A Long Walk to Freedom

Dear Supporters, Reformers, True American Patriots and Friends,

First, I want to thank each and every one of you who came to my aid a few months ago after the U.S. D.E.A. persuaded Canadian authorities to arrest my close friend and employer Marc Emery.

Marc Emery's arrest was political as D.E.A. administrator Karen Tandy pointed out. Their main intent was to stop the drug policy reform movement from engaging in lawful political activity by removing one of our largest financial funders and thereby (whether planned or not) almost stopping me from launching my campaign for Governor of Alabama by making sure I had no income.

Marc's arrest threw many families into financial crisis, which is another part of what the U.S. Government wanted. They detest self-sufficiency and independence in all forms and strive to make each and every one of us completely dependent upon them. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina we have all been witness to what happens when people are dependent on the federal government for the basic necessities of life.

One story that confirms this claim is that of a young, black male who commandeered a school bus in New Orleans, loaded it with women and young children and drove it to the Astrodome in Houston, TX. For taking matters into his own hands and possibly saving the lives of 20+ people he was branded a RENEGADE and prosecutors are considering charging him with stealing the bus.

With your generous contributions to my family we have made it through the last two months without gov'ment assistance or resorting other undesirable but acceptable means for survival. I was even able to keep prior commitments in Washington D.C., Seattle, WA, Missoula, Montana and Birmingham, AL.

From the bottom of my heart THANK YOU for helping me show the D.E.A. that the drug policy reform movement is SOLID in the U.S. and that we are a family who will come to the aid of our fellow reformers when called upon to do so. It is a lesson they needed to learn.
I hope that you feel I have earned your contributions and put them to good use.

Now, I have to humble myself once more and ask for your assistance. This time it is for something a little different but with the potential for far greater impact.

Since late 2002 I have worked closely with the Libertarian Party of Alabama on a variety of issues ranging from ballot access reform to medical marijuana. They have seen my dedication and unshakable commitment to changing the drug laws in Alabama, which are some of the harshest in the nation, my fearless tenacity and (let's be honest here) my DOWNRIGHT LOVE of challenging high-level government officials and they have developed both respect for me and confidence in me.

In February of 2005 I was given the tentative nomination to run for Governor of Alabama on the Libertarian Party ticket in the 2006 election.

On September 29, 2005 I formally announced my candidacy. The announcement was promptly picked up by the two most conservative media outlets in the state and has continued to pop up in various places around Alabama and across the U.S.

On October 4, 2005 I appeared in Tallapoosa County Circuit Court to continue the appeals process in my case. And on October 5, 2005 my hometown newspaper The Alexander City Outlook published an article on my case and my run for Governor of Alabama. Also on October 4, NBC 13 one of the largest news stations in Alabama included me in an online poll for Governor. I was added one day after the poll went up on their website and I have done very well for someone who had to overcome a 24 hour delay.

Now it is time to start this campaign in earnest.

Originally, I had planned to campaign like every other candidate in Alabama by burning up fuel driving all over the state to meetings and events. However, I have decided that is not the way to go.

I have decided instead to embark on a walk across this great and beautiful state.
Walking across the great state of Alabama shows hard work, patience, perseverance and commitment to my great home state and its people.

I will meet people in towns and cities, arrange speaking engagements and radio interviews, and speak to any and all about the crucial issues of drug policy and prison reform, States Rights, the need to refuse to comply with the Patriot ACT and REAL ID, the need for ballot access reform and initiative and referendum for the citizens of Alabama who have almost ZERO power in their government and the need to pull Alabama National Guard troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Walking will make me directly accessible to the voters of this state. It will give me the opportunity to introduce the concept of bio-diesel, which can be produced right here in Alabama, thereby bringing new industry, jobs and freedom from Washington D.C.'s oil addiction which has been paid for with the lives of young Alabamians.

Walking will show me as someone willing to sacrifice during hard times which is not something Alabamians are accustomed to seeing their elected officials do.

Walking will allow me to further thwart the D.E.A.'s ILLEGAL ATTEMPT to silence my political dissent. They have not yet taken my feet. They may likely try at some point, but we shall cross that bridge (on foot) if or when we come to it.

It will send the message to my fellow Alabamians and, hopefully to my fellow Americans, that there is always a way to fight back and that the time to do so IS NOW!

Walking will get my message of drug policy and prison reform out to many more people than the traditional ways alone. These are controversial topics that pique people's curiosity. Generally, folks will offer an opinion on either or both when asked and being able to engage in dialogue with a gubernatorial candidate, whether you agree or disagree with their stance leaves an impression. My platform and ideas will be a topic of conversation around the dinner table, which has always been and remains the best way to spread information in Alabama. None of the other candidates will be talking about the issues or offering the solutions to them that I will be and I believe that is an advantage all by itself.

I want to move on to why I believe that now is a very pivotal and critical time to seek elected office in Alabama.

Let's start with the other potential candidates.

Incumbent Republican Governor Bob Riley is best known and will likely be best remembered for his "biblically inspired" $1.2 billion tax increase proposal. Perhaps we'll also remember Gov. Riley for his complete unwillingness to ease prison overcrowding in Alabama, which is some of the worst in the nation.

I hear the Republican Party in Alabama is not too happy with Governor Riley these days which brings us to our next possible opponent Ten Commandments Judge Roy Moore.
Roy Moore, former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court ,is best known for turning the Ten Commandments into a 2 1/2 ton graven image and (illegally and under the cover of darkness) placing it in the State Judicial Building so his misguided followers could worship it, thereby disobeying, in highest fashion, The Second Commandment as well as the FIRST AMENDMENT. I guess maybe he never bothered to read either, which makes me wonder why he and so many others think he is qualified to lead a state.

Sadly, but not surprisingly, he has a lot of support in Alabama. Likely enough to get him the Republican nomination in next June's primary. Moore formally announced his candidacy on October 3, 2005.

Let's move on to the potential Democratic Party challengers.

Before Governor Riley took office we had Governor Don Siegelman. The 2002 election was so close that Gov. Siegelman demanded a recount. He lost in the recount but has recently announced that he will seek re-election again in 2006.

In that same 2002 election Democrat Lucy Baxley was elected Lieutenant Governor of Alabama.
Her career in the public sector has included positions in city government, the offices of Probate Judge and District Attorney in the Houston County Courthouse before spending six years in state government in the offices of the Attorney General and the Department of Transportation.

And then, of course, there is me and I am neither Republican nor Democrat.

Since I am not religious (but fully respect others right to be as religious as they like so long as they don't try and mix it with my politics) I won't have to waste my time trying to out-Jesus the Republicans and, since I am not a Democrat, I won't have to waste my time trying to figure out how to create more government programs with other people's money which will leave me plenty of time to talk about the real problems we face in Alabama.

Ideally, I would like to see Roy Moore and Don Siegelman as my opponents because we all three have criminal records and they won't be able to play that particular card against me.

With the Roy Moore candidacy in the upcoming election the national and international media will undoubtedly have a field day at the expense of the Good Citizens of Alabama. Why just today Former Gov. Siegelman said "Kiss My Ass" while Roy Moore was photographed autographing bibles! Without my voice of reason in this election Alabamians will once again likely be portrayed as ignorant, racist, bible-thumping, inbred, toothless, snake-handling, tobacco-chewing, beer-swilling rednecks. I'm right sick of that image myself and changing it is almost as important to me as running in this election.

As you can see, the 2006 Alabama election is shaping up to be a real doosie and, this being Alabama, anything can happen.

I intend to be there when it does.

I intend to be there to properly represent the hard-working, regular citizens who sacrifice way more than they should have to in order to get by.

I intend to be there to speak for those who have had their voice silenced behind prison walls.

I intend to be there for the little guy who is afraid to exercise his right to speak out against injustice for fear of losing everything that is dear to him.

I intend to be there to tell the Federal Government to go straight to hell and that Alabama can and will take care of her own.

I intend to be there.

In this election I win even if I don't actually win office. These imperative issues and their possible solutions will at least be in the spotlight and Alabamians will be exposed to new information about what the drug war really is, how it was designed to fail and the immeasurable destruction it has wreaked on our society. Once they know the truth about the drug war I firmly believe that my fellow Alabamians will do their part to stop it in this state.

You are likely wondering by now what the rest of my platform is.

Originally, when I became involved in drug policy reform and politics, I focused on a single issue.
Any of you that have been involved in the political arena know that one-issue candidates never get very far.
I want to go far and I have expanded my platform to include other issues that are important to my fellow Alabamians and to me.

* Drug Policy and Prison Reform - Possession and cultivation of marijuana for personal use will be legal under state law for adults age 18 and over. Sales will be through state licensed outlets much like those that now sell liquor. Taxes collected from the sale will go to fund treatment on demand for hard drug addicts and for a rational, realistic, scientific-based program like Safety 1st that teaches Alabama's youth why they should avoid drugs but also how to safely avoid danger should they decide to ignore our advice.
As adults and parents it is our job to help our youth make the proper decisions and to keep them safe. Abstinence only policies are unrealistic and amount to nothing more than burying ones head in the sand while our kids die or get hauled off into the black, gaping maw of the American gulag.

All non-violent drug offenders will be granted amnesty and their records will be expunged. I will also be granting amnesty to inmates convicted of other "victimless crimes" such as prostitution.

Any voluntary exchange between two consenting adult that doesn't involve fraud has no business clogging up our courts and prisons. Making all taxpayers foot the bill for the imprisonment of a person who has not wronged all of us punishes all taxpayers.

* Refusal to comply with the Patriot ACT and REAL I.D. - Someone has to have the courage to stand up to the Federal Government and I volunteer for that position.

* No gun control laws - No criminal walks into a gun store to get his or her gun. Therefore the only citizens gun control laws affect are law abiding ones who have to wait 15 days. The US Constitution and the Alabama Constitution give us the right to bear arms in defense of the state and ourselves. Nowhere in Constitution does it state that citizens can only possess certain kinds of guns. If it did we private citizens would surely have been regulated to BB guns while the government and dangerous criminals would have all the good ones and that would effectively nullify the 2nd Amendment.

*States Rights. Washington D.C. OUT of Alabama - A lot of folks shudder when I say those words. Granted they invoke negative images in the eyes of many in Alabama and around the world. But, States Rights are some of the most important rights we have to prevent Federal government intrusion into our lives. Alabamians historically resent being told by the gov'ment how to act and what to do. Apparently a lot of Alabamians have forgotten that and I intend to remind them.

*Check Box Governing System - This will consist of listing all of the state programs that taxpayer money funds, placing a Yes and No box beside each item and allowing the taxpayer to decide whether or not they would like their money spent on said program.

*Alabama Out of Iraq - I will call for the Alabama National Guard troops home and loudly and vocally support the pullout of all remaining U.S. troops from the Middle East. The Iraq War is illegal, for profit and has succeeded only in making America less safe than ever before. The State Militia or National Guard if you prefer was never intended to fight on foreign soil but to protect the state from invasion.

*Choices in Education - Public schools across America are run by the federal government. Boy Howdy was that ever a bad idea! I travel all across this country and talk to high school kids who tell me that the police should make them pee in a cup and have a vicious man-eating dog sniff their private parts and property more often than they already do in order to keep drugs out of school.

Let's face it. Our children are indoctrinated and brainwashed from the moment they set foot in a public school. 33% of them think the First Amendment gives us too much freedom.
I find that most alarming and will not tolerate statist indoctrination in Alabama's Public School System.

Parents must have more choices in how their children are educated.

*Ballot Access Reform - Alabama has the most restrictive ballot access laws in the country. Third party and Independent candidates are required to get 41,000 registered voter signatures before their name is placed on the ballot. Republicans and Democrats are only required to gather 500. This effectively stifles new people with new ideas from ever reaching the voters and firmly secures a two-party system for the Republicans and Democrats who are deathly afraid of people like me. I believe that anyone who has the courage to stand publicly for what they believe in, that has the courage to place themselves under the microscope of public scrutiny should have unrestricted ballot access.

*Ballot Initiative and Referendum - In Alabama the Legislature is in complete control. In order to get a new law passed one must find someone to draft the proposal and find someone to introduce it to the Legislature. The Legislature then votes. If the legislature votes no then the process must be started all over again. If the legislature votes yes then the bill is passed on to the Senate to go through the same process. If the Senate votes no the process starts all over again. If the Senate votes yes then the bill is passed on to the Governor who has the power to veto it.
Alabama citizens need ballot initiative and referendum in order to wrest control back from the legislature who are nothing more than a bunch of highly paid lobbyists who care nothing for the citizens they supposedly represent.


Now, back to the walk across Alabama.
I need the following in order to get started on this walk and make this campaign a success.

1. A sturdy, durable, weatherproof backpack. I would prefer this be made from hemp and be capable of carrying a laptop.

2. A tent for nights when I am not near a hotel or do not have an Alabama family to take me in for the evening. I hope to spend most of my nights in the homes of my fellow Alabamians.

3. Money - Aside from regular campaign expenses I will need a high-pitched dog whistle (I am deathly afraid of large dogs and Alabamians are rather fond of them but not real big on fences and leashes) a stun-gun and pepper spray on the offhand chance I run into bad business along the highways. I will be walking alone until others decide to join me.

I need money for a pair of really good walking shoes, for food and water, campaign and drug policy reform literature to distribute, yard signs, money to pay signature gatherers, for upkeep on the website and probably a thousand other things I have not thought of because I have never endeavored to do this before.

4. Products from hemp-based businesses to sell along the way. If you have a business that deals in hemp clothing, body care items, paper or other hemp-based products please consider donating some to my campaign so that I can use them to raise money and be self-supporting to the best of my ability.

This is a grass roots campaign and I have tried to make it as inexpensive as possible by planning to walk instead of drive, by planning to stay with Alabama families instead of in expensive hotels and by doing the things that make the media focus on me out of interest in what I am doing as opposed to purchasing expensive campaign advertising.

I need the help of ALL DRUG POLICY REFORMERS in the U.S. to make this a success.

With the national and international spotlight focused on the Alabama election this is OUR OPPORTUNITY AS REFORMERS to show the Federal Government that we are an ORGANIZED POLITICAL MACHINE and that from here on out we will be A BIG PART OF THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE AND WE WILL RUN CANDIDATES FOR OFFICE AND WE WILL BE HEARD!!

I need the help of ALL AMERICANS who believe that the drug war is wrong, that prisons need reform, that American citizens should be able to speak freely against laws they disagree with without fear of retaliation from police and the government.

I need the help of ALL AMERICANS who believe that the war in Iraq is illegal and that our troops should be brought home.

I need the help of ALL AMERICANS who believe the federal government is out of touch with the people of this great country and they are leading us straight to proverbial hell.

I need the help of ALL AMERICANS who believe in the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights as they are written.

I need the help of ALL AMERICANS who understand what it truly means to be a patriot.

If you are an AMERICAN PLEASE help me in this historic undertaking by making a contribution to my campaign. Please visit the Nall for Governor site and click on the "Contributions" link on the left.
It is a secure page.

You can also make a contribution by clicking HERE.

If you would rather mail your contribution please make checks and money orders payable to Nall for Governor and mail it to:

Nall for Governor Campaign
4633 Pearson Chapel Rd
Alexander City, AL 35010

I have stepped up to the plate to speak for those of us who desire change in our government.

I have stepped up to the plate to take on Goliath for those of us who are too small, poor, weak or otherwise unable to do so for ourselves.

I have stepped up to the plate to challenge unconstitutional laws that make our society more dangerous and less free.

I have been to jail for stepping up to the plate.

I have been and am still embroiled in a legal battle for stepping up to the plate.

I have been harassed by the F.B.I., the D.E.A., the National Guard, local police and U.S. Customs for stepping up to the plate.

I have had government-sanctioned kidnappers try and steal my precious children for stepping up to the plate.

And now, having firmly established myself as someone who will not be intimidated or silenced, I am once again stepping up to the plate in the grandest fashion by running for Governor of Alabama.

I am calling on My Fellow Americans and Drug Policy Reformers to step up to the plate now. Together we will firmly establish our territory in the American Political Landscape.

Here's to Freedom!

Yours in Liberty,
Loretta Nall
Alabama Gubernatorial Candidate 2006
Nall For Governor