Step Two–Do Real Politics The Libertarian National Committee is tasked with a short series of Mission Critical Activities. We need to raise and spend money well. We need to recruit and retain members. We need to run a first-rate back office. But above all, we need to Do Real Politics. A political party that is not doing real politics is…
Posts published in December 2022
Where we were, a decade ago: The second quick fix: The overpriced D.C. location (then in the Watergate Building) must go. Immediately, or as soon as practicable. A Washington location is needed if you are lobbying, holding press events, or investing in America by buying Congressmen. We aren’t. Lobbying is at most a Worthwhile Activity, something that gives way for…
Part Three How Do We Do It? Part Two gave a list of activities we need to perform. Some activities are mission-critical, others are important, and bringing up the rear we have a few worthwhile activities. Put together, those merely important activities are mission-critical. We could miss one or another now and then, but if we did none of them…
7) Cooperation with Other Libertarian Groups. Cooperation is an Important Activity. Independent libertarian groups such as AntiWar.Com should be friends with whom we actively collaborate, recognizing that tax and election laws limit these collaborations. Outreach to the greater Libertarian movement is a key task for our National Party 8) Washington Lobbying. Lobbying is a Worthwhile Activity. Why lobbying? Lobbying introduces…
New Hampshire Libertarians now face several alternatives. None of them are exactly ideal. The starting point is the current libertarian political situation in New Hampshire. Once again, the Libertarian Party failed to gain major party status in New Hampshire. There is a group “Libertarian Party of New Hampshire”, which the Libertarian National Committee recognizes as its affiliate. From the standpoint…
Putting the Elephant to Sleep — a 1998 Column That is Still Relevant With slightly different numbers and a need to put the donkey to sleep, the column refers equally to Alabama, Mississippi, Wyoming, Idaho, and other states. Other third parties can usefully apply the same approach. [For reactions to this proposal, see the end of the column.] I propose…
3) Support our candidates. 50-state ballot access for the Presidential candidate. Fifty-state ballot access is an Important Activity. The Presidential candidate is the nominee of the national party. It’s expensive. Only by focusing the resources of the entire National Party can our Presidential nominee be on the ballot everywhere. The LNC should set aside in each year’s budgets the funds…
Which tasks are uniquely appropriate for the National Committee? One task, and only one, is specified in the Bylaws. Other tasks can be inferred from the mandate in Article Three of the Party Bylaws. Some tasks are reasonably sent to the National Party because they are huge, critical, and only the National Party has the needed resources. Let’s start with…
and while these remarks were originally written for the Libertarian Party, they are mostly equally applicable to any other third party. Number Six: Grass Roots Organizing. Grass Roots Organizing is an Important Activity. By definition, the National Committee cannot do grass roots organizing. If the LNC organized it, by definition it was done from the top down, not by the…
We’ll start with activities every Libertarian group including the LNC should be doing. We’ll identify some of these as Mission Critical Activities, some as Important Activities, and a few as Worthwhile Activities. There are absolutely critical activities like fund raising, membership recruitment, and back office operations. Without those, Party operations come to a stop. Then there are Important Activities like…