Indianapolis City-County Councillor Ed Coleman has had a great couple of days. This weekend, between a large donation from the Libertarian National Committee and donations from several other donors, Ed was able to raise approximately $65,000.
Ed is currently an At-Large councillor for Indianapolis who was elected as a Republican, but switched to the Libertarian Party after becoming disgusted with the internal workings of the local Republican leadership. He is running as a District 24 candidate this year.
From the Libertarian Party of Indiana's release in the subject's
-->>This is not just a game-changer for my race, but also for the entire Libertarian Party," said Councilor Ed Coleman. "We hope this serves as a signal to all elected Republicans and Democrats that standing on principle doesn't mean campaigning alone. The party of principle will work to help elect and re-elect Libertarians to make true change in the political arena. I would like to thank the LNC for recognizing this opportunity, and stepping up to keep the libertarian message moving forward."<<--
The donations obviously springboard Coleman into the realm of money that the two major parties may deal with regularly, but is uncommon among local third-party candidates. Even among the major parties, this kind of funding is uncommon in district council races, where $10-15 thousand is more the norm. His opponent, for example, most recently reported $4,000 raised, with $1,000 in debt.
If Coleman can use the money to help himself achieve victory in November, the consequences will go well beyond just his race and local county politics.
With a Coleman victory this fall, libertarian-leaning Republicans and Democrats will have proof that switching to the Libertarian Party does not equal political suicide. Such switches, if they can remain viable candidates, will become more common across the nation. Membership in the LP could swell and much more money could be raised.
Make no mistake, a Coleman victory this November could be the biggest thing to ever happen to the third-party Libertarians. And it just became a whole lot more possible.
UPDATE- corrected link to Coleman site.
Coleman is typical of Libertarian Party stalwarts. That is, it is hard to find much that defines him as a genuine libertarian. Just days ago he voted with the Republican majority to block public comment at committee meetings.
ReplyDeleteA couple years ago Coleman promised to blog on the HFFT blog and bring any important matter before the council to our readers.
ReplyDeleteHe not only did not blog on the water utility transfer to Citizens Gas (biggest dollar vote in history before the council), but he refused to tell us how he intended to vote.
Maybe I'm crazy, but I always thought the Libertarians were for transparency and small government.
Ed's refusal to discuss the vote and his broken promise to blog about important matters before the council to our readers, is the reason why I quit the LP and declared myself an Independent voter.
http://hoosiersforfairtaxation.blogspot.com/2010/07/day-marion-county-libertarian-party.html
ReplyDeleteMight want to read this, including Ed's promise to blog on ALL important matters before the council. An important promise that he broke without even so much as an apology.