September 7th, 7:00 PM - This is The Libertarian Party of Cobb County regular monthly meeting. They are always great events, but the next two months are going to be even better with Dale's campaign heating up. Come out to get the latest updates on the campaign, and there's usually always some great way to help out.

Everyone got a first look at Dale's "Big Signs" (there 4 by 8 feet!), which will soon be seen all over Cobb. Many folks signed up to volunteer with Dale's last big door-to-door effort, which will cover over 10,000 homes. We also got many commitments to help with the State Fair.

September 16th, 5:00 PM - We will be having a party and cookout at Dale Ritchey's home to celebrate the ballot access victories by our State Representative candidates. All LP candidates and members are invited. Food and soft drinks will be provided (bring your own alcoholic beverages). Come out and mingle with fellow Libertarians and meet the candidates. Bring a friend! Families are welcome.

Directions to Dale's House (Click here for a map and directions to Dale's house from Yahoo! Maps.)

From I-75, take the 120 North Marietta Parkway exit (Exit 265) go west. Take a right on Whitlock Avenue, which is located on the west side of Marietta Square.

Follow Whitlock Avenue until it becomes Dallas Highway (four lanes). Pass the Barrett Parkway intersection (Home Depot on the right) and go through the next light. Go to the second left after the light � West Sandtown Road � and turn left there.

Go one mile and turn right on Andora Drive (Sandy Glen subdivision). Turn right on Andora Trail. Go to the end. Dale�s address is 3150 Andora Trail.

Fun! There's no other word to describe it. Dozens of people showed up in what turned out to be perfect weather for a bonfire and horseshoes. There's simply no better way to enjoy a cool summer night than with good friends, good food and good conversation.

September 21st, Evening - Dale will be helping work the Cobb County Libertarian booth at the North Georgia State Fair, so stop by and say hello. (Map and Directions)

We had a small crowd because of the storm, but that gave the people that did stop by more time to speak with Dale. We have an excellent setup this year at the fair, and there's plenty of info on all the Libertarian candidates that will be on the ballot here in Cobb.

September 28th, Evening - Dale will be helping work the Cobb County Libertarian booth at the North Georgia State Fair, so stop by and say hello. (Map and Directions)

There was a good crowd tonight and Dale got a chance to talk with most of them. Many of them were impressed by Dale, his message and his campaign.

September 30th, 10:00 AM - 10,000 Homes by Election Day Drive! For more info and to volunteer go to our 10,000 Homes by Election Day Drive page.

Well, after a short break over the summer we're back to hitting the streets. Dale and his volunteers went to almost 1,000 homes today, taking the campaign directly to the people - where it belongs.

August 1st, 6:30 PM - We are going to be meeting at Dale's house (Map and Directions) to do a big mail out. No we don't have hired professional do this kind of stuff, it all gets done by volunteers like us. Who knows you might even have a good time. We'll probably even be playing back our video from earlier in the campaign, like the sales tax protest and the 4th of July parade. So come on out and give us a hand! For more information contact Michael Powers at 770-667-9777 (Days) or 770-590-8772 (Evenings).

We had a good turn out of our regular volunteers, and we got most of our mail out done. Of course we always have lively conversation when every we get together, and with Dale's campaign really taking off we had a lot talk about!

August 3rd, 7:00 PM - This is The Libertarian Party of Cobb County regular monthly meeting. They are always great events, but the next three months are going to be even better with Dale's campaign heating up. Come out to get the latest updates on the campaign, and there's usually always some great way to help out.

We finished up our big mail out and heard all the latest details from Dale about the campaign. With things really taking off we got even more commitments from are already dedicated volunteers and even got John Turcotte to join our staff.

August 11th & 12th, 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM - We are going to be holding a huge garage sale to help raise money for Dale's campaign. It's at Jason Butler's house (Map and Directions), 251 Rock Garden Ter, Marietta, GA 30064 (off Barrett Parkway). Come on out to do some shopping or volunteer to help! For more information, to volunteer, or if you have items to donate contact Jason Butler at 770-753-8247 (Days) or 770-420-1991 (Evenings).

The garage sale was a great success! Dale generously decided to give all profits from the garage sales to the Libertarian Part of Cobb County. Many thanks to all the people who donated items and volunteered - and of course thanks to all the shoppers. Even though we sold the majority of our items will still had many useful items left, which we donated to the local Goodwill.

August 24th, 7:00 PM - Neal Boortz / Meet the Candidates Forum at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (Map and Directions) This is going to be a huge event! Not only will Neal Boortz be there, but we're also going to have the excellent Libertarian speaker Michael Cloud! This is a great opportunity to meet all of our Libertarian candidates here in Georgia.

What a fantastic night! Hundreds of Georgians got to see all of our local Libertarian candidates (who all have more compassion and substance than any of their competitors). Mike Cloud and Neal Boortz both did outstanding jobs, and we raised a good bit of money for our local candidates. And Neal personally made a substantive donation after seeing the states professionally done TV commercials. Look for some video of the event online very soon.

July 4th, 9:00 AM - Dale will be marching in the Marietta Fourth of July Parade under the banner of the Libertarian Party of Georgia. The annual turnout to watch the parade is about 80,000 people, so this is an excellent opportunity to let voters know about the Libertarian presence in our community. The more people who march with us, the greater the impact. So go to our Volunteer & Contribute form (you don't have to fill out the contribute section) and sign up to join us! Go to our July 4th Parade page to get all the details.

This is really starting to get fun! We had almost 50 people marching behind the "Libertarian Party of Georgia" banner including candidates Leo Baca, Dick Withington, and of course Dale Ritchey. We had a very colorful and energetic group, which made a real impression on thousands of spectators who were seeing Libertarians in a prominent way for the first time. Special thanks to Jason Chastain who dressed up as George Washington and to Katie Chastain who dressed up as Lady Liberty (Katie even got her picture in the Marietta paper). Thanks to everyone who came out and marched for freedom and liberty on the day that they matter most. Go to Dale's home page to see a video clip of the parade.

July 26th, 7:30 PM - Dale's will be speaking at The Libertarian Party of DeKalb County's monthly meeting held at the DeKalb County Library, 4316 Church St. in Tucker (Map and Directions)

DeKalb County's organization is another one of the many Georgia affiliates that is really doing a good job. Dale had a great question and answer session, and really got the people of DeKalb exited about this amazing campaign.

July 27th, 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM - Dale will be joining Harry Browne at a reception for Mr. Browne at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (Map and Directions), right here in metro Atlanta! Harry Browne is the Libertarian presidential candidate and an excellent articulator of the Libertarian message. The event is free and there will hors d�oeuvres and a cash bar available. So come out and meet Dale and Harry Browne at what will prove to be a fantastic event (non-libertarians should find this reception especially interesting).

Holy cow! We should have gotten a bigger room - we had over 600 people come out to Listen to Mr. Browne speak! At one point Michael Cloud asked if this was anyone's first Libertarian event and over half the people raised their hands. After Harry Browne gave one of his inspiring speeches we were all treated to a sneak peak of their new TV ads (there's was also some persuasive fundraising). Dale also had a great night, being introduced to many people who were not yet familiar with the campaign. We handed out lots of campaign literature and bumper stickers, and talked with many people who were excited to see such a serious candidate running. What a great night, we got to see all of our Libertarian friends from across the state and we had the opportunity to make many more.

June 3rd, 9:00 AM - This is the day we're doing our big ballot access push called BAM - Ballot Access Mile. We are trying to finish off the petition drive with one last big effort, so go to our Volunteer & Contribute form (you don't have to fill out the contribute section) and sign up for this tremendous outing. For more info read our Press Release and go to our Ballot Access page.

This is grassroots volunteering at it's finest. Over two dozen enthusiastic volunteers came out and helped our petition drive under the hot Saturday morning sun. After Dale's volunteers got done visiting almost a thousand homes in the district, Dale now has over 1,700 signatures. Using our own strict validation we are slightly over the required 1,396 signatures. We are going to keep petitioning until the middle of July however, to be absolutely sure the Dale makes it on the ballot. There is nothing more motivating than to see so many people being moved to action by Dale's message and campaign. Thanks to everyone who came out. For more info read our Press Release.

June 10th, 9:00 AM - Ballot access, for more info and to volunteer go to our Ballot Access page.

We had a good turn out today. Today was also the day the Marietta Daily Journal sent out a photographer to get some pictures of David Chastain Jr. working with Dale and out petitioning. The paper wanted to do a feature of young people involved in politics and as soon as they called us we knew David was the man for the job. And we were not disappointed! Just go to our In the News page and look at the feature from June 12th, and decide which of the three volunteers featured sounds like he knows what he's talking about.

June 13th, 9:00 AM - Dale will be at the Cobb County town hall meeting to protest the proposed sales tax increase. This is the exact same thing the County Commissioners tried to do just last fall. And the only reason they failed is because of the Cobb County Libertarians and Dale voicing strong opposition to yet another tax increase. The sales tax will be discussed during the Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting, on the 2nd floor of the Cobb County Government Building at 100 Cherokee Street in Marietta (Map and Directions).

Unfortunately, between running a small business and his wife Yvonne having a baby on the way, Dale wasn't able to attend this morning meeting, but he will defiantly be there for the one on the 27th. Mike, Jason and Maria did however make it. Mike gave a very thorough and hard-hitting presentation on why the sales tax was a bad idea, and why free-market solutions would work better. Jason also spoke on giving the voters a real choice with the sales tax initiative. They were also interview afterwards by the AJC and MDJ. Mike gave the reporters details from his research of why a voluntary system is better. With no proponents of the tax speaking it made the Libertarian position look even stronger when the meeting was broadcast over local cable. And when both papers did their articles, the Libertarian opposition was their main focus.

June 17th, 9:00 AM - Ballot access, for more info and to volunteer go to our Ballot Access page.

With Dale's name on the ballot pretty much assured many of Dale's volunteers are helping other Libertarians try to get on the ballot. So the small group of petitioners left went up to the northern most point of the district to get a few more signatures and talk face to face with voters, and listen to their concerns (something most voters say they've never seen a candidate or their volunteers do).

June 24th, 9:00 AM - Ballot access, for more info and to volunteer go to our Ballot Access page.

We had a good turn out for our 18th petition drive. Everyone is still very motivated about taking Dale's message out to the people, but it is also a nice feeling to know that Dale's spot on the ballot is now pretty much guaranteed.

June 27th, 7:00 PM - Dale will be at the second and last public discussion of Cobb County Commissioners proposed sales tax increase. We were extremely effect at defeating this last year and expect to have a very positive effect this time around also. The sales tax will be discussed during the Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting, on the 2nd floor of the Cobb County Government Building at 100 Cherokee Street in Marietta (Map and Directions).

What an exhilarating experience! This time the room was packed, and there was good number of people there actual SUPPORTING the tax. They all had pet projects that they were pushing, and expected the government to force the people of Cobb county to pay for. But Dale went before the board and gave numerous reasons why the sales tax increase is not only immoral but also ineffective. And Dale had plenty of support from his volunteers, Cobb County Libertarians, and ordinary concerned citizens, who all spoke out against the tax. There was coverage from The Marietta Daily Journal, and The Atlanta Journal Constitution actual quoted Dale. Look for video of the meeting, which was broadcast on local cable, on this website real soon!

June 28th, 1:30 PM - Dale will be at the State Capitol for a brief press conference before filing his official qualifying papers with the state Elections Division. Dale will be joined by Dick Withington and Wayne Parker who are both running for Public Service Commission seats, along with Tom Chernetsky, who is also running for State House.

This was step was another official step on Dale's road to the State House. Dale was certainly in good company with his fellow Libertarians who were also qualifying. There was also some media coverage of the event, just check our In the News page for the article.

May 6th, 9:00 AM - Ballot access, for more info and to volunteer go to our Ballot Access page.

Well we have finally come full circle in terms of weather. When we first started we had freezing rain and 30 degree weather, and this weekend it was well into the 80s and we were going through the bottled water fast. Also after 3 months of going full steam at ballot petitioning you'd think people would start becoming drained. It's actually the exact opposite - everyone was so gung-ho on going door-to-door that it took us 15 minutes to talk someone into being the driver for the day!

May 8th, 7:00 PM - Dale's will be speaking at The Libertarian Party of Gwinnett County's monthly dinner meeting held at the Feast of the Empress, 3540 Club Dr. in Lawrenceville (Map and Directions)

Dale had an excellent time visiting the Gwinnett part affiliate. It's wonderful to see such a well organize party, and to hear about some of the great candidates they're running this year - who knows it may be sooner than we think before we have a Libertarian party caucus under the Golden Dome.

May 13th, 9:00 AM - Ballot access, for more info and to volunteer go to our Ballot Access page.

Wow we thought last week was hot! It was up in the 90s today and boy could you feel it. The bottled water was moving fast, but we were not. I don't want to scare any volunteers away though, it is good exercise and nothing gives you stamina like working for liberty.

May 20th, 9:00 AM - Ballot access, for more info and to volunteer go to our Ballot Access page.

Every time we go out we find more and more people who have heard of Dale and his efforts, and today was the best yet. People talk about how they've seen Dale's bumper stickers and yard signs. They mention how they've been reading about his camping in the newspapers, and some talk about following the campaign on the internet. But almost all of them say they're excited to see a real person with real issues making a run for elected office.

May 20th, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM - Everyone is invited to a fundraising dinner for Dale Ritchey at Debra's Deli, located at 10930 Crabapple Road in Roswell (Map and Directions). The cost is only $25 per person, so come on out to what should prove to be a wonderful event! To RSVP and for more information contact Michael Powers at 770-667-9777 (Days) or 770-590-8772 (Evenings). Any additional contributions at the event would be greatly appreciated.

Directions: From I-285, go north on GA 400 to Exit 7 (Holcomb Bridge Road/GA 140 West Exit). Go west on Holcomb Bridge Road. Holcomb Bridge Road becomes E. Crossville Road. Turn left on Crabapple Road. Debra's Deli is in the Crabapple Square Shopping Center.

Today Dale's campaign was pushed up another notch. We had a great turn out and we raised OVER 5 TIMES our set goal! From the beginning of the camping we've had great support, but today people quit dreaming of having a person of Dale's caliber in office and start seeing it as a very possible reality. More people today decide to personally put a stake in this camping by volunteering to help out and by giving significant donations from their hard earned money. Many thanks to Debra for letting us use her deli, the food was great and it was a perfect venue. Also special thanks to Helmut for his incredible fund raising efforts.

April 1st, 9:00 AM - Yes another day hitting the streets for ballot access, come out and see what it's like. For more info and to volunteer go to our Ballot Access page.

Another great day of ballot petitioning, with some of the highest number of signatures ever. And this was with out the help of Jason and Jennifer who where out in Las Vegas getting married - instead of helping with the campaign.

April 8th, 9:00 AM - Ballot access, for more info and to volunteer go to our Ballot Access page.

Starting to move up the district and meet with people in different neighborhoods. It's great to start spreading Dale's campaign and message further out, but some of these new neighborhoods are getting pretty hilly.

April 15th, 9:30 AM - We will be in Kennesaw/Big Shanty Festival Parade, this will be a huge event for Dale's campaign and the Cobb County Libertarians. You can meet either at Dale's house (Map and Directions) at 7:45 AM or First Baptist Church of Kennesaw (Map and Directions) at 8:30 AM. For more information contact Michael Powers at 770-667-9777 (Days) or 770-590-8772 (Evenings).

This was a wonderful event! We had an excellent turn out of volunteers; the few other candidates in the parade could not even compete with our presence. The official Dale Ritchey lollipop was a great hit with the kids, we even ran out before the parade was over! It was a great sight to see the Cobb County Libertarians and Dale marching right down the middle of Kennesaw, and letting people know there's now a real voice for citizens in Cobb County. We will definitely have pictures of the parade online real soon.

April 17th, 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM & 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM - Dale and the Cobb LP will be joining the DeKalb County Libertarians, and Libertarians from across the state, in the annual Tax Day Protest! This is a great event that takes place at the Decatur Post Office (Map and Directions), one of the busiest Post Offices in the state. It's where TV and Radio come out, along with thousands of tax payers, usually at their pinnacle of contempt for the income tax. For more information contact Michael Powers at 770-667-9777 (Days) or 770-590-8772 (Evenings).

We had a good turn out for the tax protest but unfortunately we didn't get the media coverage we did last year. We still got the message out to all the last minute taxpayers about how the American people are being tax more and more all the time. And the people responded with much interest and concern about what they can do to keep more of their hard earned money, to use as they see fit. Also Dale couldn't make it to this even, because his wife, Yvonne, wasn't feeling well, and it doesn't say "Dedicated Husband" and "Loving Father" as the first two items in the bio of his brochure for nothing.

April 22nd, 9:00 AM - Ballot access, for more info and to volunteer go to our Ballot Access page.

We reached a great milestone today with over 1000 signatures! Dale and his volunteers have already visited over 3500 homes in the district, and plan to go to many, many more. It's truly great to see Dale's message of smaller government and more individual liberties being so well received by so many people.

April 27th, 7:30 PM - Dale's speaking at The Libertarian Party of Cherokee County's monthly meeting held at Shoney's (Marietta Hwy/GA20) banquet room (Map and Directions)

A great evening, Dale gave an excellent speech, and also talked about all the groundbreaking ways his campaign is reaching out to people who are usually left out of the political process.

April 29th, 9:00 AM - Ballot access, for more info and to volunteer go to our Ballot Access page.

A beautiful day for ballot petitioning. Mike had excellent results in terms of number of signatures, but David Jr. showed he is willing to go the extra mile by volunteering to continue mowing one mans lawn while he pause to sign the petition!

March 4th, 9:00 AM - Nothing makes you enjoy your weekend more than starting it off with some health promotion of liberty (I am talking about ballot access here). For more info and to volunteer go to our Ballot Access page.

Well we've got good news and bad news from today. The bad news is we were supposed to have some good media coverage today, but they didn't show up, not too big of a deal we are going to have plenty of more chances for press coverage and we're already getting it setup. Now for the good news - we had an absolutely incredible showing of volunteers! Dale's house was packed to the rafters with people, and of course we shatter our previous number of signatures for one day. Well all of us regulars are looking forward to taking a little break from ballot access, but when we start back at the beginning of April (with added weekday outings) we hope to keep going as strong as we did today.

March 18th - The Libertarian Party State Convention, this is where Dale will be cheerfully and unanimously nominated as the candidate for the 34th District State Representative. What makes this even more exciting is that Dale is probably the most organized State Rep candidate ever to be nominated in Georgia. It's likely that we will have more signatures going in to the convention than any State Rep candidate ever has, we have more volunteers than probably any Libertarian ever has at this level in the state (click here to become one of them). We have an incredibly organized and professional staff that started preparing over a year ago for this election. We have a web site that is getting excellent visibility and support from across the country (and even around the globe). Bottom line aside from the Presidential race this year this is THE race to watch here in the great state of Georgia! For more information and the day's agenda click here.

This turned out to be a wonderful event! There were many terrific speakers, the state party raised some much needed money and as expected, Dale was unanimously nominated as the Libertarian candidate for the 34th House District. Dale also participated in a candidates forum, where he gave some great insights on how to run a successful political campaign. There where a few other serious Libertarian candidates at the convention, like Tom Chernetsky who's running in Gwinnett County and the race for Public Service Commissioner looks like it should be real interesting. And for even more good news, the new Official Dale Ritchey Volunteer T-Shirt were selling like hotcakes!

March 25th, 9:00 AM - Even with all the great support we're getting we still have a long way to go, and we need the support of everyone who's ready to make a difference. For more info and to volunteer go to our Ballot Access page.

Another great day of ballot petitioning! We've temporally lost a couple of our regular petitioners to other obligations, but with the energy this campaign is generating they promised to be back. For the first time Dale had to miss part of the day for a speaking engagement, but we still managed to get our second most signatures ever! After going through a few neighborhoods with good senior citizen populations I can definitely say the political pundits are wrong. Most of our senior citizens are more than ready for a real candidate that believes it's time for us to rely more on ourselves, family, friends and fellow Americans, than on more government bureaucracy to solve our problems.

February 4th, 7:00 PM - Dale's official announcement for his run at the State Legislature!!!

What can you say, this was the official beginning of what will prove to be one of the greatest local campaigns in the history of Cobb County! Dale gave an excellent speech, not your typical fluff, "doesn't really say anything speech" you get from most politicians, but a real honest speech that went right to the heart of Dale's vision of America and the role government should play. We we'll soon have Dale's complete speech available online, along with all the pictures that were taken that night and we even hope to have the actual video footage of the announcement party available right here from this web site!

February 5th, 9:00 AM - Our first really BIG effort at getting signatures to put Dale on the ballot! This is an excellent chance to come help out and make a difference in a very real way. For more info and to volunteer go to our Ballot Access page.

We had a good showing of volunteers for our second outing. We all did pretty good, but it's hard to get a lot signatures when so many people are not at home. But of the people that were home most showed a real interest in the campaign and even the few that are holding their support till later thought the voters of Cobb County at least deserve a choice in the upcoming election. So all in all a good day except for the vicious dog that chased Jason a block or so down the road.

February 12th, 9:00 AM - We have to keep this ballot petition ball rolling so come out and join us. For more info and to volunteer go to our Ballot Access page.

This was our best outing yet! Even with the rain we got our most signatures ever. You get a chance to meet so many great people on these outings, and they more than make up for the few that are so turned off by politics that they don't let us show them how really different Dale's campaign is. One great experience was towards the end of the day where one man refused to sign the petition and barley let us give him a brochure. Well when we were all leaving the neighborhood he flag us down and said he had read the brochure and he wanted to sign!

February 19th, 9:00 AM - Want to experience a grass roots effort at its finest, well have I got a deal for you - the ballot access petition. For more info and to volunteer go to our Ballot Access page.

We actually had pretty good weather for today's outing (other than the wind which blew away a few brochures). We had our best day ever in terms of number of signatures. One person we got a signature from today actually volunteered online to help out with Dale's camping almost immediately after our visit.

February 26th, 9:00 AM - Yup, we're going to keep this ballot petition going every Saturday for the next little bit. For more info and to volunteer go to our Ballot Access page.

We had absolutely beautiful weather today! Which might be the reason we got our most signatures ever. Towards the end of the day Dale was walking by a home where half a dozen men were pulling on a rope trying to bring a tree down, that was damaged in the storm, while it was being cut. Dale tossed down his clipboard and jumped in to help. After the tree came down everyone was more than happy to sign the petition. The thing that makes a little story like this different from 99% of other politicians is that in Dale's case it is completely unstaged and authentic.

January 17th, 1:00 PM - Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade - Dale will be marching in the parade to promote freedom and equality for all people.

What a great event! Dale, Yvonne and Dessie Mae all march in the parade with the Libertarian Party of Georgia. It was wonderful to see so many people turn out to watch the event in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. and his message. Dale and the other Libertarians did such a good job of relaying King's true message, that people watching the parade joined in and marched with us! Go over to the current calendar of events to see a picture of the parade.

January 22nd, 10:00 AM - Start of petition drive for ballot access - This is the first day we will be out getting signatures to put Dale on the ballot! This is an excellent chance to come help out and make a difference in a very real way. For more info and to volunteer go to our Ballot Access page.

This is about as grassroots as you can get! This is really bringing the system to the people. It was an extremely cold and rainy day, but it was all worth it when you meet someone really interested in Dale and his efforts.

November 11th, 7:30 PM - Dale's speaking at The Libertarian Party of Forsyth County's monthly meeting held at the Shoney's in Cumming (GA 400 to Exit 14) (Map and Directions)

It's always terrific to see people get excited about Dale's message and the level of organization in his campaigning.

October 1st, Evening - Dale will be helping work the Cobb County Libertarian booth at the North Georgia State Fair, so stop by and say hello. (Map and Directions)

This was a perfect venue, it was a fun atmosphere and Dale got to meet people who usually don't get too involved in politics.

October 4th, 7:00 PM - Dale will be at the Cobb County Sales Tax Increase Protest at the East Cobb Government Center (Map and Directions)

One of the greatest recent successes of the Cobb County Libertarian's was the early defeat of the proposed sales tax increase. Mike Powers organized the effort with fantastic support from members of the Libertarian Party of Cobb County, with Dale being one of the most active participants. This victory is proof that the Libertarian Party and people like Dale are now strong forces for making sure government in Cobb County is at sensible levels and accountable.

- Helen Logless