01/22/2007

Associated Press

Members of the Libertarian party in Oregon are asking the courts for help with fighting among members of the live-and-let-live party.

Wes Wagner, a Clackamas County party vice chairman, sued the Libertarian Party of Oregon last month, claiming the state committee has turned into a power-hungry oligarchy. The lawsuit prompted the chairman and treasurer to recently resign.

The new chairman has hired an attorney, and now Wagner faces possible expulsion.

"It's an extreme embarrassment that the party that calls itself the 'party of principle' appears to have none," said Wagner, an information technology consultant who ran against House Minority Leader Wayne Scott, R-Canby, in November.

The infighting started last summer, when a group of members petitioned to recall the chairman. They alleged leaders ignored bylaws, dug the party into a financial hole and mishandled papers.

Before Christmas, Wagner sued in Washington County Circuit Court, demanding the party obey its rules and pony up documents.

While Wagner accuses the party of wrongdoings, the party's executive director says it's Wagner who's being the lousy Libertarian.

"He's waving around lawsuits like a cowboy waves around a gun," said Richard Burke, the party's executive director.

The party's public spat has dragged on for months.

Libertarians are used to bucking authority. The party is best known for wanting to kill taxes and legalize pot. Libertarians believe government governs best when it governs least. But Libertarians are not used to trying to squash each other.

"It's just not appropriate," says Shane Cory, executive director of the National Libertarian Committee, sighing over the lawsuit.

The establishment says the critics are abusing the courts to get their political way.

Wagner said the battle is necessary to reform the party but "if it actually destroys the party in the process, so be it."

The fighting has taken little toll on politics in the state.

There are only about 15,300 registered Libertarians out of nearly 2 million voters in the state. About 200 members pay $50 each year to have some say in what the party does.

But none of the players is behaving like a model Libertarian, says Pacific University political science instructor Jim Moore.

"But remember," he says, "the very fact there is a party for Libertarians is an un-Libertarian kind of thing."

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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com