The Libertarian Party’s 2008 national convention is being held in Denver, Colorado, from May 23rd through the 26th. The Iowa party’s 2006 gubernatorial candidate, Kevin Litten, called AroundDesMoines.com to provide a report on the first day.
The Libertarian Party requires its would-be presidents and vice presidents to mingle with delegates to the convention. Each delegate has a piece of paper that is called a token and the candidates must collect enough tokens that they can then advance to the next round of the nominating process. This necessity forces the candidates to work the delegates just as Republican and Democratic candidates woo Iowa caucus goers with personal conversations and attention.
States are awarded delegates to the national convention based on the size of their state membership and on the number of votes cast for the Libertarian candidate in the previous presidential election. Iowa has nine delegates, mostly due to the size of the party. Other states have more delegates as a result of the presidential votes cast. The Iowa delegation notes that the state has about 1% of the national population and about 1% of the party’s delegates.
There are a total of 1,024 delegates permitted at the convention. About 20 people said they were running for president, but only 11 are at the convention. In the first round of elimination, a candidate must gather 30 tokens. In the second round, candidates will probably need to gather about 80. (The exact number required is a percentage of the total delegates registered on Saturday morning.) Candidates who meet the second challenge may participate in a debate sponsored by C-SPAN (to be shown at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, 9:30 a.m. Sunday).
Litten talked about meeting Bob Barr on Friday. “There was this guy chewing on his ear about medical marijuana.” Litten said Barr wasn’t keen on supporting that issue and described the candidate as “a drug warrior extraordinare back in his Republican days.” Litten compared Barr’s campaign style to that of Bill Clinton, i.e., schmooze, shake hands, and schmooze some more. (Barr’s congressional biography indicates he was born in Iowa City in 1948.)
While the Republican and Democratic parties tend to avoid sex and other topics, the Libertarians embrace them. Litten said one of the candidates, Daniel Williams posed naked for the cover of his book, The Naked Truth about Drugs. (Williams is listed on a Libertarian Party website as having withdrawn his candidacy in April.) In addition, a local strip club, Shotgun Willy’s, provided a free entrance pass in delegates’ packets. The bar also has an information table at the convention, as do Mutual of Omaha and other businesses.
Another candidate, whose name Litten could not remember, rode his motorcycle from New York to the Denver convention. Litten said this person didn’t have “an ice cube’s chance in hell” of winning the nomination. The candidate’s intelligent but his body language and gestures are not those associated with the image of a president.
M.R. Field wrote this post for AroundDesMoines.com based on information supplied mostly by Mr. Litten.
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