Last updated on July 4, 2023
These letters were originally written for libertarians, but with slight edits are equally true for any third party
In previous letters, I discussed activities particularly appropriate for performance by national and state groups. I have also discussed activities that every Libertarian group should perform, most notably incitement of members to become activists and candidates.
In this letter, I consider activities most appropriate for local Libertarian groups. These are the activities that you and your Libertarian neighbors have to do for yourselves, because a distant committee in Washington cannot do them for you.
Above all, the foundation of Libertarian victory is Local Organization. Local Organization gives us the local politicians who later rise to state and Federal office. Local Organization gives us Libertarian activists in every ward and precinct, in every city and town, who will put up lawn signs, distribute push cards, man phone banks, and get out the Libertarian vote on election day. Remember:
Campaigns are won on the local level. In the words, many years ago, of the Virginia Libertarian party “Let us accept the proposition that every precinct in which a Libertarian resides shall have a precinct captain.” Philadelphia activists have shown how well the local organization approach can work. In a recent three-way race, the Libertarian candidate carried the districts in which the Libertarian Party was able to run a classic full-bore campaign.
Local organizations give personal contact. Many people will write a check for a candidate they have never met. If you want those people to volunteer their time to support that same candidate, you need someone who knows them personally. That someone is placed to ask them personally, face-to-face to Stand Up for Liberty! and become a Libertarian activist. That old stand-by, the Libertarian Supper club, can be an effective way to develop local contacts, if it is used properly. A supper club is a wonderful way to meet fellow Libertarians, deepen one’s understanding of the Libertarian message, and have a good time. For a dedicated Party member, the very same supper club can be an opportunity to incite your fellow members into activism, thereby using the Supper Club as a recruiting station for the army of freedom.
Local Organizations run local candidates, the people who enter races we are likely to win. Local candidates reinforce each other’s strengths; each Libertarian campaign builds votes for every future Libertarian candidate. Local organizations get us elected Libertarians.
Libertarians in local office build the voter base. Elected Libertarians get to show the public what the Libertarian Party stands for. Elected Libertarians provide an updraft for other Libertarian candidates, giving them a base of strength they cannot get any other way.
