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Author's candidacy one for the futureBy ANGELA MOORE © St. Petersburg Times, published September 7, 2000 TAMPA -- Harry Browne, the 67-year-old investment banker and author nominated for president by the Libertarian Party, doesn't think he can win the election in November. But he does believe his candidacy can change the country. "If you vote Republican or Democrat, you are saying you will never be free," Browne said. "Many people vote for the candidate they hate the least. Many people say, "I'll vote for the person that will take me to hell at the slowest possible rate.' If you vote for either of them, you are giving up. "If you vote Libertarian, you may not win this year, but you're laying the groundwork so that you can win in a few years." Browne, of Nashville, Tenn., spoke to about 200 people in a reception and campaign event at the Sheraton Suites hotel in Tampa on Wednesday night. By a show of hands, most of those 200 said they had never been to a Libertarian Party event. The attendance in a room that kept running out of chairs, coupled with the growth of the party, shows that people are dissatisfied with the two-party system and "big government," Browne said. Since Browne ran for president in 1996, membership in the Libertarian Party has quadrupled, he said. In 1996, 500,000 people voted for Browne. In 2000, he hopes to get a couple million. If he succeeds, he said, "We can change this country forever." Browne explained the Libertarian Party line to the newcomers, summed up in two words: less government. That means abolishing federal income tax, ending Social Security, repealing gun control laws, taking American troops out of foreign countries and legalizing drugs. The crowd loved it, rewarding Browne, an engaging and genuinely funny speaker, with several standing ovations. "We can once again make this the kind of country that our founding fathers had in mind for us when they created our Constitution," Browne said. "A country where the government is kept in chains so the people will never be."
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From the Times |
