By Leah Dailey
Last month I had the pleasure of hanging out and tabling an event with 2024 LP presidential candidate-hopeful, Chase Oliver. Chase kicked off his upper-Midwest tour in Detroit on the fifth of October. I was invited by some of our Michigan libertarian friends to help with a tabled event at the Mason Gun Show held on October the sixth. There was an additional event planned at Range 517 to do some shooting that morning in Lansing.
I had known of Chase’s 2022 Georgia (GA) Senate race and had previously seen him in the US Senate debate hosted by Atlanta Press Club, and I liked what I saw. Check out the video below.
Chase Oliver at the 2022 US Senate Debate
I recently received some push back from other party members when I expressed my favor. I took it upon myself to do a bit more research, to make sure I was accurate in my understanding. I took the easy road and looked up a few podcasts with interviews of Mr. Oliver. I was excited to see that one of LPMI member’s podcast, Buds N’ Reality, had interviewed Chase on the twenty-sixth of May. See: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s2e16-vote-for-liberty-with-presidential-candidate/id1604451043?i=1000614579106
Everything I heard and learned about Chase I’ve loved more and more. I’ll share a few thoughts here:
• He is one of us. He’s been active, for more than 10 years, in his state LP party (GA) including state party leadership.
• He’s not old as hell.
• His 2022 GA State Senate race caused a run-off, gathering more than 80,000 votes.
• His positions on immigration and LGBTQIA+ could siphon votes from the disaffected left for a change.
• Anyone who’s heard him speak knows he’s great!
We had a great time at the gun range that morning, spoiled with an arsenal brought by our LPMI friend James Peace from Wayne County. We had the pleasure of choosing from a uniquely-built AR-15, an FN 509T (James’ main competition gun, featuring a threaded barrel, weapon-mounted light, optic, and talon grip) as well as a pretty bad ass PSA Dagger. It was very cool having a firearms safety instructor at my disposal. James is CEO of Decorum Arms, also in Wayne County.
Once we had our fill of the range, it was off to the gun show in Mason, but not before a quick stop at a local cannabis dispensary. After that, Chase told me they were the best prices he had encountered in his travels! As we were parking at the gun show, Chase received a phone call from a reporter from the NY Sun.
I was actively eavesdropping as the interview was conducted. Chase, without skipping a beat, was answering questions flawlessly, even as he was rifling through his luggage to get me his campaign promotional material for our table. I was in awe as I was listening and watching him, thinking, “This is the Libertarian Party of Georgia’s golden boy. Where is the LPMI golden boy??”
After his interview concluded we jumped right into our tabled event, which I had erected prior to our time at the gun range. Chase was on fire, roping in the passerby with a magical charisma. We didn’t even need to use our World’s Smallest Political Quiz. Within our engagement I met a young man from Oakland County, my home affiliate! He was eager to collect our pamphlets and excited to check out the website to get connected.
And just like that, Chase was off to his next stop, Toledo, for an LP Ohio meet and greet. Needless to say, I’ll be looking forward to seeing Chase again at our LP National Convention, on Memorial Weekend of 2024.
If you are inclined to be a delegate for the National Convention, please make sure to attend our Nominating Convention, projected for early March of 2024.
*Article was featured in the November 2023 Michigan Libertarian newsletter.
