Libertarian Party

Long-shot presidential candidate Mike Gravel, 77, told supporters that he was leaving the Democratic Party to join the Libertarian Party. Gravel, a former Democratic senator from Alaska, said in an e-mail that the Democratic Party "no longer represents my vision for our great country." "It is a party that continues to sustain war, the military-industrial complex and imperialism -- all of which I find anathema to my views," Gravel said.

Gary Johnson ended his long-shot bid for the Republican presidential nomination Wednesday, announcing instead that he'll continue his quest for the White House under the Libertarian Party banner. "I don't view this as leaving the Republican Party as much as the Republican Party leaving me," the former two-term New Mexico governor said at an event at the state Capitol in Santa Fe. Johnson's campaign lacked the resources and media attention of other Republicans, though he did manage to qualify for three of the 13 televised debates so far. After outlining a strategy to win the nomination based on a strong showing in the New Hampshire primary, he nearly missed the deadline to qualify, scrambling to arrange an overnight flight to get to the Statehouse on the final day of the filing period.

Voters: This election year you have finally a chance to send a real message to the politicians who have been doing a number on you all of your life. The media would have you believe Buck McKeon, U.S. representative, 25th District, is running unopposed. But he is not. Bruce Acker, a Libertarian, is running against him. The media will tell you the Libertarian Party is for legalizing drugs. Well, they are. Basically because this is a freedom for you to do to your own body whatever you want.

JOHN HOSPERS 1st Libertarian presidential candidate John Hospers, 93, a USC philosophy professor who became the Libertarian Party's first presidential nominee and received one electoral vote in the 1972 election won by Richard Nixon in a landslide, died Sunday in Los Angeles, the Libertarian Party announced. The cause was not disclosed. The newly formed Libertarian Party nominated Hospers and running mate Tonie Nathan at its first convention, held in Colorado in 1972.

David F. Nolan, whose disgruntlement with conventional politics ? especially President Nixon's imposition of wage and price controls in 1971 ? drove him to launch the Libertarian Party with a small group of friends, has died. He was 66. Nolan apparently was stricken while driving his car Saturday night in Tucson and was taken to a hospital, where he died Sunday, Libertarian Party Chairman Mark Hinkle said. The cause of death has not been determined. Nolan also was known for his invention of the Nolan Chart, a visual representation of political ideologies that classifies people according to their attitudes on personal and economic freedom, two of the principles Libertarians hold dear.

In his column about Libertarian Bill Carroll's refusal to take a handout from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (March 27), Scott Harris unfairly referred to the Libertarian Party as being "anti-government." Nothing could be further from the truth. We are not anti-government. Rather, we are pro personal responsibility. We think government is very important when it comes to defending rights of individuals and the security of our borders. It is only in the many areas where we citizens have allowed government (often with a heavy hand)

This week's national convention of the Libertarian Party will include seminars on such topics as "how to introduce Libertarianism to your friends without appearing to be a fool," the state chairman said. About 300 party representatives, "a small but feisty bunch," as Arizona Chairman Ken Sturzenacker called them, will open their 10th convention on Wednesday. They will elect party officials and update platform and bylaws.

John R. Vernon, the Libertarian Party candidate in the 23rd Congressional District, opened his campaign Friday at a news conference where he called for measures to eliminate the federal budget deficit and give voters the ability to veto congressional actions. He also began airing radio advertisements Friday. Vernon, 48, of Van Nuys, owns a catering business and is the Libertarian Party chairman of the San Fernando Valley region.

Steve Kubby, the 1998 Libertarian candidate for governor of California, and his wife are expected to be arraigned today on suspicion of cultivating about 300 marijuana plants at their home, officials said. Kubby, 52, and his wife, Michele, 32, were arrested Tuesday when police raided their home near Lake Tahoe. They were booked at Placer County Jail on suspicion of unauthorized cultivation, harvesting and processing of marijuana, possession with intent to sell, and conspiracy.

JOHN HOSPERS 1st Libertarian presidential candidate John Hospers, 93, a USC philosophy professor who became the Libertarian Party's first presidential nominee and received one electoral vote in the 1972 election won by Richard Nixon in a landslide, died Sunday in Los Angeles, the Libertarian Party announced. The cause was not disclosed. The newly formed Libertarian Party nominated Hospers and running mate Tonie Nathan at its first convention, held in Colorado in 1972.

Ron Paul, the patriarch of the libertarian stream in GOP politics, will announce on Tuesday that he is forming a presidential exploratory committee, taking a step to join the Republican nomination sweepstakes. Paul, who will be 76 in August, has served about 20 years in the House representing districts in Texas, most recently the 14th, which includes Galveston. He is a doctor by training, having served as a flight surgeon in the Air Force and in private practice as a gynecologist.

David F. Nolan, whose disgruntlement with conventional politics ? especially President Nixon's imposition of wage and price controls in 1971 ? drove him to launch the Libertarian Party with a small group of friends, has died. He was 66. Nolan apparently was stricken while driving his car Saturday night in Tucson and was taken to a hospital, where he died Sunday, Libertarian Party Chairman Mark Hinkle said. The cause of death has not been determined. Nolan also was known for his invention of the Nolan Chart, a visual representation of political ideologies that classifies people according to their attitudes on personal and economic freedom, two of the principles Libertarians hold dear.

If Sen. Lisa Murkowski is to overcome a 1,668-vote deficit in her bid for a second full term, she needs substantial support from the thousands of absentee ballots yet to be counted in Alaska's surprisingly tight Republican Senate primary. With all of the state's precincts reporting, lawyer Joe Miller appears in a strong position to maintain his narrow victory, with 51% of the vote out of about 92,000 ballots counted so far. But both candidates were preparing for a lengthy fight.

Rep. Ron Paul, the Texas libertarian who developed a big following in his failed bid for the GOP presidential nomination, has rejected entreaties to endorse his party's nominee and instead is urging his supporters to vote for one of several third-party candidates in the field. At a news conference Wednesday with three third-party candidates, Paul said he had been urged by former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm to back Arizona Sen. John McCain. "Absolutely no," Paul said he told Gramm. "It might diminish my credibility," said Paul, who was a distant also-ran in the GOP primaries and caucuses but inspired intense enthusiasm among his supporters and amassed a campaign war chest of almost $35 million, raised mostly via the Internet.

Libertarian-leaning congressman Ron Paul is urging voters to reject John McCain and Barack Obama and support one of the third-party candidates for president. Paul, a Republican who abandoned his White House bid earlier this year, is gathering some of the candidates, including independent Ralph Nader, today to make his plea. "The strongest message can be sent by rejecting the two-party system," Paul said in prepared remarks obtained by the Associated Press. "This can be accomplished by voting for one of the nonestablishment, principled candidates."

Ron Paul has no plan to set foot in the Republican convention next door in St. Paul. If he were to try, he said, party officials have told him that he would have to be chaperoned. So the 10-term congressman and presidential candidate held his own party, a nine-hour "Rally for the Republic" that amounted to a one-day counter-convention. As many as 12,000 disillusioned Republicans and independents, according to organizers, converged on the Target Center, an NBA basketball arena, for a boisterous push-back against the Republican establishment.

If Sen. Lisa Murkowski is to overcome a 1,668-vote deficit in her bid for a second full term, she needs substantial support from the thousands of absentee ballots yet to be counted in Alaska's surprisingly tight Republican Senate primary. With all of the state's precincts reporting, lawyer Joe Miller appears in a strong position to maintain his narrow victory, with 51% of the vote out of about 92,000 ballots counted so far. But both candidates were preparing for a lengthy fight.

Indian activist Russell Means is seeking the Libertarian Party nomination for President. Means, who joined the party only a week earlier, told its California state convention in Millbrae that "I hope to show all Americans that the 'failure of socialism,' which former Secretary of Interior James Watt once pointed to on Indian reservations, is a universal problem."

Re "A former elephant in the room," Column One, July 23 Sure, it's easy to make fun of Bob Barr, and turning the spotlight on the Libertarian Party is always good for a knowing laugh among your better-bred though dwindling readership. But political reporting (The Times still wants to do that, right?) calls for a little more sophisticated insight than your writer's ignorant reference to the "party's hard-to-define ideology." It's not so hard to define: individual liberty; limited government.

When Bob Barr called a news conference last month to discuss his idea of the perfect Supreme Court justice, a phone booth could have accommodated the reporters who showed up. Nonetheless, the Libertarian Party's candidate for president was no-nonsense: Cuff links fastened, mustache trimmed, he ripped into John McCain's interpretation of the Constitution, words like "penumbra," as in "outside the penumbra of Sen. McCain's misunderstanding," rolling off his famously tart tongue.