R. Lee Wrights and Gary Johnson will participate in the Libertarian Party’s Presidential Debate tonight in Las Vegas. It will be broadcast live on CSPAN1 beginning at 9 p.m. EST.
They are the only participants who qualified for the debate.
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BURNET, Texas – It’s been nearly two years since I began this campaign to earn the Libertarian Party presidential nomination. From the beginning I stated my goal clearly and I’ve stuck to it. I said then that the Libertarian Party faces a critical test in 2012 and I want to make sure we’re up to the challenge. The Libertarian message in 2012 must be a loud, clear and unequivocal call to stop the wars! Stop the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, stop the war on drugs and alternative lifestyles, stop the war on civil liberties – stop all war.
At every presidential debate, state party convention and event I’ve attended, I’ve asked libertarian activists to join me in saying ‘I am not at war,’ and I’ve been encouraged and inspired by their response. It has been my honor to take part in forums with my fellow presidential candidates. I’ve learned some things from them, and I hope they have learned some things from me.
The only thing that has changed is that today it’s even more critical that the Libertarian Party’s candidate for President of the United States is ready, willing and able to present a clear, principled, unwavering and unequivocal libertarian message that offers Americans radically different answers to our nation’s problems, not variations or modifications of the false solutions promoted by Democrats and Republicans.
Here’s the second TV spot, suitable for customization by local Libertarian candidates, produced by the Lee Wrights for President Campaign:
Candidates and local or state organizations interested in obtaining these spots for their campaign should contact Thomas Hill.
BURNET, Texas – Every day during this campaign I’ve become more and more convinced that it’s vitally important for the Libertarian Party to recruit and train good libertarian messengers. At every event I’ve attended, I have met eager, young (and some not-so-young) libertarian activists who are prime candidates for this mission. All they need are tools with which to work and build this party.
Their dedication and enthusiasm always rejuvenates me and gives me the energy to continue my pursuit of the Libertarian presidential nomination. It reaffirms my commitment to make sure that the Libertarian Party’s standard-bearer in 2012 is ready, willing and able to proclaim a loud, clear, and unequivocally principled libertarian message. But more than that, it inspires me to write articles like this, which I hope can serve as tools for training, so that Libertarians can become stronger and more effective libertarian messengers.
Like many libertarians who choose to engage in the political process, I’ve embraced the Libertarian Party as my family. One question I’m asked quite often, by both libertarians and non-libertarians, is “How did you come to join the Libertarian Party?” The reason has nothing at all to do with what anyone said or did. There was no political argument or discussion, no reasoned debate point that convinced me to join the Libertarian Party.
Liberty-Candidates has endorsed Lee Wrights as a presidential candidate. Here is their press release:
Liberty-Candidates.org enthusiastically welcomes R. Lee Wrights to the growing slate of candidates championing a return to Constitutional governance in the United States. A Liberty Candidate will defend the great American principles of:
- Individual liberty
- Constitutional government
- Sound money
- Free markets
- A non-interventionist foreign policy.
This endorsement is the hallmark of a true Liberty Candidate. To qualify, candidates must submit answers to the liberty questions. Then, each application is voted on by a committee made up of peers and other liberty minded individuals. Each candidate’s website is visited by committee members to see that a candidate’s answers and his/her stance on the issues coincide.
With candidates like R. Lee Wrights serving the people at the city, county, state and federal level, there is real hope for change in America.
Let Freedom Ring!
Gigi Bowman, Founder
gigi@liberty-candidates.org
Lee will be the guest on Ernest Hancock’s radio show Declare Your Independence Thursday (April 19) from 6-9 a.m. PST. You can listen online here.
BURNET, Texas – America has always had an “illegal immigration” problem. Just ask any Native American. During a conversation with a Cherokee chief several years ago I asked him, “What did the native tribes call America before the white settlers came here?” He looked me straight in the eyes and solemnly replied, “Ours.”
This immigration debate is a classic example of why libertarians must become better communicators. Libertarians and others advocating immigration law reform talk about “open borders.” Conservatives, on the other hand, insist America must have “secure borders.” Both sides use these terms as if they were mutually exclusive. They’re not. They’re opposite sides of the same coin. It’s possible to have borders that are both open and secure.
The problem is that the term “open borders” is not specific enough to convey to a listener what we actually mean. When some people hear the words “open borders” they immediately envision an invading army marching across our borders unchallenged. On the other hand, when others (particularly libertarians) hear open borders, all that it means is accessibility for peaceful people to come and go.
As far as I’m concerned, we have open borders now. You go through a checkpoint at the border and if you are on the up and up, you’re allowed to pass unmolested.
“Wow! I come to Ft. Worth for debate and I stand before a larger crowd than any state convention we’ve been to yet.” – R. Lee Wrights
Dallas Libertarian Examiner Garry Reed reports on the Libertarian presidential debate in Fort Worth:
“The local mainstream media may have missed the best show in town, The Texas Presidential Candidates Debate for the Libertarian Party nomination for President of the United States, held in downtown Ft. Worth Saturday evening” Read more.
UPDATE:
The Texas Libertarian Party not only conducted one of the best Libertarian presidential candidate debates thus far, it also produced this excellent video of the event. The debate was held April 7 in Forth Worth.
Go to the Texas LP YouTube Channel to watch the complete debate, or the candidates responses on specific topics. Here is Lee’s responses to the question about tax policy:
BURNET, Texas – In the 1960s Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian educator and philosopher, coined the phrase “the medium is the message.” He meant that the method used to convey a message, the medium, becomes part of the message itself and affects the way the message is perceived. His ideas about technology and human communication were revolutionary. He predicted the advent of the World Wide Web, even though he was writing 30 years before the web and social media like Facebook and Twitter blossomed.
Anyone trying to explain libertarian ideas should remember that “the medium is the message.” They should also keep in mind that the messenger is a medium, so you could say “the messenger is the message.” In many situations the libertarian messenger may be even more important than the message.
People won’t listen to you if they don’t like you, or if you don’t present yourself well. They won’t listen to you if you project an attitude of superiority, if you sound like you think you’re smarter than they are. They won’t listen to you if you call them stupid, or ignorant, or summarily dismiss whatever they say. They won’t listen to you if you argue instead of trying to persuade, or if you are loud or abusive, if you rant and rave.
"I am not at war!"
-R. Lee Wrights
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