[Lnc-business] Larry Elder to moderate convention debate

[Wes Benedict]

The Convention Committee has chosen Larry Elder to serve as the 
moderator of the Libertarian Party presidential debate, March 28, at our 
national convention in Orlando.

Mr. Elder, a long-time radio and television host, is an interesting 
choice. Not everyone was for it. He's been a fairly strong supporter of 
libertarian principles on many issues over the years, and voted for 
Libertarian Harry Browne for President in 2000. However, when it comes 
to foreign policy, he's been rather hawkish, and he voted for Bush in 
2004. Some would also have differences with Elder on some civil 
liberties issues.

Mr. Elder has recently tweeted positive comments about Donald Trump. I 
should note that, once it became clear on May 3rd that Donald Trump 
would be the Republican nominee, our new dues-paying memberships at 
https://www.lp.org/membership started skyrocketing, and people were 
leaving negative comments about Trump.  We're picking up a lot of the 
anti-Trump folks, and I don't want people to mistakenly associate 
Libertarians with Trump.

On one hand, you might think we shouldn't invite someone like Elder to 
our convention, and find someone more consistently supportive of the 
Libertarian Party. On the other hand, the Republican and Democratic 
nominees routinely face hostile debate moderators. I wouldn't call Mr. 
Elder a hostile interviewer. He might be tough on some issues, but I'm 
confident our candidates can handle it.

Mr. Elder was recruited by a Libertarian who also found a donor to cover 
the entire cost of having Mr. Elder attend. I point that out because I 
know that some of our members would be upset if they thought their 
contributions were helping to fund Mr. Elder's participation in our 
convention.

The decision was not mine. I just want to let people know in advance, so 
it's not a big surprise to everyone at the last minute.

Finally, I encourage all of our candidates for President to be prepared 
for tough questions, especially on foreign policy, and be prepared to 
knock them out of the park!

You can purchase a ticket to the debate for $20 here: 
http://libertarian.nationbuilder.com/register

See you in Orlando!

Thanks,

-- 
Wes Benedict, Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314
(202) 333-0008 ext. 232, wes.benedict at lp.org
facebook.com/libertarians @LPNational
Join the Libertarian Party at: http://lp.org/membership

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