Last updated on July 4, 2023
Tasks for a New National Committee
I originally wrote this in 2000. I’ve edited it, because parts of it are only of historical interest. Some parts needed less editing than others, because some matters have repeated. The new national committee under consideration is the new national committee of some libertarian party, but I am not saying which libertarian party.
We can’t do everything in 100 hours or 100 days. An effective Party National Committee must set priorities. An effective Party National Committee needs to identify what needs to be done first. An effective National Committee needs to identify what we need to start working on now, even though it won’t matter for a long time, because some things take years to get underway. I’m going to discuss several important tasks for the National Committee, things the National Committee needs to get done. Some are longer-term than others.
So, what tasks does a National Committee face?
The major task of a new National Committee, if you choose to elect one, is to change the dominant operating paradigm of libertarian political parties
We should become an organization that views electoral victory via local organization as the prime task, and that treats members as potential activists.
Paradigm shifts are challenging to accomplish, and slow to put into effect. Much of the change occurs at the local level. Fortunately, the change occurs by creating new customs and habits, not by replacing old ones.
There are also specific technical issues, including:
1) The back office. We maintain membership records for the national and many state parties. The national party operates a phone link 1-800-ELECT-US. That data must be recorded accurately, distributed to state parties and local groups in a timely way, and properly archived. There is no point in advertising membership or the telephone line if we drop the ball when people join or call. Fortunately, a good back office operation only needs good software, working equipment, a trained staff, and adequate monitoring. Every other membership group in the country has the same challenges; these are solved problems.
2) Expertise collection. Political parties includes in its members and supporters technical experts in almost every field, from marketing and sales to campaign management. I don’t pretend to be an expert in most areas. A national party needs a systematic way of accessing this membership expertise. If the good ship Liberty hits high seas, we should consult the legitimate sailing masters, not depend on friends of a national officer. To do that, we need to find where the real expertise is. I am not saying that we have never consulted experts. I am saying that you have never seen a systematic appeal from a libertarian party: If you have expertise you’re willing to share with your Party, speak up and identify yourself.
3) LP News. Every member should receive LP News or an equivalent papermail newsletter on a regular basis. Is this a good idea? For starters, the LP newsletter brought in enough money that it more than paid for itself. The party newsletter is the one path we have that reaches every member without appearing to be another fundraising letter. Newsletters should motivate activism in all its forms.
4) Electronics. Whether we are discussing back office work, web pages, or membership communication, advanced technical means are fundamental to our success. A moderately large political party has reached the stage where it will appear to need in-house staff to handle computer issues, train staff for web page and database maintenance and utilization, and so forth.
5) Affinity groups.A previous letter explains why development of affinity groups is central to our long-term strength. Our opponents have groups like NARAL and NRA that do speak up for their issue, so long as the issue is tied to the right political party. The Libertarian Party needs matching, independent affinity groups to perform the same services for us. Developing those groups needs a plan, membership activism, money, and staff hand-holding.
An important task for a new National Committee is to restore trust: We need trust that the national Party and Federal candidates are sound places for party members to invest their time, effort, and money.
Trust is not something you can recover by patting yourself on the back and telling the world what a fine fellow you are. Trust is something you earn by being trustworthy.
The Local Organization Strategy instantly solves part of the trust problem. To develop local and state organizations, you are going to work with fellow Libertarians from your home town and home state. These are people you know. You know who comes through in a pinch, who keeps her promises, and who talks a good line until work is involved. You can trust people to be themselves, and you know what sort of people they are. You know who you can trust for what. Under the Local Organization strategy, trust in the national organization becomes less important than it would otherwise be.
In the long term, we do need to be able to trust our national organization and national candidates to give the movement proper support. A National Committee and National candidates must be effective in showing donors that they have spent donor money well. I am not arguing that money was spent well or poorly. I am discussing what a successful national party should be telling its members and donors. If in December you raise money for petitioners, in January or February you should report clearly on how much money was raised, how many petitioners were hired, what they cost, and where they will be working. Given FEC reporting requirements, who we hired is known very quickly to all interested people. If in February we raise money to improve our web pages, in April or June we need to report where that money went, who earned it, and how our web pages were improved.
The same transparency principle applies to future candidates for Federal Office. Candidates who raise large sums without explaining how those sums are spent will simply be too divisive to be good for the party.
Finally, the last few years have involved the Libertarian National Committee in a variety of controversies: strategies, lawsuits, state affiliations. Major changes in the LNC’s membership are needed to bring a breath of fresh air.
All good advice. But I believe there is an important issue that you did not directly address. What about the old national committee that is likely to still exist — and may still have fangs and claws to attack with?
A new national party has to be built correctly. You covered many of the major issues. But hot button is ballot access. So this has to be a clean break.
I noticed during the Vermin Supreme interview with the LNC’s current chair her comment – and I am loosely paraphrasing to cover her intent not necessarily her exact wording – about affiliates who break from the LP needing to leave behind ballot access.
That of course is false. Ballot access would stay with the affiliate. They are recognized by their state under its election laws. They own ballot access. National parties do not. If people leave a party they of course leave ballot access behind, but if an affiliate leaves their national party they take it with them. They own it.
It also counters the LNC’s own plank about succession. Think of it this way: There is a baseball game in the park. Some players decide to leave the game. They go, taking the gloves they own with them. The LNC Chair says they don’t own them and have to leave their property for someone new to use, even though state laws say they are the owners. Hypocritical?
Of course in any such event there would be suits and counter suits tying up people and money for years. That could be compounded many times over if they then joined a new group. That is why it is better to just let existing LP affiliates alone and not solicit any of them to break from the old party. So existing affiliates “defecting” would be a nasty mess to deal with. Better to start over.
In my state, we have not even communicated with the old party. We are building a new one. To be polite, I probably should call some of my old friends, and I’m sure I will before we launch, but not just yet. Maybe some will call me if they read this.
And perhaps saying old party would be inaccurate because this will not be exactly what the LP currently is. Nor should it. Classical Liberal. Not socialists. Not fascists. No mises caucus, radical caucus, pragmatic, minarchist or even voodoo caucus!
But I can understand the need for an ad-hoc pizza caucus during meetings and certainly an opposing cheesesteak caucus – very likely multiple types of cheesesteaks caucuses! In fact, if this were an opinion piece instead of a comment I would call it “What about the cheesesteak caucuses?” to attract attention. But I’m sure an editor would pick a better name. The editors here could be more likely to support lobsters or clam chowder.
But I think I made the point. Start over. Avoid the fangs and claws.
I am sure that at some time I or other members of the team in our state will run into old colleagues from the LP either in the real world or in cyber space. Any of them that want to discuss joining us are welcome to, but we are not going to try to get their state affiliate to leave the LP and join us.
So thank you George for listing many of the important tasks for people to think about. There is a lot to do. I am glad I only have South Carolina organize and not the entire party.