LaRouche Presidential Campaign Releases Open Letter to Michigan Democratic Party

PRESS RELEASE

LaRouche Presidential Campaign Releases Open Letter to Michigan Democratic Party Demanding Inclusion in Michigan Democratic Caucus

Jan. 7, 2004 (EIRNS)—This release was issued today by the Presidential candidate's political committee, LaRouche in 2004.

On Tuesday, January 6, 2004, the Presidential campaign of Democrat Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. released a letter signed by over two dozen Democratic Party officials, activistis, and labor union officials calling for the name of Lyndon LaRouche to be placed on the ballot in the Michigan Democrtic Party Caucus.

The letter follows months of initiatives by representatives of Mr. LaRouche's campaign to gain access to the Michigan Democratic caucus, which culminated in the filing of official documents with the party last week in Lansing. The battle to place Mr. LaRouche's name on the ballot is occurring all over the country, and his name will now appear on more than 16 Democratic primary ballots, with many more to follow.

However, opposition to LaRouche within the national Democratic Party, centered in the hysterical denial of party chairman Terry McAuliffe, has now become a major feature of the 2004 campaign overall. Ironies abound. Mr. LaRouche has received more Federal matching funds than a number of the so-called major candidates, and is on the ballot already in more states than many of them. Yet he is blocked from ballot access by King Canute McAuliffe and his hysterical minions in such states as Michigan and South Carolina, despite broad popular support for his campaign.

The fight to place Mr. LaRouche's name on the ballot is in fact a fight for the soul, and probable very existence, of the Democratic Party. It is part of the larger effort, being spearheaded by candidate LaRouche, to return the party to the economic and foreign policy tradition of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in this moment of intense national crisis. The inclusion of Mr. LaRouche, both on the ballot, and in the election and debate process, constitutes the litmus test on whether or not this nation summons up the very will to survive.

As Mr. LaRouche stated in a major policy address in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 12, 2003, regarding the Democratic Party, "If they don't vote for me or include me in the process, they are dead meat."

The letter released to the media today affords the Democratic Party of Michigan an elegant way to join the growing bandwagon of states across the nation who are rejecting the brutishness of Terry McAuliffe, and the Cheney Democrats who do not want LaRouche's voice to be heard, and provide their voters an opportunity to cast their ballots for Lyndon LaRouche, Jr.

The letter follows:

Mr. Mark Brewer, Executive Chair
Mr. Melvin Hollowell, Chair
Michigan Democratic Party
606 Townsend Street
Lansing, MI 48933

It has come to our attention, in preparing for the upcoming Democratic Party Caucuses in Michigan, that there has been a glaring omission. You have left off the name of Lyndon LaRouche from the ballot.

We are sending you this letter to rectify this situation before the voting commences in the caucus. For the record, we want to clarify some obvious facts.

According to the Federal Election Commission, Mr. LaRouche ranks sixth in total money raised among democratic candidates and ranks second in total individual contributions. These figures also hold in the state of Michigan. He has been certified for Federal Matching Funds, and will receive over $840,000 in the first installment, which outpaces three of the candidates currently listed on the Michigan ballot. Mr. LaRouche has also been placed on the ballot for the Democratic Primaries in the following states: Missouri, New Hampshire, Delaware, Tennessee, Vermont, California, Washington DC, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Virginia, Arizona, and Texas. The campaign expects to appear on the ballot in many more states as the filing deadlines occur.

We find it a bit incongruous that Mr. LaRouche has not been placed on the ballot in Michigan, given the popular support expressed for his campaign both here and around the nation. We are sending you this letter for the express purpose of requesting that Mr. LaRouche's name appear on the ballot in the upcoming caucus.

Sincerely,

Rep. LaMar Lemmons, (former) Detroit Rep.
Ed Vaughn, (former) Detroit Rep.
Alexander Lipsey, Kalamazoo
Hugh MacDonald, Chair, Dearborn Democratic Party
Everett Seay, President, Pontiac City Council
Richard Sutton, UAW Committeeman, Dist. 14, Local 735, Belleville
L. D. Hollenbeck, Chair, Gratiot County Democratic Party, Vice-Chair, 4th CD Democratic Party
Bob Cebina, President, UAW Local 723, Monroe
Carl Holsinger, Chair, St. Joseph County Democratic Party
Joe Murphy, Financial Secretary, USWA Local 2395
Adrian Lew Lowden, Public Affairs Chair, Gratiot County Democratic Party
Willis Stuckey, labor activist, Saginaw
Terry van Allen, Business Manager, Plasterers Local 67, Detroit
Mark DeWitt, UAW Committeeman, Dist. 12 Local 735, Belleville
Andre Green, Executive Board, UAW Local 900, Detroit
Jimmy Fuller, Chair, Civil Rights Committee, UAW Local 869, Detroit
Mark Caruso, President, UAW Local 892, Saline
Thomas O'Quinn, Chair, UAW Local 963, Manitou Beach
Janet Wittbrodt, Chair, Midland Democratic Party
Joe Gunther, Secretary-Treasurer, Laborers Local 998, Lansing
Jim Hurren, President, UAW Local 467, Saginaw
George Casarez, UAW Region 1D, CAP Committeeman, Caledonia
Joya Mills, Labor activist, Detroit
William Patrick, Business Manager, IBEW Local 665, Lansing
Wayne Carlson, organizer, IBEW Local 948, Flint
Warren Gaither, Elder, Broad Street Presbyterian Church, Democratic activist
Willie McLeod, Democratic Precinct Delegate, Detroit
Laura Ann Smith, Democratic Precinct Delegate, Detroit