Thursday, December 29, 2011

Carl Person Renegs On Offer To Pay The Airfare Of All Delegates Pledged To Support Him At The Libertarian Party's National Convention In Las Vegas, Nevada

On December 19, 2011, an article was posted entitled "Carl Person To Offer Free Airfare To All Delegates Attending LP National Convention Who Have Pledged To Support His Candidacy" that contained the following information:

Carl Person, a candidate for the Libertarian Party's Presidential Nomination, has offered to pay the airfare of any delegate attending the Libertarian Party's National Convention in 2012 who has pledged in advance to support his candidacy for the Presidential Nomination. The first two delegates to accept this offer were Alden Link and his wife. Both have been elected as New York State delegates to the Libertarian Party National Convention, which is to be held May 4-6, 2012 at the Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa in Las Vegas, Nevada and both have pledged to support the candidacy of Carl Person for President.

On December 20, 2011, one day after the above referenced article was posted, Karl Dickey, a writer for the West Palm Beach Libertarian Examiner, spoke to Carl Person personally, who confirmed the offer was on the table. Karl Dickey wrote:

Carl Person, a Presidential Candidate for the Libertarian Party's nomination for President of the United States has said he has been permitted by the Federal Elections Commission to pay low-cost airfare for his supporters to get to the national convention.

The Libertarian Party's national convention is in Las Vegas in May of 2012 and apparently many will be flying in on Person's dime. I spoke with Mr. Person this afternoon and confirmed the rumor. In fact two people have already taken him up on the offer.

Dr. Tom Stevens, who previously served as Campaign Manager for Carl Person, reported the following:

While serving as Campaign Manager for Carl Person's Presidential Campaign, I had first hand knowledge of Carl's offer to pay for the airfare of all delegates committed to support his candidacy. This expense was cleared with the Federal Election Commission. The money was never intended to purchase support for Carl Person's campaign but merely to enable previously committed Carl Person delegates to be able to afford to attend the Libertarian Party's National Convention. I, for example, although serving as Carl Person's Campaign Manager, did not request the financial assistance he was offering. Neither did I personally endorse him for the Libertarian Party's Presidential Nomination.

It has now come to my attention that Carl Person is telling people he made no such offer. I suspect he is doing so because some have criticized him for making the offer just as he tried to distance himself from his position in support of reclassifying bestiality as a victimless crime after being criticized by some at the Libertarian Party's 40th Anniversary Barbecue Bash held in the Veranda Room of the Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 10, 2011.

Carl Person is now saying the offer was "only intended for a close circle of friends living in New York" who were "already predisposed" to support his candidacy, that "the offer to pay for their airfare on a budget airline was not tied to their support", was "non-binding" and was "only offered to make up for their geographic disadvantage in attending a convention in Nevada all the way from New York". 

An individual living in Pennsylvania, who supported Carl Person's candidacy but who could not afford the airfare to attend the upcoming Libertarian Party's National Convention, was told by Carl Person on December 29, 2011 that the offer was now off the table. 

It has been learned that Carl Person is now offering, as an alternative, to travel to Libertarian Party State Affiliates to host fundraisers to help pay for the airfare of delegates who cannot afford to pay for it themselves. So far, there are no takers.

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