Liberal Party Platform 1944
As you are aware, New York State election law states that only parties receiving 50,000 votes for their gubernatorial candidate are automatically put on the ballot or voting machine for the following four years.
So as you read this anniversary issue and reminisce with us about the accomplishments of the Liberal Party, from presidents Roosevelt and Kennedy to Bill Clinton, it is very important that you vote on Tuesday, November 8, on Row/Column E for the Liberal Party candidates: Governor Mario Cuomo; U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan; Comptroller Carl McCall; and Karen Burstein for Attorney General.
As a political institution, the Liberal Party has had a major impact on the government and social history of New York State. By voting on Row/Column E, you continue that tradition.
We New Yorkers must not add to that nightmare by defeating Governor Cuomo and having a Liberal Party that fails to collect the 50,000 votes needed to make the ballot and remain an official party in New York State.
The Liberal Party has distinguished itself for more than 50 years as a consistent, outspoken vehicle for just causes and government reform.
Voting on the Liberal line in 1994 sends a message to Washington and Albany that the voters believe in liberal solutions and liberal deeds. It is a constant reminder to elected officials that the people expect liberal votes and policies from them.
We need to send the message now more than ever!
Dear Fellow Liberal:
As we celebrate our 50th Anniversary it is valuable to reflect on the rich legacy of the Liberal Agenda, the candidates who carried the message and those who governed with the values we embrace. It is encouraging to look back and recognize that our party’s efforts are making their mark and serving our state and country as well.
It is in that light that I ask you to look carefully at what we face this election year. We must have 50,000 votes for our endorsed candidate for governor to retain an automatic line on the ballot.
I urge you to vote—and to contact others to vote—for Mario Cuomo on Row/Column E on Tuesday, November 8, 1994, along with our other endorsed candidates.
There is a clarity to the liberal message that goes beyond the candidates themselves and speaks for each member of the party. It is a statement about how we view the world and the society we build. In the current political climate across the country it would be a devastating blow to our beliefs and our tradition if we failed to make the ballot.
In 1968, many liberal New Yorkers failed to support Hubert Humphrey. That failure began 16 dark years during which the Liberal Agenda was battered by Nixon, Reagan, Bush, the Contras, and Ollie North. Even catsup was called a vegetable in order to cut the school lunch budget.
Send your message to Dole, Newt, and the Christian Right. Vote on the Liberal line (Row/Column E) on Tuesday, November 8. Vote for Cuomo, Moynihan, McCall, and Burstein.
With best wishes for the next 50 years, I remain...
Liberal Party Platform as adopted by the Convention at which the Liberal Party of New York State was organized on May 5, 1944.
In 1950, the Women’s Committee of the Liberal Party held a reception at the Hotel McAlpin to raise funds for Helen Gahagan Douglas who was running for Congress in California against Richard Nixon. Douglas lost to Nixon in what many experts believe was one of the dirtiest races ever run. In 1994, the Liberal Party nominated Attorney General candidate Judge Karen Burstein. That nomination greatly contributed to her winning a four-way Democratic Primary. She is now the only woman state-wide candidate on the Democratic-Liberal ticket.
Executive Director