‘92 Presidential Choice Named by Libertarians : Politics: Candidate, 52, to campaign on a promise to repeal federal income tax and abolish the Internal Revenue Service.

The Libertarian Party on Saturday picked a Las Vegas real estate agent and former state representative from Alaska as its 1992 presidential candidate.

Andre Marrou, 52, who was the party’s vice presidential candidate in 1988, said he will campaign on a promise to repeal the federal income tax and abolish the Internal Revenue Service.

Marrou was selected on a 257-155 vote over Richard B. Boddie, a Huntington Beach, Calif., motivational speaker and college professor. More than 400 delegates attended the nominating convention for the party, which opposes taxes, government interference in the economy and regulations that curb personal freedoms.

If the income tax were repealed, government spending would have to be cut by 37%, Marrou said. He maintained that he could achieve the cuts in four years as President through attrition alone.

But if he were elected President, Marrou said, he would push for additional cuts in such programs as foreign aid, federal subsidies and the armed forces, which he maintains should be used only for defending Americans.

He said government has only three legitimate purposes--national defense, the court system and police. “And even some of those might be privatizable,” he said.

In addition, Marrou, echoing the party platform, urged abolishing laws against so-called victimless crimes such as drug use and prostitution, and he called for an end to the ban on ownership of weapons such as machine guns.

“We’re the only party that protects your right to do what you want with your time, your money and your body,” he said.

After Marrou won the nomination, the party postponed a vote on a vice presidential candidate until today after no candidate won a majority on the first ballot. Boddie led the first ballot for vice president with 179 votes. The nomination requires 221 votes.

While acknowledging that he would be unlikely to win the 5% of the vote in the general election needed to qualify for matching funds, Marrou maintained: “We are building a national party. . . . We will elect Libertarians to Congress. It’s just a matter of when and where.”

In 1988, the year Marrou was the vice presidential candidate, the ticket received less than 0.5% of the vote.

Contending that the party could win the presidency or congressional seats in 10 to 20 years if it begins making better use of television, Marrou said: “The Republican Party in 1860 (when Abraham Lincoln was elected President) is roughly where the Libertarian Party is now.”

The highest office a Libertarian candidate has ever held is state representative, although no party members now hold the office. Seventy-five Libertarians now hold lesser public offices across the country, he said.

Marrou promised to begin airing ads in cities across the country in a month. To showcase his promise to run an electronic campaign, he aired 14 one-minute spots on Chicago TV stations during the week of the convention and sent videotapes to each party delegate.

The party is on the ballot in 26 states and hopes to be represented in all 50 for the presidential election, a spokesman said. Although the party faces an uphill battle, the convention is receiving national television coverage for the first time this year. C-SPAN, a national cable public affairs network, is televising the convention.