Posted by Wes Benedict to LP State Chairs list:
Hello Adrian Wyllie and others from Florida who were copied on a series of emails a year ago about my appearance on the Paul Molloy show.
I took another shot at the Paul Molloy show Monday.
My part starts at the 9 minute 30 second mark, and goes till about 25 minutes and 30 seconds.
http://internetradiopros.com/freedomworks/?p=episode&name=2015-03-02_zfreedom030215.mp3
I worked very hard to squeeze in a lot of recognition for LP Florida candidates and activists. I’m not sure I’ll always be able to get away with squeezing in so much direct promotion, but anyway, I got away with it this time.
I hope it helps.
We touched on several controversial issues as well, such as ISIS, immigration, Cuba, Mexico, and marriage. Yikes!
I don’t see any way that Wes or the national LP looks bad here.
Remember that old adage if can’t say something nice then….
Better to work within your party comities on whom you invite to participate in your party functions then engage in a public dressing down. Doing so makes you look bad. Wes look bad. The Libertarian party look bad.
Pearls before swine?
I should mention that Wes Benedict raised over $3000 after many prominent Libertarians (some of whom are currently in the Leadership) demanded that Wes be uninvited to the Convention and replaced with someone else. Wes is a class act.
“I think Florida Libertarians should thank Wes for raising over 3,000 dollars at the LPF State Convention last year.”
Sheesh…I would think so!
It’s important to set the record straight concerning the radio interview Wes did last year. Paul Malloy, the interviewer called the National Office asking to interview someone concerning the
State of the Union address. Wes was available so he did the interview. Wes was not in Florida, and the interview was not about Florida. Paul Malloy’s show is aired in Pinellas County, Florida,
but I don’t think he lives in Florida anymore. The interview Wes did recently was about his book.
Wes was gracious enough to manage getting some mentions about Florida in the interview. I don’t think Wes has anything to apologize for. I think Florida Libertarians should thank Wes for raising over 3,000 dollars at the LPF State Convention last year. I look forward to seeing him at
our 2015 State Convention in June.
Wes does a great job, and he’ll be back speaking at the Florida convention again this year. Everyone makes mistakes, and he is going out of his way to make things right.
I know I appreciate Wes’ efforts (can’t speak for anyone else, just myself), and it’s a shame that suppose LPF leaders, like Mr. Blome, clearly do not.
It seems to me that Wes is working hard to repair any strain that was caused last year here, hopefully there will be people on the Florida side who will appreciate that.
In fact, Pete, if you truly believe Mr Benedict is soo undeserving of his position as Executive Director, why don’t you ask the LPF EC & the convention hosts to cancel the Fundraising Workshop they’re advertising on the website: http://lpf2015.com/#section-events
If there are “plenty of qualified candidates who can do Mr. Benedict’s job,” then why have him spend his time trying to help teach the LPF about fundraising? I’m sure Mr Benedict would rather spend his time somewhere where he won’t get chided by the likes of you.
Considering you are still taking Mr Benedict’s comments out of context, don’t provide any direct correlation between his comments & how they’ve harmed any candidate in Florida or elsewhere, and continue to chide him after he raised money for the LPF after people (such as yourself) demanded his head, you clearly have demonstrated ingratitude for Mr Benedict’s hard work. Shame on you.
Mr. Wendt, you have no idea of my sense of gratitude. I am grateful for good performance. What are the facts are a senior employee of the National LP came to another state, did not coordinate with the local party, and proceeded to harm local candidates in the media in a high population area by his ill-judged words. It showed a careless attitude to the most basic kind of professional standard. It makes me wonder what else he is careless about. There are plenty of qualified candidates who can do Mr. Benedict’s job, and they should be given a chance..
@ Pete Blome,
Considering Wes Benedict raised a good amount of money for the LPF at the Tampa convention in 2014, you really shouldn’t criticize him. He didn’t have to do any fundraising for the LPF at all, especially after many members complained about him being at the convention and demanded he be replaced as a speaker after taking Mr Benedict’s statements out of context. He came down, did a kick-ass job raising money for the LPF, and the thanks he gets is more criticism from ungrateful members of the LPF EC. Shame on you.
I’m glad he is attempting something close to coordination with State level LP’s, but last year he spoke on Tampa area radio, did not tell the Florida LP Chair or any other officer that he was in Florida, and promptly went on to say Libertarian candidates did not run to win their races, but rather to simply “engage in the debate.” At that time his “announcement” affected about five libertarian races, including the competitive Lucas Overby/Jolly Congressional race, where part of their public relations campaigns was that they were specifically running for office to win. I expressed the opinion at the time that he should have been fired for his poor coordination and poor judgment. After all, the National LP pays this guy a salary to be National Executive Director, and he should have known better.
If I were him I also wouldn’t have mentioned Adrian Wyllie at all since Adrian gave him a black eye over the incident when it happened for the same reasons I outlined above.