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Libertarian Party of New York: Difference between revisions
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===1971—1973: Beginnings=== | ===1971—1973: Beginnings=== | ||
The Libertarian Party was established in 1971 and soonafter many states started to work to form state parties. In New York, the party became known as the "Free Libertarian Libertarian." In the June—July 1972 edition of ''[[The Libertarian Forum]]'', Murray Rothbard reported that he joined the Academic Advisory Board for the party. Founding members of the party include [[Ed Clark|Edward]] and [[Alicia Clark]] and [[Jerome J. Klasman]]. Clark served as the Temporary State Chairman as early as April 1972, when Guy Riggs was running for State Assembly, as one of the first Libertarian candidates in the state. Two other Libertarians ran as candidates in 1972: [[Walter Block]] for State Assembly and [[Gary Greenberg]] for U.S. House | The Libertarian Party was established in 1971 and soonafter many states started to work to form state parties. In New York, the party became known as the "Free Libertarian Libertarian." In the June—July 1972 edition of ''[[The Libertarian Forum]]'', Murray Rothbard reported that he joined the Academic Advisory Board for the party. Founding members of the party include [[Ed Clark|Edward]] and [[Alicia Clark]] and [[Jerome J. Klasman]]. Clark served as the Temporary State Chairman as early as April 1972, when Guy Riggs was running for State Assembly, as one of the first Libertarian candidates in the state. Two other Libertarians ran as candidates in 1972: [[Walter Block]] for State Assembly and [[Gary Greenberg]] for U.S. House. | ||
The first meeting of the [[Mid Hudson Libertarian Club]] was held in late September 1972. By this time, [[Jerome J. Klasman]] was Temporary State Chair and was guest speaker to the club's first meeting. | In late October, Riggs suspended his campaign after he received only 900 out of the required 1,500 petition signatures to get on the ballot. It was reported that his campaign received nationwide attention including a network radio commentary. Riggs' campaign committee went on to form the [[Mid Hudson Libertarian Club]]. The first meeting of the [[Mid Hudson Libertarian Club]] was held in late September 1972. By this time, [[Jerome J. Klasman]] was Temporary State Chair and was guest speaker to the club's first meeting. From this club, [[Sanford Cohen]] announced in candidacy for U.S. House for the 25th congressional district in January 1973. The club continued to hold regular meetings throughout the early-to-mid 1970s. | ||
===1973: Founding Convention=== | |||
The Free Libertarian Party held its founding convention on the weekend of March 29—April 1, 1973 at the Williams Club in Manhattan. Rothbard gives an account of the convention in the April 1974 edition of ''[[The Libertarian Forum]]''. The following is an excerpt describing his observations of the people, reporting that there were about 95 in attendence: | |||
<blockquote>"To end the suspense, dear reader. I entered the Williams Club a hopeful skeptic and emerged, exhausted but enthusiastic, forty-eight hours later a celebrant. To my joyful surprise, here was a group of men and women almost all intelligent, dedicated, and knowledgeable about liberty. Here, despite a predictably wide spectrum of temperaments and ideologies, despite occasional emotional hassles, yes despite a twelve (or was it thirteen) hour session on amending the by-laws, here was a group of attractive and intelligent young people who almost literally exuded a spirit of warmth, love, and respect for each other and for the common cause. It was truly a sight to behold. At the risk of being maudlin, I affirm that it was indeed a privilege to be present at the creation of the Free Libertarian Party of New York.” | |||
As we shall see further below, the “instincts” of this rather large group of people (approximately 95) were remarkably sound: a blend of high libertarian principle and good common sense and mutual respect that is all too rare in or out of the Movement. And these were Real People; gone was the old predominance of hophead kids, stoned out of their minds and mumbling about “freedom”. These were young people with feet on the ground, who do things, who work in the world: scholars, engineers, television people, advertising men, civil servants. I would say that the typical FLP member is an ex-Objectivist with none of the unfortunate personality traits of the latter, who has been moving rapidly into, or on the edge of, anarcho-capitalism. But both the anarcho-capitalists and the sizable minority of limited archists (or “minarchists”, to use the happy phrase of Sam Konkin), showed a happy willingness to work together for the large spectrum of common ends. | |||
And then, wonder of wonders to a veteran of the New York movement, there was actually a sizable number of girls at the Convention, ranging moreover from attractive to ravishing (and if this be Male Chauvinism, then make the most of it!) It was also a standing wry joke in the New York movement that the proportion of females ranged from zero to somewhere around one per cent: surely this new quantum leap is a fine omen for the growth and success of the movement. Furthermore, I had personally met no more than a dozen of the delegates before — and this in a movement whose members for a long while barely spilled over the confines of a small living room!''</blockquote> | |||
===1973—1974=== | |||
In [[1973]], it ran a slate of candidates in the New York City municipal elections including [[Fran Youngstein]] for mayor and [[Gary Greenberg]] for Manhattan district attorney. The LPNY has run statewide candidates regularly since [[1974]] when its candidate for governor was [[Jerome Tuccille]]. | |||
<blockquote>"It is a measure of the state of the Free Libertarian Party of New York that our marathon annual convention (March 29-31) was scarcely enough to finish the Party business. This despite a preceding Special Convention at which we wrangled over the party logo and chose delegates to the National Convention in Dallas in June, and despite the fact that the Convention began every morning promptly at 10:00 A. M. and lasted through special caucuses and post-mortems until after the bars closed at 3:00 A. M. Yet we concluded with no resolutions on issues and no platform. these being put back to yet another mini-convention at the end of April. Three conventions in two months begins to resemble the unfortunate and frenetic Peace and Freedom Party of 1968, which reached a crescendo of almost continuous conventioneering before its rapid demise." | <blockquote>"It is a measure of the state of the Free Libertarian Party of New York that our marathon annual convention (March 29-31) was scarcely enough to finish the Party business. This despite a preceding Special Convention at which we wrangled over the party logo and chose delegates to the National Convention in Dallas in June, and despite the fact that the Convention began every morning promptly at 10:00 A. M. and lasted through special caucuses and post-mortems until after the bars closed at 3:00 A. M. Yet we concluded with no resolutions on issues and no platform. these being put back to yet another mini-convention at the end of April. Three conventions in two months begins to resemble the unfortunate and frenetic Peace and Freedom Party of 1968, which reached a crescendo of almost continuous conventioneering before its rapid demise." | ||