Dari (J Dear libertarian friend: For nearly two years, ever since I was nominated to be the Libertarian Party candidate for vice president, I've been somewhat reluctant to sign letters like this one. As you may recall, I became the vice presidential candidate under rather unique circumstances, and I find it a little awkward to assume this new role. But today, with the exciting and important things that are happening in the Libertarian Party, I welcome this opportunity to tell you all about them. Because there's no doubt in my mind that 1932 can be as great as 1980 was in fact, even greater! First, though, I'd like to reGiew the circumstances under which I became the Libertarian candidate for vice president. Back in 19?9, it was obvious that Libertarians faced a magnificent opportunity to make tremendous progress, based on our outstanding results in the 1978 elections. 19?8 was the year that Dick Randolph became the first elected Libertarian and 19?8 was the year that Ed Clark got nearly 400,000 votes as our candidate for governor of California. As we approached the 1980 presidential election, it was clear that we needed to marshal all our available resources to continue our forward progress. But there was a formidable obstacle to our progress: a law known as the Federal Election Campaign Act, passed by the Republicans and Democrats in Congress to maintain the two?party monOpoly over American politics by restricting individual political activity. Among its many bad provisions, this law severely limited the amount any individual could spend to help a political candidate or political party. As the president of a large company, I was in the position to make a large contribution to Libertarian campaigns larger than the law permitted. I can tell you, that law really made me angry! All I wanted to do was to help the candidate of my choice, and yet it was a crime for me to do so! iut there was one exception to this law: a candidate, himself, could contribute an unlimited amount to his own campaign. 50 because I felt so strongly about nur opportunity in 1980, and because I wanted to support our efforts as much as I possibly could, I offered to become the vice prcsidential candidate. The delegates to the Libertariar National Convention accepted my offer, and the rest, as they saw, is history. 1 was able to spread the Libertarian message by campaigning throughout the country, and was able to help the overall Libertarian effort by making a substantial financial contribution to the campaign. Was this a sacrifice for me? In a way, it was, but in a much more - page two important sense, it wasn't. Because I knew there were thousands of Libertarians like me who were giving the most they could possibly give, in terms of money and times to the Libertarian effort of 1980. That was true in 1980 during the presidential campaign. It was true in 1981, when twelve Libertarians were elected in local races in eight different states. And it's always been true. The entire history of the Libertarian Party has been one of a relatively small number of people giving as much as they could in time and money. And by giving their maximum Support, they made it possible for the party to grow and attract more and more supporters. Because the party has grown so rapidly, especially since 1980, we stand ready right now to make 1982 the greatest year yet for Libertarians. We've already set ?a and accomplished -- some very ambitious goals. And there are still other goals to be met in 1982, to make this year the springboard for 1984 the same way 1978 was a springboard for 1980. Here are some examples of what's been accomplished so far: In Ohio, Libertarians achieved ballot status statewide and became the first new party in Ohio history to accomplish this in a non?presidential year! Over 40 Libertarian candidates are running for offices ranging from governor to state legislature. But this accomplishment wasn't easy it required collecting over 60,000 signatures in the dead of winter, and it required major funding assistance from Libertarian Party National Headquarters. 1n gains, our party organization has historically been small, but Libertarians there blitzed through a difficult petition drive in a matter of Weeks (again, with considerable assistance from National Headquarters) and will be running a solid candidate a former local office?holder for governor. ln Hontana, v.3. Senate candidate Larry Dodge is spearheading a campaign designed to win Libertarians permanent ballot status, and many high?quality candidates are running to win in legislative races. 1 think Montana stands a very good chance of being our next Alaska. All over the country, on April 15, thousands of Libertarians participated in the national Tax Protest Day and won tremendous attention from local, state, and national news media. These are just a few examples of our high?profile successes so far this year. And you should see the high-quality candidates who are running for office in virtually every state. For governorships alone, we have Dan Dougherty in California, Goetz in Ohio, Dave Hutzelman in Texas, Rebecca Shipman in Massachusetts, John Northrup in New York, Bea in Illinois and the list goes on and on. (I think it's great that 50 many of our frontline candidates this year are women!) And, of course, we have Dick Randolph running for governor of Alaska the campaign that will unquestionably put Libertarians on the political map to stay. . I hope you are starting to share my enthusiasm. The fact is, in 1982 we're stronger and more broad?based than ever before. There will be one thousand Libertarian candidates this year twice the number who ran for office in 1980. And the quality of those candidates is higher than ever before. For me, reporting about our accomplishments and prospects in 1982 has been the easy part of this letter. .Now comes the hard part. There's no other way to put it: if we're going to make 1982 the greatest year yet for Libertarians, then the Libertarian Party needs your maximum financial support. I am asking you, please, to give as much as you can afford to the Libertarian Party, before we start losing opportunities. Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Already this year, the National Headquarters has been able to assist several key ballot drives in major states, sending money and personnel to help get state efforts over the top. Once this year, National Headquarters employees postponed taking their paychecks so that this kind of vital activity could be completed. There are more major ballot drives coming up, many of which will need last?minute assistance. It will be tragic if National Headquarters can't step in with the necessary help because we don't have the money. It will be equally tragic if one of our fine candidates is unable to campaign because his or her name can't appear on the ballot. And it will be tragic if we miss permanent ballot status in one or more states just because we lack the funds. Ballot drives are always a difficult and expensive aspect of an election year. but they're by no means all we're doing. We're trying to help organize up to a dozen candidate workshops so that Our candidates can be as effective as possible in spreading the Libertarian message. we're trying to produce hundreds of thousands of Libertarian Party brochures and issue papers, to help cur candidates and members communicate to their friends and the voters as a whole about Libertarian solutions to important problems. page four We're trying to ca with the news media, follow?up. Pitalize on our recent Tax Protest Day successes by continuing a steady stream of news releases and 19In short, we're trying to make 1982 our_?pringboard for 1984 just is 78 was our springboard for 1980. But in 1978, we had about 200 candidates. his year, we re four times larger and have five times the candidates! Our opportunities are far greater, both in quality and in quantity. That means we have more to win but it also means we have more to lose if we can take advantage of them right now. Back in 1980, I knew that, like me, there were thousands of Libertarians who were giving their maximum to help our party succeed. Knowing that made my efforts Now, in 1982, I'm hoping that you will join me in giving your maximum -- as much as you can possibly afford to help the Libertarian Party achieve even higher levels of success. So far this year, the average individual contribution to the Libertarian Party has been $34. By political fundraising standards, that's high. It means that already, thousands of Libertarians have been very generous in helping the party accomplish what we have accomplished so far. Each of us knows the amount that he or she can afford to contribute r? the amount which is personally significant to us, the amount which means we want to continue our positive investment in the future of the Libertarian Party and of liberty itself. So please, join me in giving your maximum contribution to the Libertarian Party today. Help make 1982 the best year yet for Libertarians. Sincerely, David H. Koch P.S. The enclosed collage of recent news clippings reflects the Libertarian Party's early 1982 successes. If you contribute $50 or more to help build on these early successes, the National Headquarters will send you a complete set of the new Campaign Issue Papers as soon as they are available.