Dear Friend of Liberty,

It is with a heavy heart that I write to you today, to inform you that our campaign has failed to gather the necessary number of signatures required to make it onto the ballot in my bid for the US House of Representatives seat in New York's First Congressional District, currently held by Democrat Tim Bishop. 3500 signatures were required, and approximately 2600 were gathered. I will, at this time cease to campaign in this race for myself, and attempt to determine if I can support another candidate, though this I doubt very much. Likely I will begin working to support the efforts of Warren Redlich in his campaign for Governor of New York, you can find out more about Warren here http://wredlich.com/ny/

The good news for my supporters is that I am considering a run for office again, though I have not yet determined which office or when. I am currently beginning the process of putting together an exploratory committee to determine how I might best serve the cause of Liberty. If you want to participate in that committee, or in the next campaign, please contact me through my website at http://www.voteforcantwell.com/

That was the quick part for the impatient people, now I have a few things I would like to say for those who care to listen... This entire ordeal has been an incredible experience for me and I'd like to share with you some things I have learned and experienced over the last year and change.

Prior to 9/11, I paid no attention to the dealings of my government. All I knew about government was, I wanted it to stay away from me, and the more I learn about it, the more I see the wisdom in that simple ideology. After 9/11 I didn't know much except that my country was at war, and I wanted to stay informed. I was trying to understand what was going on politically and mostly watching Fox News to find out those answers, so I of course concluded that Democrats were dumb, and Republicans had it all figured out. Obviously, I was mislead. After voting Republican across the board in the 2004 elections, I started paying better attention, did some research on why so many people thought Bush was so bad, and became rather alarmed with the state of affairs in my country, I became less supportive of the war effort, though I still felt rather confident that John Kerry wasn't the answer. I began wondering what the answer was, foolishly thinking my choices were Republican or Democrat, and looking at what was offered by the Republicans and Democrats I began to understand why most people did their best to ignore politics altogether, and didn't vote in 2006. When the first round of bailouts was approved by George Bush, I became so enraged with the whole thing I began actively trying to avoid even hearing about politics, and didn't vote in 2008. After the election of Barack Obama, I tuned back in, figuring that even though I disagreed with most of what he said, at least he promised transparency and change, and perhaps things would improve.

What we wound up with, as you are well aware, wasn't change or transparency, but an even more aggressive pursuit of the same dishonest approach to governance the previous administration had imposed on us. Again, I attempted to turn a deaf ear. But this was impossible now, I was on my way out of the Matrix, there was no way for me to turn back to the days of blissful ignorance, and I knew I needed to take a more active role.

In March of 2009 I got my greatest lesson on tyranny, when I was arrested for a crime that had never been committed. It was 9 years and 2 days after I had refused a breath test at the age of 19 under zero tolerance laws, that I was again arrested for Driving While Intoxicated. I was accused of having a blood alcohol concentration of .09, even though I was not intoxicated, even though it was scientifically impossible for me to have that BAC, even though I passed at least 2 of the 3 field sobriety tests, and even though all of this evidence is absolute junk science to begin with. I was charged with not 1, but 2 felony counts for the same accusation, subjected to 4 years in a state prison though nobody had been hurt and my only other deviation was driving 15mph over the speed limit, I was denied a trial for more than a year, I was denied access to evidence against me, I was denied the right to compel witnesses on my behalf, my vehicle was seized without any due process of law, I was fired from my job, bankrupted, forced to relocate, my name was released to the newspaper, all before any evidence had been presented against me. I could fill volumes the injustices I suffered, but I will attempt to keep this part brief as it is not the point I wish to make.

I wondered how it was possible for all of these things to happen to me even if I had been guilty, much less now that I was innocent, given our Constitution and Bill of Rights. I studied our Constitution, I studied our government, I studied our history, I studied the law, and the conclusion I came to was horrifying. The conclusion I came to, was that the reason I saw no relationship between our government and our constitution, was because one no longer existed. It hit me like a ton of bricks, and I was forever changed, an instant activist. I came to the realization that the reason the constitution didn't protect me when I needed it, was because I did not protect the constitution when it needed me the most. I realized that my problems were petty in comparison to the overall situation my country faced, that people who were too stupid or too evil to operate a cash register at a bodega were at the reigns of the most powerful forces on earth, and playing fast and loose with things that could easily lead to, if they had not already caused, the very end of free humanity on earth. I realized that the absolute end of the very concept of human liberty was upon us as I sat concerned with my own comparatively petty problems.

So I became an activist, I joined the Libertarian Party, I joined Campaign for Liberty, I joined Tea Party Groups, I attended rallies and meetings, I handed out fliers and DVD's and pocket constitutions, I posted on message boards and email lists. Eventually it became time to meet with candidates for public office, and I thought for sure the mass awakening of the people in the tea party movement would restore demand for Constitutional Government, but once again, I was mislead. Other than a small group of true patriots, whom I had come to love dearly, most were only interested in ousting Democrats from office, in a "win elections at all costs" approach which promised further loss of Life, Liberty, and Property.

I then saw with the utmost clarity, the reason for the existence of the Libertarian Party. To provide people with a choice that actually stood for Liberty. Win, Lose, or Draw. An option to demand via ballot, their natural and unalienable rights, constitutional and otherwise. To participate in the political process, and still withdraw all support for political ideologies which left them subject to infringements upon their individual sovereignty as human beings. It was then that I decided to be that option in the race for the First Congressional District of New York.

But I have failed in that mission. I have made a number of mistakes, and I have learned from those mistakes.

For all my talk of responsibility being at the core of all things Libertarian, I let the responsibility for this race rest upon others. I rushed in head first, without organization or structure, without resources or means, without planning or clearly defined purpose. I just went ahead and did and said whatever came to mind at the moment, with the childish idea in my head that it would all work out because I stood for what was right, and good, and just. I cared not whom I offended, I cared not who supported my cause, I cared not for much but the idea in my own mind, which though I knew to be right, I also knew to be not well articulated in the beginning. Over the course of the campaign, I have learned to make the message more concise, cohesive, and relevant to the issues facing every day Americans.

I was angry, and rightfully so, as were most of my supporters, and even many of my detractors. And while I reject the notion that it is never good to come off as angry, I allowed my anger to consume too much of my message, and in the process alienated people with whom I should have been natural allies. I've realized through hard lessons over the course of this campaign, that alliances are necessary to achieve any goal, and while a candidate should not compromise principles, he need not ridicule everyone with whom he disagrees, and should work with people who agree with him enough to work with.

I attempted to run my campaign like a Libertarian would run a government, without central planning or demands. Emailing out electronic copies of petitions and asking everyone to do their best. This is a foolish thing to do in a campaign for office. Libertarianism is a philosophy of government wherein people should not be compelled to servitude by force of the state. But people freely enter into service when they join a campaign, people have the liberty to seek leaders, and those leaders then take on a responsibility of leading them into victory. I have failed in this sense of my responsibility to those who decided to follow me, by not providing them with the leadership they needed. I've learned that structure and organization and leadership are essential parts of a winning campaign, and I will not fail to provide that leadership next time.

But none of this should be interpreted to mean that any portion of this effort was wasted. I have shaken thousands of hands, handed out thousands of fliers, hundreds of pocket constitutions, and lit the fires of liberty in the hearts of countless men, women, and children in this district. My volunteers and I gathered thousands of signatures, speaking to thousands of people about Liberty in the process. My attorneys (special thanks to Chris Garvey and Gary Donoyan) have fought for the Liberty of all in defending me against police who would have otherwise suppressed our freedom of speech and right to petition.

In a Libertarian campaign there are many levels of success, the first of which is finding a candidate willing to step forward, I am proud to have been that candidate, the second of which, is spreading awareness, which I am proud to say that my volunteers and I have done an outstanding job of, the third being ballot access, which we came so close to accomplishing, the fourth being count of votes in which each and every single one is a victory, and of course the last being winning an election, which despite people saying we cannot do, has happened hundreds of times http://www.lp.org/candidates/elected-officials (I now invite all Libertarians/Contrarians to correct me on what they perceive the levels of success to be LOL)

One thing I realized more than anything else in this campaign was that Liberty is indeed popular. What people want from their government more than anything, is to leave them alone, and to make sure others do the same. When people asked me what issues I was after, I told them I wanted to bring our troops home AND repeal the health care bill, they liked both positions and I asked them to ponder why they never heard both of those positions from a single candidate, why one always wanted war, and the other socialism, yet we find ourselves with both, while the people want neither. This was perhaps the most powerful of all the many things I discussed with the people of the first district, and it made them want to know more about the Libertarian Party.

There is serious bipartisan support for the abolition of the Federal Reserve. When people realize that there is literally no good reason to have the national debt we have, and no need for the income tax which pays the interest on that debt, they rightfully ask "Why hasn't anybody else told me this?". My answer to them has been "There are many theories on that, some more sinister than others, but at the end of the day, the politicians owe them money". Educating people to this fact is something I am very proud to have done.

I look forward to running again, having learned from my mistakes, and planning for a real victory in the future. Liberty can absolutely win an election here if properly executed and I hope to see that happen within the next few years.

Whoever wins this race, I ask only one thing of you, political ideologies not being relevant, just be honest. I am a small government libertarian, but I would prefer gigantic honest government to tiny lies. In my many encounters with our people, I have heard one thing more than anything else, the people of the First District desire first and foremost, beyond any political ideology, or policy of taxation or subsidy, beyond health care, or economics, beyond war and peace, beyond even our very constitution, our constituents desire the truth. Give them that, and you will have their loyalty.

In Liberty,
Chris Cantwell
Former Libertarian Candidate for the US House of Representatives in New York's First District
Assistant Organizer, Suffolk County Campaign for Liberty
Director of Outreach for the Suffolk County Libertarian Party
At Large Committeeman of the Libertarian Party of New York
But first and foremost, a Sovereign Individual American Patriot and Constitutionalist
www.voteforcantwell.com
www.meetup.com/voteforcantwell
631-291-0829