[shepard-for-congress-discuss] 2008 Special Election Update

[Sean Shepard]

Whew. The first stage is over.
 
It has been 24 hours and I've gotten some rest and tended to the sun burn I
got while out greeting voters for several hours throughout election day. It
was great getting to shake hands and speak with so many people on their way
in to cast ballots.  Let's look at some of the great outcomes from this
election!
 
HIGHEST PERCENTAGE EVER!?
 
While our final number of around 3% may not sound impressive, it did
represent a new percentage record for Libertarians vying for this seat.  It
was nearly a full 1% of the vote higher than the last time there was a
Libertarian candidate running for the 7th. Our campaign staff should be very
proud for having helped move more voters towards seeking freedom and liberty
and away from voting for increased government spending, control and
authority.  I cannot thank everyone enough for their efforts and their
support.  
 
Don't think for a moment that for every one thousand voters out there,
having just a few more wake up and decide they've had enough of politics as
usual isn't important.  For everyone that showed up and cast a ballot in our
favor, how many more would have not stayed home if we could have just
reached them somehow with a flyer or a TV ad?  As we look towards the
future, please consider contributing to our campaign fund at
http://shepard2008.com/contribute/ or to the Libertarian Party of Indiana at
http://www.lpin.org/contribute
 
WE WON THE DEBATES!
 
I have been told repeatedly that we won the Indiana Equality forum debate
and the crushed our opponents in the IUPUI debate.  Democrats and
Republicans both sent kind words and made respectful blog posts indicating
that we were the best prepared and could talk through the issues much deeper
than the others.  I worry that many Libertarians might have been turned off
by the softened tone of our message and the fact that we didn't beat people
over the head with the Constitution every 10 seconds, but I've decided that
it is important to talk about issues with voters in ways that seem measured
and pragmatic.     
 
We didn't get the bloated government we have overnight, we're not going to
unwind it overnight... well, short of pitchforks and torches that is.
 
MEDIA ATTENTION
 
Our campaign received more media attention than any other Libertarian
campaign I can recall.  We were not excluded from anything, we were given
more space in the Indianapolis Star than any Libertarian ever.  Jim Shella
(WISH) and John Ketzenberger (Star) both said great things about our debate
performance on Indiana Week in Review last week (you can watch the replay
on-line at http://www.wfyi.org/indianaWeekInReview.asp until probably Monday
morning (March 17).  We're mentioned in the first 10 minutes of the show.
 
THANK YOU
 
This was just the first step and a tremendous experience.  We've made lots
of friends and hopefully few enemies. I cannot thank everyone enough for
their support, especially our staff and contributors for getting us through
this first stage, the Special Election.  We have some things in the works
behind the scenes, may be making a trip to Washington D.C. soon and still
have an election coming up in November to start making decisions about!
 
Stay tuned!!
 
 
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