Libertarians included in neighborhood and smaller debates, but censored from two largest

One local area libertarian pointed out to me 6th and I synagogue is having this forum and did not invite me.  

I am being invited to all the smaller forums (Capitol Hill Arts Center, DC Statehood group, National Capital Area ACLU, DC Youth Alliance) but not this one and the only big one, the WAMU/NPR forum.  I am asking you to help me by writing a letter to Debra Linick at dlinick@jcouncil.org and ask that I be included.  I have contacted her and so has the fellow who first pointed this out to me.

I will also work on finding a contact for the WAMU on air debate, moderated by Kojo Namdi.

Thank you.

Whether I am included or not I and any other libertarians who can will be at the event to flyer the audience.

Libertarian mayoral candidate Bruce Majors at Capitol Hill Arts Workshop forum.

(Independent candidate Carol Schwartz and Green Party candidate faith seated.)

———- Forwarded message ———-
Date: Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Subject: You missed a candidate in your mayoral forum invites
To: Bruce Majors <majors.bruce@gmail.com>

Hi Bruce,

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington is the organization coordinating the candidate forum. Sixth & I is hosting the event, but we are not determining who is actually participating. I would reach out to Debra Linick (dlinick@jcouncil.org) to inquire about being included.

Thanks,
Hannah

Hannah O—–, Communications Manager
Sixth & I – 600 I Street, NW – Washington, DC 20001
Direct: 202.266.4864 | Fax: 202.408.5124 | Web: www.sixthandi.org 

Follow us on Twitter @sixthandi

Join our community Facebook.com/sixthandi

Update:

To send a protest letter to the NPR/WAMU debate email Kojo Namdi at

kojo@wamu.org

Libertarian calendar for April

For Libertarian Party events go here

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April 25
8 pm Pacific

Adam Kokesh on Outright Libertarian radio

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Washington DC
April 30

Who is Happy About Capitalism?

• 12:00pm S

• Show Map Microsoft Innovation & Policy Center 901 K Street NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20001

• 
  

  Find Tickets Tickets Available www.cvent.com

***Register here: http://bit.ly/1pz68P6

Capitalism is the social system for individuals who want to achieve happiness in society. So why is it constantly attacked? Join Tom Bowden for a discussion of Ayn Rand’s unique insights into the system she called an “unknown ideal.”

Lunch will be served.

RSVP is required for attendance.

Register: http://bit.ly/1pz68P6

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Washington DC
April 30

“This Town” by Mark Lebovitch
6th and I Synagogue

7 pm

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•  
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Admission:

Ticket: $14
1 ticket + 1 book: $18
2 tickets + 1 book: $24

How to Purchase:

Online or by phone (877.987.6487 with a $1.50 fee per ticket). Additional fees apply.

Seating:

General Admission

Doors Open:

6:00 pm

Mark Leibovich

In Conversation with Franklin Foer and David Brooks

Apr 30, 2014 • 7:00 pm

Hailed as a “hysterically funny portrait of the capital’s vanities and ambitions” (The New Yorker), This Town: Two Parties and a Funeral—Plus, Plenty of Valet Parking!—in America’s Gilded Capital captured America’s attention asthe political book of 2013.

Washington, D.C., might be loathed from every corner of the nation, yet these are fun and busy days at this nexus of big politics, big money, big media, and big vanity. There are no Democrats and Republicans anymore in the nation’s capital, just millionaires. In This Town,Leibovich—chief national correspondent forThe New York Times Magazine—presents a blistering examination of our ruling class’s incestuous “media industrial complex.”

…  More +

More Info: Twitter

GET TICKETS

ADD TO CALENDAR 

Republican Party caucus attacks D.C. Libertarian mayoral candidate Majors for … wanting to cut defense budget….?

I actually pledge, if elected Mayor of D.C., NOT to remove any of the D.C. government military bases from Japan or Germany. So the Republican Security Council has nothing to fear! – Libertarian mayoral candidate Bruce Majors

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Post by Republican Security Council.

Bruce Majors is the Libertarian Party candidate for Mayor of Washington, DC. He describes himself as part of the “Ron Paul Revolution,” and is an anti-war activist. He is well to the left of Obama and Pelosi on defense, foreign policy and war on terror issues. 

Majors has many conservative friends but is often detrimental to the cause. His focus last year was on the Libertarian gubernatorial nominee in Virginia, and once again, the third party vote snatched victory from a Republican. 

Bruce’s hero, Ron Paul, endorsed GOP nominee Ken Cuccinelli, but that made no difference to him. Libertarian candidates have also cost the GOP five U.S. Senate seats (MN, OR, MT, IN and WA). Of the 10 candidates running for Mayor, Majors is the only avowed homosexual.

He completely supports gay marriage and has worked against candidates who back the Defense of Marriage Act. It would be difficult to challenge his leadership on gay issues. 

The surprise is that he has received the lowest rating possible from the Gay and Lesbian Activist Alliance (GLAA). It has nothing to do with gay issues, but GLAA does not like him because Majors opposes increased government spending and taxation. 

The organization said Majors and “his party’s ideological distrust of government is at odds with policies and reforms favored by GLAA. Consequently, many of his responses were interpreted as non-responsive or negative.” 

This is not a unique response. It has happened to other gay Republicans, and to conservative black and Hispanic candidates. The liberal agenda comes first with many of these national organizations.

Libertarian candidates forum schedule

Libertarians have, as usual, been excluded from a number of forums with increasingly legalistic and more complicated rationalizations, now that we have permanent ballot access and a primary with 7 ballot qualified candidates on the April primary ballot.

In the past gatekeepers and censors protecting DC’s one party monopoly would just say “no one allowed unless they are already on the ballot by April or are in a recognized party.”

This year one Georgetown mayoral forum at Dumbarton Oaks moderated by Current newspapers publisher Davis Kennedy was held with so little advance notice in early January that Libertarians didn’t even really have time to complain about the false advertising – that it was actually a partisan Democrats’ only forum, heavy with Democrats who were polling at 1% and skipped by some of the major Democratic candidates.

Then a coalition of groups led by DC for Democracy held a forum at the 6th and I synagogue (video previously posted here below). The DC4Ders claimed when asked if Libertarians were invited that only candidates in primaries that were contested would be invited. But they were caught in a fib – they in fact only invited Democrats, and two Green Party candidates who were challenging each other in a Green Party primary showed up and claimed a right to speak. And once again the DC4Ders forum was attended by the incumbent mayor and a bunch of Democrats polling at 1% or 2%. Major challengers Jack Evans and Muriel Bowser skipped it.

Similarly the allegedly non-partisan or bi-partisan Kennedy Political Union at American University is holding a mayoral forum in February, and spending the AU corporate dollar advertising it to surrounding neighborhoods. But they only invited Democrats; it’s a partisan forum for the Democratic primary falsely advertised as a mayoral candidates forum. When I contacted them to ask if other parties would be invited, AU public relations director Andrew Huff said “only ballot qualified candidates are invited, so I guess it is in that sense a Democratic forum.”. When I pointed out that I AM a ballot qualified candidate on the April primary ballot he wrote back “oh, I guess it is just for Democrats” and agreed to advertise it more truthfully in the future. One wonders if once again major Democratic candidates will just skip the KPU forum, mainly before students who are not DC voters, but enjoy the advertising money AU spends publicizing their names in advertising to surrounding neighborhoods – a nice gift to grateful incumbents?

Libertarians will be in a growing number of forums in February and March including:

Pranav Badhwar, Ward 6 city council debate, February 20, Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church, 201 4th Street SE, 7 pm

Bruce Majors, Takoma Park/Brightwood/Shepherd Park neighborhood forum by Neighbors Inc. in February and before the ACLU in March (check back for locations and dates).

Some "ballot qualified" candidates are more equal that others…

Mr. Huff responded later saying they would now advertise their Mayoral Forum as a Democrats Only Mayoral Forum.

Of course, of the 8 Democrats who are “ballot qualified” some are polling in the 1-2% region far below the 6-7% DC area Libertarian candidates have been earning the past two years in actual elections.

At least we are on a first name basis!

————————————————————————————————————————-

Good morning, Bruce.

KPU forwarded me your email, as my office has been assisting them in planning the upcoming DC Mayoral debate on campus.

The 2/12 debate is open to all candidates who qualified for the April 1 ballot, of which there are now 8. In a sense, I suppose that this makes it a Democratic primary debate.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

Andrew

Andrew Huff | Director of Community Relations
The American University | Washington, DC 20016
p: 202.885.2167 | f: 202.885.3278

From: “Chandler D. Thornton”
To: Andrew Huff ,
Date: 01/18/2014 04:12 PM
Subject: Fwd: New contact form received

Begin forwarded message:

From: “Bruce Majors, Libertarian for Mayo”
Date: January 18, 2014 at 3:43:16 PM EST
To: kpu@ausg.org
To: kpu@ausg.org
Subject: New contact form received

You have received a new contact form message.
Name : Bruce Majors, Libertarian for Mayor
Email : Majors.bruce@gmail.com
Message : Is the February forum a mayoral candidates forum or. Democratic primary mayoral candidates forum?

It is being advertised as the former.

Thanks for any clarification.

*****************************************************
Here is my response:

I am on the April ballot.

The Libertarians have a primary on the ballot on April 1.

The DC Libertarian Party has had permanent ballot status since 2012, when I ran for Congress and received 17,000 votes.

Our Ward 6 Libertarian candidate is participating in the Ward 6 candidate forum February 20.

I would ask that if your candidate forum is open only to Democrats you advertise it as a forum for Democratic candidates, not for candidates or for ballot qualified candidates, since I (and others) are both of the latter.

Else I will have to point out when people ask me about it that your advertising is fraudulent, even if out of ignorance.

Thank you.

——————————————————————————————————————So American Unversity is excluding me, so far, from it’s mayoral forum, which it has been advertising as a “mayoral forum” not a “Democratic Party forum.”. Their PR person said it is only open to ballot qualified candidates. When I pointed out I am ballot qualified, on the April primary ballot, he responded that “oops, it is just for Democrats.”. He promised that in the thousands of dollars worth of advertising theyare spending in the Current newspapers they will now try to label them as a Democratic candidates forum. Two interesting facts: 1) several of the 8 Democrats are at 1 or 2% in the polls, far below the 6% I got in an actual election in DC in 2012 or the 7% Sarvis got last year in VA and 2) the 8 candidates AU is spending thousands promoting in ads for this forum include the incumbent mayor and at least three incumbent city council members running for mayor – and AU gets a variety of benefits from the DC government.