Dear Libertarians and Liberty Lovers,

As you sit down to watch the evening news each night, you probably feel alone in your beliefs. You don’t want to see the government throw any more of your money into poor investments or more government power. As each new dilemma crawls across your screen, whether it’s public health care, poor spending practices, or the increasing number of expensive governmental programs, your nose wrinkles at the smell of an overly powerful government — and it should!

Our ominous government is here every day to remind us how small and weak we are as citizens, reminding each of us that our voice is only a single voice calling out, alone. It reminds us that they have the power to make whatever decisions they please while we sit on the sofa and wonder how we’re going to be able to pay the electric bill next month under rising taxes, just so that we can continue to watch our television sets each night.

You may have dusted off your copies of 1984 and Atlas Shrugged. You may have mentioned your woes to a neighbor, but is talking ever going to be enough?

We are citizens! We have the right to free speech, the right to bear arms, and the right to fight back against our nearly omnipotent government. These rights were bestowed upon us by our Founding Fathers, who gave them to us in hopes that we would have life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These rights were given to us so that we could hold back our local, state and federal government’s desire to grow.

Now these governments have gotten out of control. Our Founding Fathers would be disappointed to see how many of our liberties we have sacrificed for the sake of national security, morality, or to avoid being confrontational. These governments are raising our taxes and spending our money ruthlessly and few of us are doing anything to stop them. But these government bodies are made up of individuals like you and I; these are people with homes and families and desks.

Why continue to sit back on the sofa, watching the world around us with disdain any longer? With each election, we face a ballot that lists Democrats, Republicans and the occasional Independent. This is our chance to take back America, to bring real change to our communities, and its time we let our neighbors know that we have a voice.

I write to you today to encourage you to get involved: whether in just a grassroots movement, by running for city council, county commissioner, water shed district, or any other public office, or sign up for a city or county commission which can give us, the liberty-loving citizens of Minnesota, a voice. Should you choose to take this opportunity to make a difference in our communities and governments, the Libertarian Party of Minnesota is here to support you. We will do everything in our power to help you,. Whether you feel that you wouldn’t know how to run a campaign or you wouldn’t know what to say, you have a neighbor who is here to help.

This year there are local city elections in Minneapolis and Ramsey County (including the City of St. Paul) and Ramsey County offices. Remember, Minneapolis will use the run off system for the first time this year. This gives 3rd Parties an extra boost. Next year, there will be numerous city and county offices and the entire MN House is up for reelection. We need volunteers to run for MN House in 2010. Contact the LPMN about running for office, especially local office. Filing to run for local city and county offices only requires a filing fee. I paid $5 to run for mayor in my city last year. The time to file for local non-partisan office this year is from July 7th to July 21st ending at 5pm. This is done at the city or county clerks office.

Remember, government doesn’t create wealth — small businesses and individuals do. Let’s remind the rest of America. Give our children and grandchildren something to live for.

Sincerely,
Bob Odden
Chair LPMN