Project Archimedes was the program that the Browne campaign needed. Archimedes might or might not work, but it at least promised an opportunity to recruit vast numbers of new dues-paying members, i.e., vast numbers of potential Browne donors. As it turned out, most members were not donors. Only a small fraction of LPUS members ever donated to Browne’s campaign.
Bergland did not run unopposed. Long-time Libertarian activist Gene Cisewski was also a candidate for National Chair. Cisewski ran on his long record of performance rather than promises. He had run successful campaign schools, teaching Libertarians from coast to coast how to run for local office. He was also director of the Liberty Council, by far the most successful Libertarian local-campaign-support PAC of the twentieth century.
Cisewski’s platform took local organization as its central theme. In Cisewski’s view, the party’s core effort should be to build local groups and run local candidates for local office. Successful local campaigns would generate the voter base, activist groups, and team of active politicians needed to capture higher offices. Cisewski viewed membership growth as a symptom of success, not a cause of it.
It was therefore absolutely critical to the Browne campaign that Bergland defeat Cisewski. If Cisewski won, the National Party would work to build the Party county by county, not to recruit 80,000 or 180,000 new members who would function primarily by sending money to Browne. For the Browne campaign, a Cisewski victory would mean that the National Party would not work on attaining the 200,000 member-donors that Browne wanted. Browne’s campaign objectives would become unattainable.
The Browne 2000 Campaign scrambled to support Bergland’s National Chair Campaign. Browne had a successful email newsletter LibertyWire, which reportedly went out to thousands of Libertarians from coast to coast. Many of these people had given generously to the Browne campaign, and were therefore likely to be able to afford to attend the National Convention. The April 1, 1998 issue of LibertyWire was a personal message from Harry Browne “Regarding the Election of a New National Chair”.
Browne strongly endorsed David Bergland for National Chair. Bergland, said Browne, was the man who would appoint Steve Dasbach as Party CEO. Bergland was the man who would maintain the current strategy, that being to “professionalize” the party and develop the party’s size and strength. Browne closed his message by invoking the name of Bergland campaign co-chair Barbara Goushaw, as someone seeing the same opportunities [Bergland] and dangers [Bergland’s opponents] that Browne did. The main danger was to the Browne campaign, namely that it would be confronted by a National Committee that would not spend massively in support of Browne’s strategy for the 2000 nomination.
Browne apparently continued with retail campaigning. John Famularo reports that at the Virginia LP State Convention, Browne was seen directing the distribution of Bergland literature. Famularo claims that the distribution was performed by National Committee staff members, there as staff members in that their attendance was paid for by the National party.
