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Open letter to Libertarians
by Steve Kubby
kubby2008@gmail.com

Special to The Libertarian Enterprise

Dear friends and fellow Libertarians,

This weekend, US Representative Ron Paul announced his intention to "scale back" his campaign for the Republican Party's 2008 presidential nomination, acknowledged that he is unlikely to win that nomination, and expressly ruled out seeking the nomination of the Libertarian Party or another "third" party.

As you are probably aware, I endorsed Dr. Paul's GOP presidential campaign, and promised to end my own Libertarian presidential candidacy if that campaign was successful. Many of you disagreed with that decision for various reasons—reasons which I understand and sympathize with.

Be that as it may, I felt compelled to back the play of the vast majority of my fellow libertarians and Libertarians who, like me, saw in Dr. Paul's campaign a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to advance freedom. While I certainly have my disagreements with Dr. Paul, I saw no point in putting myself forward as willing to split "the freedom vote" in the face of such an opportunity. I do not regret my endorsement of Ron Paul. I congratulate him on a hard-fought campaign which introduced hundreds of thousands of Americans to our ideas, and energized tens of thousands of new activists for liberty. I wish him the best as he returns to Congress and continues to fight for our freedom.

Now that Dr. Paul has himself acknowledged that he will not be the Republican nominee for president, it's time for those Libertarians who supported him to turn our attention 100% back to our own party. While Dr. Paul's campaign advanced liberty on many fronts, it has left us, as a party, "behind the curve" and very much in need of catching up in the middle of what is likely both our most challenging and most promising election cycle ever. I hope to see my fellow Libertarians supporting the LP this spring with the same vigor that has characterized their support of Dr. Paul's campaign over the last several months.

A number of candidates have stood forth to seek our party's presidential nomination. I believe myself to be the best of those candidates—the most attuned to our party's platform and principles, the most well-known outside the party itself, the most credible with respect to actual past political accomplishments, and the most prepared to hold our party's banner high in the coming months.

What I believe, of course, is less important than what YOU believe. I invite—indeed, I implore—you to take a close look at all of the candidates seeking your support. Examine our positions. Look at our records. Listen to our debates. Make your decision, and then ACT on that decision by getting involved. Stand for selection as a delegate to the national convention in support of the candidate you prefer. Write a check to the campaign you support. Talk to your friends and get them involved, too.

My campaign web site is located at:

www.kubby2008.com

The Libertarian Party maintains a list of declared presidential candidates at:

www.lp.org/libertydecides/alpha.html

...and offers the opportunity to support the eventual nominee, whomever that may be, at:

www.lp.org/libertydecides

As my campaign cranks up this month with a new round of public appearances and other campaign activities, I look forward to meeting many of you and working with you to make this the Libertarian Party's best year ever.

Let Freedom Grow!

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