My Front Porch Campaign

Release: Boston Tea Party "official in Florida;" adds affiliates, endorsements

2008-07-30T10:27:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
07/30/08
POC Thomas L. Knapp
media@bostontea.us
314-750-6993

BOSTON TEA PARTY "OFFICIAL IN FLORIDA;" ADDS AFFILIATES, ENDORSEMENTS

Cyberspace -- The Boston Tea Party, America's new libertarian alternative, is a registration option for Florida's voters. The Florida BTP, which filed recognition paperwork earlier this month, now appears on the Secretary of State's official list of parties and party committees.

The party, which conducts its national affairs entirely online, has also added two new state affiliates since mid-month, recognizing new party organizations in Louisiana and North Carolina.

The field of BTP-endorsed candidates for public office has grown from three to 13 since mid-July with the addition of candidates from Alabama (Darryl Perry for US Senate), Indiana (Andrew Horning for Governor), Michigan (Jason Gatties for Lake Michigan College Board and Neil Kiernan Stephenson for Congress), North Carolina (Christopher Cole for US Senate and Susan Hogarth for State Representative), Tennessee (Lisa Leeds for State Representative and Daniel Lewis for US Senate) and Texas (Ron Darby for State Representative and John Roemer for Brazos County Tax Assessor).

The Boston Tea Party's state affiliates and national committee offer the party's endorsement to candidates who request it and who in turn endorse the party's one-sentence platform: "The Boston Tea Party supports reducing the size, scope and power of government at all levels and on all issues, and opposes increasing the size, scope and power of government at any level, for any purpose."

The party's presidential candidate, Charles Jay of Florida, has secured ballot access in Colorado, expects to appear on the November ballot in Florida and Louisiana, and is preparing to launch a petition drive in Tennessee. Jay was nominated in an online national party convention in June. The party's national membership recently passed the 200 mark.

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Boston Tea Party web site:
http://www.bostontea.us

On Testicular Fortitude

2008-07-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

Voter: Really, I’m a Libertarian at heart.
David Bergland: Well, when it reaches your balls, give me a call.

That's from a post at Positive Liberty by Jim Babka of Downsize DC. Best. LP. Quote. Ever.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking: Knapp's gonna give Babka what for over his treatment of the Boston Tea Party and Charles Jay's excoriation of Barr.

Nope. I want to talk about that, but not in precisely the way you might think.

It's true that I've sworn off my support for the Barr campaign, and that I've described Barr's candidacy as Dixiecrat 2008, and I stand by that characterization. Having already rhetorically positioned Barr alongside Strom Thurmond, George Wallace and Lester Maddox, I didn't feel any great need to weigh in on his Jesse Helms eulogy. Coals to Newcastle and all that.

And I do want to respond briefly to Babka on two points, so let's get that out of the way:

I don't know if this party will have their candidate on a single ballot. They appear to exist entirely for unherdable cats, hell-bent on criticizing the LP.

As it happens, the Boston Tea Party's presidential ticket is on the ballot in Colorado, will be on the ballot in Florida and Guam, and will likely manage several other states (we're looking at possibles in Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and New Jersey). We've got nine state affiliates with more organizing right now. We got started too late this year to run down-ticket slates of our own, but we're endorsing and aiding a number of independents and candidates of other parties who in turn endorse our platform. One prospective endorsee, an LP candidate, just emailed me to mention that she had received a campaign contribution just from asking for our endorsement.

Ultimately, we're not anti-Libertarian Party ... we're pro-libertarian. Conditions are such that that may be less than perfectly clear to all right now, but we'll get there.

I'm not going to apologize for Charles Jay's critique. He said some things that needed to be said -- not just because they're true, but because at this point in its existence, the Boston Tea Party very much needs to explain itself to the rest of the freedom movement. We need our fellow libertarians to understand why we're doing what we're doing.

Nonetheless, I don't think that Jim's criticism is entirely unjustified. So far, the BTP's existence and career as a party has been closely tied to various critiques of the LP. That's just a fact. There's no disputing it and I'm not going to try.

Babka refers to the BTP as a "spin-off" -- but I think maybe he's giving us too much credit. We haven't really spun off yet. Rather, we've remained, to a large degree, in the LP's orbit. Our criticisms have so far largely been leveled at the LP and its presidential candidate rather than at the status quo parties and their candidates. On the positive side, we've been happy to endorse LP candidates who meet our standards.

This election cycle is the adolescence of the Boston Tea Party.

In our infancy (from 2006 to earlier this year) we were half-in, half-out of the LP. I offered a resolution at the BTP's organizational convention which would have constituted it as an internal caucus of the LP. That resolution was rejected by the members, but we didn't go in the opposite direction that year, either.

This year, we've decided to start doing the things a "real" political party does. We've nominated candidates for office and we're working to put those candidates on the ballot. We're chartering state affiliates so that we can hit the ground running in 2010 with congressional and state legislative slates. We're establishing recruitment efforts that stand on their own and don't rely on the internal LP "dissatisfaction grapevine."

Between now and 2012, I expect that the BTP will grow into young adulthood, establish itself as a proven, permanent third party ... and of course make its best attempt to do better than other third parties have done and break into "the big leagues."

The reality is that there are now two libertarian political parties on America's electoral landscape, and that (in certain respects at least) the newer one is coming up fast in the older one's rearview mirror.

Breaking up is hard to do ... but perhaps it needn't be as painful as we're making it. Can we just be friends? OK, well, maybe not, at least for the three months and change while the LP conducts its "great experiment" and the BTP embarks on its "maiden voyage." But ...

Odds are that there will always be cross-traffic between the LP and the BTP as angry or discontented libertarians of one seek expression in the other (or, as is now the case, participate in both). It's a safe bet that the two parties will bring different approaches to the longstanding and vexing problem of electing candidates to office. Hopefully as time goes on, the two parties will learn to, well, learn, from each others' mistakes and from each others' successes instead of just going at each other.

I'm not going to promise to go easy on Bob Barr. The LP made that bed, and now it (we -- I'm still an LP member and candidate) gets to lie in it. But I can, and do, promise you that I'll do my best as a member of the Boston Tea Party to make that party about more than internecine freedom movement conflicts. We have bigger game to hunt, and we're just now getting our boots on.

Thoughts on candidate "leadership"

2008-06-18T13:10:00.000-07:00

I don't want you to follow me or anyone else. I would not lead you into the promised land if I could, because if I could lead you in, somebody else would lead you out. -- Eugene Debs

As a candidate for Vice-President of the United States, I don't see myself as a "leader" per se. I'm not asking anyone to follow me. Rather, I'm pointing the way to a better place and asking voters to come with me to that place -- even, in effect, to carry me to that place on their shoulders by casting their vote for me (and, of course, for the candidate whose running mate I am). The nature of any "better place" in electoral politics is such that either we all get there together, or none of us gets there at all. Yes, this raises important questions about the value of electoral politics -- but that's the game we're playing, so let's understand the rules.

So ... why bother? As a candidate of a new, small "third party" I probably have a better chance of propelling myself to the moon by sticking my head between my knees and exhaling than of moving into a new residence at the Naval Observatory next January. I have no expectation that Charles Jay and I shall ride on your shoulders down Pennsylvania Avenue to an inauguration ceremony after November's election.

The simple answer is: Everything starts somewhere, and sometimes it has to start again and again and again before it really gets going.

My purpose as a vice-presidential candidate is to help find more shoulders for the next ticket to ride on. It's to help define the battle lines, to persuade as many of you as possible to the right side of those lines, and to arm you with a weapon: Your vote -- your check mark next to the names of candidates who stand for freedom, who stand with the productive class versus the political class, who are on your side, not just on a checklist of policy issues (although that's important, too) but on the fundamental question of who is entitled to run your life.

Voting for the Boston Tea Party's ticket this November constitutes a powerful moral statement that only you can make, and only for yourself. It is an announcement that you -- not the state, not the state's agents, not the state's cronies, not the parasitic "power elites," but you alone -- own your mind, your body and the product of your labor, and that you intend to exercise and defend that ownership.

That statement's value is not dependent upon how many people make it. Its value subsists in the act of you standing up to make it. Candidates and parties are mere lightning bugs -- your declaration of self-ownership is the lightning bolt.

Yes, the numbers are important in making that statement stick -- but that's where "leadership" comes in. Charles Jay is not the "leader." I'm not the "leader," either. YOU are your own leader, if you need one. Charles Jay, myself and the party we represent, are nothing more or less than convenient labels which we invite YOU to offer those around you as a tool for making the same statement, and taking the same leadership role, for themselves. The entire value of a libertarian political party or candidacy lies in its function as a metaphorical flag for people of like mind to gather round. The flag is not the parade. You, and those who march with you, are.

Remember this well: If the day comes when a BTP (or other allegedly libertarian) presidential slate rides down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the inauguration stage, that party and those candidates will not have set you free -- you and your fellows will have set yourselves free, or at least taken a giant step toward doing so. The candidates and the party will remain nothing more than labels representing YOUR decision to seize the day and seize your freedom. And if for any reason you are ever forced to choose between the label and the substance, I hope the correct choice is obvious.

Release: Boston Tea Party presents presidential slate for Colorado ballot

2008-06-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
06/18/08
POC Thomas L. Knapp
media@bostontea.us
314-750-6993

BOSTON TEA PARTY PRESENTS PRESIDENTIAL SLATE FOR COLORADO BALLOT

DENVER -- America's new libertarian political party submitted its 2008 slate of electors to Colorado's Secretary of State Tuesday in anticipation of contesting this November's presidential election.

Wes Pinchot , chair of the state's Boston Tea Party, turned in the name of Charles Jay as that party's 2008 presidential candidate. Because of logistical problems in securing paperwork for national BTP vice-presidential nominee Thomas L. Knapp, the party's veep candidate here will be Colorado's own Dan Sallis, Jr.

Also submitted were the names of nine constitutionally mandated electors, who will cast votes in the Electoral College if the Jay/Sallis ticket carries the state in November.

The Boston Tea Party was founded in 2006 around a one-sentence platform: "The Boston Tea Party supports reducing the size, scope and power of government at all levels and on all issues, and opposes increasing the size, scope and power of government at any level, for any purpose."

The party's 2008 presidential slate was nominated Sunday and Monday in online voting, the culmination of a process which began in May with a Denver meeting of the party's national leadership. Colorado is the first state in which the party's ticket has qualified for the ballot. Party leaders say they also expect to seek ballot access in Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, Tennessee and Utah.

The party's web site is located at http://www.bostontea.us.

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Release: Boston Tea Party nominates 2008 presidential ticket

2008-06-17T10:43:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
06/16/08
POC Thomas L. Knapp
media@bostontea.us
314-750-6993

BOSTON TEA PARTY NOMINATES 2008 PRESIDENTIAL TICKET

CYBERSPACE -- The first American political party to hold its national convention online has now nominated a presidential ticket online as well. In a 24-hour polling process on June 15-16, the Boston Tea Party's members chose media consultant and content developer Charles Jay as their 2008 standard-bearer.

"I look forward to the challenge of spreading a message that directly relates to increasing freedom and liberty," said Jay, 47, of Hollywood, Florida. "The Boston Tea Party's platform and program represent the true fulfillment of what the Founding Fathers envisioned."

Jay received the support of 76% of voting Boston Tea Party members in a nomination poll conducted using "approval voting," in which voters may support more than one candidate. Second-place finisher Robert Milnes polled 14%, while "None Of The Above," a required polling option in all party selection votes, received 24%.

"As someone who is not a professional politician, I see this as the continuation of an amazing journey," said Jay, who appeared on Utah's ballot as the 2004 nominee of that state's Personal Choice Party. "A tremendous learning experience and a great collaboration between people who are committed to decreasing the size, scope and power of an all-too powerful government."

Thomas L. Knapp of Missouri, the party's founder, received the vice-presidential nomination in a four-cornered race with Todd Andrew Barnett of Michigan, Chris Bennett of Illinois and NOTA.

The Boston Tea Party was founded in 2006. This is its first electoral outing, and its ticket is expected to appear on the ballot in several states.

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Party Web Site: http://www.bostontea.us
Presidential Campaign Web Site: http://www.cj08.com
Vice-Presidential Campaign Blog: http://www.myfrontporchcampaign.com

Vice-presidential acceptance "speech"

2008-06-17T08:07:00.000-07:00

[Note: Cross-posted from the Boston Tea Party web site - TLK]

Good morning, Boston Tea Partiers!

I wanted to sleep on it before addressing my sincere thanks to all of you for honoring me with our party's 2008 vice-presidential nomination. The matter seems to me to be a bit more solemn than would allow for pre-written or "canned" material. So, let me open with that thank you. Thank you!

Thanks also to all of the other candidates who stood for nomination to this ticket: Robert Milnes, Todd Andrew Barnett and Chris Bennett and of course our presidential nominee, Charles Jay.

In the days leading up to our nominating convention I spoke with our nominee, Charles Jay, a number of times. We discussed the opportunities this election represents for the party and how best to exploit them. As the vice-presidential nominee, I intend to assist Charles as best possible and to follow his lead in bringing the Boston Tea Party's message of freedom to America.

Discussing those things with Charles and having an in-depth, detailed action plan are of course two different things. Planning for the post-nomination and planning as the nominees are also two different things. So, what I'm bringing to you this morning is at least partly speculation on my part. But here's how I see this campaign proceeding:

- Even as we speak, the party's Colorado affiliate is doing the last-minute work to put our ticket on the ballot in that state. The deadline is today. Because I was unable to get a notarized declaration of intent to our Colorado stalwarts in time, the vice-presidential slot will be filled with a stand-in candidate (possibly Todd Andrew Barnett, or Colorado's own Wes Pinchot).

- Other likely or possible states on which the BTP's ticket may appear include Utah, New Jersey, Louisiana, Tennessee and most especially Florida. Because our presidential nominee lives in Florida and is working with others to build a robust affiliate party, I expect that the campaign's main "personal" focus to be in that state. To the extent that my personal finances allow, I will make myself available to personally campaign in any or all of these states.

- The presidential campaign web site is under development and should be unveiled shortly. As a sort of side project / campaign diary, I'll be blogging at My Front Porch Campaign.

- Our Internet strategy is developing, but I consider its three main elements to be: a) The extensive publication of policy articles by the candidates, naturally linking back to campaign and/or party web sites; b) Developing a relationship with the "net roots" through frequent candidate conference calls for political bloggers and other journalists; and c) As much online advertising as we can procure (purchased and donated in-kind by party members and supporters).

Of course, the above simply covers how and where we'll be saying what we have to say. Just as important is the what. As the vice-presidential candidate, I consider the party's platform and program to be the appropriate lodestars.

Since the party's current program is two years old, I anticipate that Charles may develop a presidential campaign program which is slightly different (but no less, and possibly more, radically "smaller-government"). If so, I'll naturally conduct my own campaign activities with promoting that program in mind.

In my opinion, the purpose of this year's campaign is primarily to grow the Boston Tea Party by positioning it as the most reliably pro-freedom party in America. This kind of promotion must occur not only in states where we manage 2008 ballot access, but in states where we intend to secure ballot access two or four years from now (which is ALL of them).

Two years from now, I want to see local, state-level and congressional candidates running on the Boston Tea Party line in 20 or more states. Four years from now, I want to see our presidential ticket and candidates at all other levels on the ballot in 50 states, in the District of Columbia, and in the US territories. I know that you want to see those things as well.

Those goals are not easily achieved -- especially for a party which is unwilling to sacrifice its principles to achieve them.

This process is going to take a lot of effort on the part of a lot of people. Our 2008 presidential campaign is the first major step in bringing aboard those people and inspiring them to that effort. Thank you for entrusting to me a major role in that task.

Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Boston Tea Partier for Vice-President

The Front Porch Campaign: An Introduction

2008-06-13T12:52:00.001-07:00

Sez Wikipedia:

In American political parlance, a front porch campaign is one in which the candidate remains at home and makes speeches to supporters who come to visit but does not travel around or otherwise actively campaign.

I write this on the cautiously optimistic assumption that the members of the Boston Tea Party will select me as their 2008 vice-presidential nominee this coming Sunday.

If so, I suspect that my campaign will be, for the most part, "front porch" -- and that the porch in question will be a virtual Internet porch, namely this blog. I don't want all of you milling around in my front yard. My real front porch isn't big enough to harangue a crowd from anyway, and the little town I live in has more ordinances than it does people, many of which could, and probably would, be brought to bear on such gatherings (no word on whether my own proposed ordinance, which would change the city's name from "Greendale" to "Pyongyang-on-Mississippi," has been adopted yet).

I don't plan to stay home -- one nice thing about a virtual front porch is that it will pack comfortably into a laptop when I'm out on the hustings agitating for freedom -- and you don't have to pony up $4 per gallon to come see me, either. Just point your browser this way and BAM! ... here we are socializing on the steps with cold drinks and a lot to talk about.

So, that's that ... my "front porch campaign" really isn't, but let's just keep that between you and me and the fencepost. Yes, I have a virtual fencepost around here somewhere, too.

More later.