The Season Starts Sunday

On Saturday night I will finally attend my first Texas Longhorn football game as they kickoff the season.  Of course, the season doesn’t start until Sunday.

Come again, space commander?

In this town the Texas Longhorns are bigger than the Dallas Cowboys.  The stadium is no longer larger, but unlike the Cowboys, they have a good chance of winning a championship.  They are always the headline story in Austin no matter what the Cowboys do.  So the Longhorn season has a big impact on Austin.

But no matter what the Longhorns do, their season will not have a great impact on you.  It will not affect your ability to live your life.  It will not affect your individual liberty.  If will not affect the choices you make.  It will not affect your ability to provide for yourself and your family.

On Sunday at 4pm a new season begins at La Palapa Restaurant, 6640 E Hwy 290 in front of Reagan High School. This season will culminate in an election on November 2, 2010.  In this election, the Libertarian Party will be on the ballot.

So what?  You guys always lose!

Let me tell you a story about a team that (almost) always lost.  In 1989 the Dallas Cowboys lost every game they played, except one.  They had a new coach and a lot of young players.  It seemed they could not compete with better and more experienced teams.  The next year they were 7-9.  Next year 11-5, next year they won the Super Bowl. (Full disclosure; I was born in Pittsburgh and can tell a better story about the perennially losing Steelers now owning more Super Bowl trophies than anyone else).

In 2004 the Libertarian Party almost disappeared from the ballot.  I hired Wes Benedict as our executive director.  Since then, the results have been:

*2006: all-time record for candidates

**2008: another all-time record for candidates

Additionally, 2008 saw our first ever million vote candidate (William Strange), our highest ever vote count and percentage for US Senate (Yvonne Schick), and we played the “kingmaker” on several races for the Texas Legislature.

Again, so what?  How does any of this matter to me?

For $140 K in revenue last year, the Libertarian Party of Texas saved the taxpayers of Texas $37.5 million over the next decade by our defeat of HB 1892.  That’s a return on investment of 26,686%.  If that isn’t good enough, we saved taxpayers over a billion (with a B) by defeating HB 3 in the special session.  So my math tells me a $1 investment in the Libertarian Party yields you a savings of $7,410, or a 740,971% return on investment.  Can you beat that?

We will challenge Democrats like Mark Strama that fail to defend privacy, promote corporate welfare, and ignore efforts to reform exclusionary election laws.  We will challenge Republicans like Dan Branch that invent new ways to tax small businesses.  We intend to challenge the opposition in every possible contest.

So like many of you I will follow the football season.  However, I put it to you to judge which season is more important.  On Sunday we will begin our season to recruit candidates, inform people about our party, and help grow the liberty movement.  Here is a way for you to compare your weekend choices:

TICKETS:

Longhorns -  If you can get them, it’s $47 at the low end

Libertarians - Tickets, what tickets?  Come on by, open to everyone

CLIMATE:

Longhorns - You will be sitting there for hours in near triple digits

Libertarians - It’s air conditioned

PARKING:

Longhorns - Good luck

Libertarians - No problemo

NACHOS:

Longhorns - Your standard chips with a plasticine cheese coating at inflated airport pricing

Libertarians - La Palapa is good Mexican food at a reasonable price

ENTERTAINMENT:

Longhorns - The first 5 minutes might hold you until they have a 21 point lead

Libertarians - Have you ever seen me sing and dance?

WHO: Libertarian Party of Texas and YOU

WHAT: Season Opener, 2010 campaign tour

WHEN: Sunday, September 6, 2009, 4-7pm

WHERE: La Palapa Mexican Restaurant, 6640 E Hwy 290 (290 east of I-35 at the Cameron exit in front of Reagan High School)

WHY: Introduce newcomers to the Libertarian Party, convey our plans for 2010, help candidates prepare to run for office

HOW: Meetup page at:

http://libertarian.meetup.com/342/calendar/11150314/