosen to fight with other anti-war candidates instead of against the war. In the interests of mobilizing masses of people to stop the war, I will have no choice but to vigorously pursue the success of my own candidacy (as I would have had we been united), which by definition now requires that I encourage people not to vote for Jeff Russell -- or for pro-war Bill Weld -- with time and resources I had hoped to devote exclusively towards telling them not to vote for Hillary Clinton. I did not choose this competition -- it was chosen by the LPNY -- but I cannot ignore that it now exists. We will meet on November 7th, for whatever that is now worth, which isn't much compared to what would have been possible through working together.
The war will continue, the slaughter will continue, we will remain under the force of a government empowered by its manipulation of the public fear of terrorist reprisals that war engenders, our rights will remain dissolved, and the public debt will continue to mount and bear interest upon the backs of our children, should they survive the inevitable draft.
I would wish you good luck, but as the saying goes, luck goes to the prepared. We have to be prepared to set aside our differences until some later date, after our primary problems have been solved. Until we can understand that one simple truth and adapt our practices accordingly, we are failing to prepare, and we are preparing to fail.
As of today, the Libertarian Party is still showing no inclination to do anything but complain about how bad things have become, in a familiar social environment. It's of no use to the LPNY, it's individual members, or to anyone else that one go to one's grave knowing that one has been correct all the time about everything, but has accomplished nothing.
I would like to thank the LPNY, it's leaders, and most of the members for having allowed me the opportunity to seek your ballot line and stimulate debate in a free-speech environment. I particularly want to thank John Clifton, Tom Stevens, Gary Donoyan, Rob Robinson, and Jen Rog for their leadership and support, and very especially those grassroots members who do not customarily take part in state decision making but who were inspired by my mailing and local visits to try to contribute to change. And somehow even more especially, I want to thank Mark Axinn, Joseph Dobrian, and Gary Popkin, who did serious mitzvahs by always facilitating the debate and my access to it despite their opposition to my candidacy and some of my politics, because in so doing they placed principles first. Lastly I want to thank Don Silberger for being Don Silberger, and for supporting our volunteer fire department.
Steve Greenfield
Former candidate for the LPNY nomination for United States Senate, and now, unfortunately, an opponent of the LPNY candidate
www.greenfieldforsenate.org
PS:
1) Every thank you is completely sincere, including the ones I may have overlooked due to fatigue. If I have slighted anyone, please contact me directly, and I will thank you directly. The compliments on the observance of free speech and a clearly democratic process is also sincere. There's precious little of either of those in politics these days.
2) Permission granted to republish electronically or in print.
3) There is no reason to respond on these lists, as I will not see it. As soon as this post registers, I will be unsubscribing from all LPNY listserves. -- SG
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