[EM] Press Release from Paul Hager

[hager2002 at lsh107.siteprotect.com]

This is the press release I sent out.

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Press Release from Paul Hager

For more information contact Paul Hager.  Office: (317) 306-4355.  Home:
(812) 333-1384.

email: hagerp at cs.indiana.edu

Prominent Libertarian Party member Paul Hager announces that he is joining
Republicans.

For immediate release, 28 April 2002.

(Bloomington, IN) - Yesterday at the Libertarian Party of Indiana state
convention in Indianapolis, long-time Libertarian Party member Paul Hager
stunned convention delegates by announcing that he was leaving the party
to join the Republicans.  The announcement came after Hager lost his bid
to become the party's nominee for Secretary of State.

Hager, who was the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate in 2000 and for
Congress in 1996 and 1998, said his reason for leaving is that the
Libertarian Party is dying and unwilling to do what is necessary to save
itself.  "Issues are important to me, not party.  A political party exists
to advance issues.  The Libertarian Party has never moved beyond fringe
status in its 30 year existence.  If the Libertarian Party won't do what's
necessary to achieve major party status, then if I'm going to accomplish
anything, it'll have to be through one of the existing major parties."

"In Indiana and nationally, membership has dropped over 15% since 2000,"
said Hager.  "The only strategy the party has come up with is to run a
large number of candidates to create the appearance of growth.  This is
self-defeating because it magnifies the party's losses and reinforces the
fact that Libertarians are a 'wasted vote'.  Even worse, running so many
candidates means that quite a few are visibly and embarrassingly
unqualified for the offices they seek."

Hager had urged the Libertarian Party to save itself by embracing what he
called "democratic voting reform".  He said the two party system is
"unassailable" as long as we continue to use the current voting method,
technically known as plurality voting.  Hager sought to use his campaign
to promote a very simple alternative called approval voting, which picks
the true majority winner in races of three or more candidates while
allowing the other candidates to show their true strength.  It eliminates
the possibility of two candidates with similar strengths splitting the
vote, or a third party candidate with little support "spoiling" the race
for a major party candidate in a close race.  Adoption of approval voting,
said Hager, would have freed voters to support Libertarian candidates
without the fear of accidentally electing their less preferred major party
candidate.  "Without such reform, the Libertarian Party has nowhere to go,
and I have decided not to go there with them.  I don't take the party's
rejection of my campaign or its issue personally, but the time has come to
move on."

"Ironically, because it was so easy to run for major office as a
Libertarian, I came to the attention of a number of important people in
the Republican Party," said Hager.  "When I was first invited to join the
Republican Party three years ago, I was surprised and flattered but
demurred at that time.  But, to be honest, I've been flirting with the
idea ever since."

Hager said his decision to make the jump to the Republican Party was based
on the fact that people like Governor Gary Johnson of New Mexico and
Congressman Ron Paul of Texas are philosophical libertarians who ran as
Republicans and won.  "In fact, Ron Paul was the Libertarian Party
candidate for President in 1988."  Hager said that the most influential
libertarians today are Republicans or refugees from the Libertarian Party
involved with the non-partisan Cato Institute.

Among the Republican candidates for Secretary of State, Hager is most
impressed with Mike Delph.  "Mike and I first met when we were both out
campaigning last summer.  He's a bright, articulate guy and he's talking
about issues actually relevant to the office - in particular working to
improve the election process in Indiana.  I consider him the strongest
candidate to face [Democrat] John Fernandez in the fall."

Now that he is a Republican, what are Hager's plans?  "Decompress and take
stock for now.  And I'm looking forward to May 7 when I will vote in my
first ever Republican Primary."

				- 30 -

-- 
paul hager		hager2002 at hager2002.org

"The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason."
			-- Thomas Paine, THE AGE OF REASON

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