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Wanted to give just a brief update on where I’m at on the campaign. I’m in need of all manner of campaign staffers, from a campaign manager all the way down to people who can pass out fliers and write articles about libertarianism in local newspapers in an effort to increase the visibility of the state party as well as my campaign.

I’ve emailed the national party about this and hope to receive a response back within the next couple of days. I’ve already had two people call me offering their services in whatever way possible, outside of the state party officers and members who attended the state convention who’ve already pledged their support. One of the two gentlemen who contacted me seemed like a very good possibility for being my campaign manager.

Here are some of the areas I’ll need volunteers for:
Campaign administration
Campaign Manager - The person, aside from me, who will be putting in the most work to make this campaign a success. I would really like to get someone who’s been a campaign manager before or part of campaign administration for a successful campaign (if not a manager for one).

Press, Media, and Public Relations
Communications Manager - The person who will be responsible for any and all official campaign materials that will be handed out to potential voters, coordinates New Media efforts (social networking sites, blogs, Twitter, etc.), coordinates official press releases and press meetings/interviews, advertisements, yard signs, bumper stickers, etc.
Collegiate Coordinator - Works with the state party volunteer coordinators (VC’s) to outreach to college campuses to establish, promote, revitalize, and educate student libertarian groups about the state party and my campaign.
County Campaign Contacts - Each county in the 4th district will have a contact person complete with phone number and email address that citizens of those counties can get ahold of if they have any questions about the campaign, i.e. where I stand on the issues, how they can help, etc.

Campaign finances
Fundraising Manager - The person who will be responsible for making sure our campaign obeys all state and federal election laws regarding fundraising and donations, coordinates fundraising events including but not limited to: dinners, meet & greets, online donations, etc.
Campaign Treasurer - Might be the same person as the fundraising manager; responsible for maintaining the accounts and receipts for the campaign and in conjunction with the Campaign Manager, myself, and maybe others, will authorize campaign expenditures. Needs to be someone who’s very good with math; accounting and/or finance background a major plus.

Miscellaneous
Grassroots Coordinator - Works with volunteers who wish to pass out campaign materials, work on phone banks, etc. but who would not be interested in a more full-time volunteer position with the campaign for whatever reason.
Party Liaison - Responsible for maintaining regular communication with state and national party officials about the campaign, and will liaise between campaign officers and said party officials on any campaign assistance.
Issues Researcher - Will look for and research information about key campaign issues in order to provide more evidence for why libertarianism is the best political ideology, and to research Gene Taylor’s congressional record and the records/experience of any of my fellow challengers.
Campaign Mom - Responsible for baking cookies, etc. to keep us all in tip-top campaigning shape.

I’m sure I’ve forgotten necessary and/or useful positions, so feel free to suggest any that you can think of.
If you’re interested in offering your services in any of these positions or elsewhere, give me a call at 601-466-3179. Or email me at . I may not get back to you immediately but I will get back to you within a day.

Earlier today I attended the South Mississippi Campaign For Liberty’s (SMSC4L) monthly meeting, where Republican hopeful Joe Tegerdine spoke in a round table discussion with members and guests about his position and stances.  I went because I was interested in joining the group, but also because I wanted to hear what my potential campaign opponent had to say about his political leanings.

All in all I felt that Joe was a good candidate, but there were a few areas toward the end of the meeting where I felt he began to lose any support I would’ve given him were it not for the fact that I’m already planning to run in the 2010 race as the Libertarian candidate.  The area in particular: blue laws (i.e. moral-based laws and statutes).  The oft-quoted wedge issue of homosexual marriage was what turned the conversation in a direction that clearly showed Mr. Tegerdine as a weak candidate.

He believed that we should institute a law, constitutional amendment or similar decision for our government to affirm marriage as being between one man and one woman.  The Federal Marriage Amendment that gets talked about a lot lately would be an example of the legislation he seems to be in favor of.

As a former conservative Republican voter turned libertarian, then Libertarian (and yes there is a difference between the small “L” and the big “L” but not very much at all), I can understand his position.  But as a Libertarian, I’m of the belief that the issue is really a red herring because the issue we should really be addressing is getting government at all levels out of the business of declaring (by way of marriage licenses) whether someone is legally married or not.  If we deal with that and return that decision to the churches, synagogues, other places of worship, and/or to private civil contracts between two people (in case of not wanting a religious marriage or wanting a marriage that a given church may not authorize, i.e. homosexual marriages), taking the decision totally out of the hands of the government then we deal with the real illness (increased gov’t control in the private lives of citizens) instead of slapping a band-aid on a “boo-boo” then we’ll fix the problem.

The reason why Christian conservatives and similarly-minded conservatives tend to fall in line with everything libertarianism is about until the marriage issue gets brought to the fore, is simply: a lack of faith that God is bigger than any man-made plans and screwups and that no matter what we do God’s overall plan and will is still going to come about.  In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam and Eve that they could eat of any tree in the garden except for the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  The key thing is that He gave them a choice, regardless of the fact that He knew they were going to end up eating from the Tree anyway.

So if God is big enough to give humanity a choice to follow Him or to live apart from Him in sin, then where do we come off limiting people to make certain moral choices for themselves?
Answer: We can’t limit that ability to make that free choice, because who are we to say that our moral belief set is any more valid than someone else’s when it comes to creating the law.

It’s not a comfortable position to come to terms with at first, and I admit I struggled a lot over this issue because I wanted to be able to fully call myself a libertarian, but it is possible to come to terms with it and actually have a stronger faith come about as a result.

So my challenge to you, my fellow Christian conservatives, is this: Take a long hard look at yourself and decide if you were poor would you want someone imposing a law on you without your consent that kept you from rising out of your poverty, and that poverty was something worthy of being sent to jail for.  If you answer “no”, you’re probably already a libertarian and just didn’t realize it.  If you answer “yes”, know that I’ll be praying for you.  By the way, if you think my example of poverty being a jail-worthy offense is ludicrous, then you need to read this article: http://legalienate.blogspot.com/2009/04/false-democratic-saviors-woodrow-wilson.html (specifically, the quote from Record at the end of paragraph 19).

Here’s also a modern-day example to show this is something that still happens: http://www.inteldaily.com/news/173/ARTICLE/10449/2009-04-20.html.

I just posted the following message a few moments ago on the MS Libertarian Party’s Meetup message board:

Those of you who went to the MS Libertarian State Convention earlier this year in Jackson heard me share about how I’m going to be running for Congress for the 2010 cycle, as the Libertarian candidate for MS’s fourth district (currently represented by Democrat Gene Taylor).  For those of you who weren’t there, my name is Kenneth Hampton but my friends call me Tim. I’m a lifelong resident of South Mississippi, Hattiesburg in particular.

I’m in need of campaign volunteers of all sorts: a campaign manager (preferably someone who has worked on a successful campaign before and/or has a campaign manager before; fundraising volunteers; college and Meetup coordinators; media relations and communications people (including website, Twitter, and various social network volunteers to get my campaign’s message out but more importantly the message of libertarianism.

I have the support of the state and national Libertarian parties, and am looking for the support of voters from all walks of life, particularly the disenfranchised voters such as myself who are tired of the two-party system providing us with fewer and fewer candidates that truly respect individual liberties and the rule of law.  We can win this election, I truly believe that! But it’s definitely not going to be a solo job if that’s going to be the case.  I look forward to hearing from all of you.

For those of you who are interested, you can email me at southernmissdude yahoo.com or call me at 601-466-3179.  If I don’t pick up the phone feel free to leave me a voicemail and I’ll try to get back in touch with you as soon as possible.

I realize I haven’t posted anything on the site in quite a while and I apologize to everyone for that.  I’ll be honest: trouble finding a programming job in this market has gotten me down.

Today I went to Bob’s Books in Hattiesburg while Maggie, my fiancee, was buying moving stuff at Sam’s.  I talked to Mr. Bob about the whole situation and we prayed together about it.  He really provided the pick-me-up I needed.  I’m going to head over to the WIN Job Center on Monday and start seriously hunting for something, even if it’s below the pay I’m normally willing to take.  Pretty much do anything to get back in the game.

I’d appreciate everyone’s prayers as redouble my efforts to find myself a job.

I’m sitting in front of my tv at home watching a recording of the TEA parties that Fox News was covering today and decided to write a little about my take on the TEA Party that happened at noon today in Hattiesburg, MS.

By my estimate there were about 350 people in attendance at the event today and the atmosphere was definitely good and spirited, not belligerent or dangerous like some in the mainstream media or at Homeland Security seem to think people are who would go to these parties.  I posted a few photos on my Flickr account from the event and also some photos from the town hall meeting that Gene Taylor held at the Hattiesburg Cultural Center last night.

I think the time is ripe for a significant change in our Congress, and that this whole economic mess could have been avoided or caught sooner if we had elected officials in Congress who really represent us instead of their own pocketbooks.  That’s why I’m going to be running as a candidate for U.S. House of Representatives under the Libertarian Party in 2010.  Not because I’m a party person (I’m a small-“L” libertarian long before I’m a party player) but because I’m tired of sitting on the sidelines and I’m ready to get involved by getting into the game.  I firmly believe that we need responsible representation in Mississippi’s Fourth District once again, and that it’s my hope that through the process of my campaign I can help to spread the message of libertarianism and also to put the politicians in Congress on notice.

When (not if but when) I win in November next year I expect that it’s going to give some of the “beltway boys” a shiver, even if it turns out I’m the only originally third-party candidate since the almost total Democrat/Republican control of Congress began to make it to Washington.  But I have a feeling I’m not going to be the only third-party candidate who’s going to win next November and I’ll stand proudly with my fellow freshman Congressmen especially if they embrace the philosophy of libertarianism: E.g. seriously limited government both in size and power, return to personal responsibility, and leaning on the power of the Constitution instead of “evolving standards”.

I look forward to seeing where all of this heads, so long as we can all remain civil in our objections to our government and don’t resort to violent protests.

May God continue to bless America!

U.S. House Representative for Mississippi’s 4th District, Gene Taylor, will be holding a town hall meeting at the Hattiesburg Cultural Center (the old public library on Main Street) at 6PM.  I’ll be in attendance wearing an Atlanta Braves hat.  Come say hi to me if you see me.

I’ve created a gallery in the Photos section of the website where you can view live photos that I’m posting from the TEA Party: Site Photos Section.

If you want to view the photos direct on Flickr, you can go to my page here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/timhampton/.