Toward a Granite State Party Conversations with New Hampshire libertarians who conclude that Libertarian Party of New Hampshire’s antics have irretrievably damaged the good name of the Libertarian Party in that state have identified an alternative, namely launching a new political organization. This would not be a Libertarian Party. The proposed name is “Granite State” leading toward the “Granite State…
Posts published by “George Phillies”
Opinion: Toward an Organizing Committee for a Classical Liberal Party Recent changes in the Libertarian Party have gravely damaged its image, organizational soundness, and fundamental platform. One readily finds people saying that the Republican Party could not have done a better job of wrecking the Libertarian Party than the Libertarian National Committee has done to itself. An alternative interpretation of…
“I’m active in my local party”, you ask, “why should I care about national affinity groups? For that matter, what is an affinity group?” An affinity group is a collection of people with a particular interest, like the National Rifle Association or the National Abortion Rights Action League. Affinity group members have a real interest other than politics. They also…
Local Organization Issue Outreach Local Campaigns Most members are surprised to learn how little money the national party invests on supporting local political activities, either through direct investment or by providing supporting materials and structures. Notice that I have not proposed to spend money to recruit more members for the national party. I am delighted that Americans choose to join…
In his new book “Go Big” Richard Viguerrie recounts why the ‘New Right’ took over leadership of the conservative movement and brought it to victory, electing Ronald Reagan as President in 1980. He observes that in 1964 there were conservatives, but there was no one planning conservative strategy. He then outlines the scheme Newt Gingrich used to form plans. It…
We should invest in the things that work. We should not invest in things that fail unless they deliver secondary benefits. We should also invest in things that we have not tried, things that we will need to build a future of peace, freedom, and prosperity. Spending by the national committee on national activities: First, the core activities of the…
“What should we do” is the new op-ed column of ThirdPartyWatch. “What Should We Do” is open to writers of all third parties and independent political groups. Individual articles should identify challenges or advocate for particular solutions. A reasonable column might be five hundred or a thousand words long, but we are open to columns that are significantly longer or…
This is the first of several letters discussing how the LNC should spend its money. In this letter, I discuss sources of income and the concepts of direct and indirect costs. Direct and indirect costs are fundamental for understanding what you are doing when you spend money. If you already know about indirect costs, you may find this topic to…
I wrote this for Libertarians, but the analysis is equally true for every other third party. The purpose of a political party is The only way we can forward our cause as a political party is to run people for office. Some candidates will bring the Libertarian word to the public. Other candidates will win election and serve in office,…
I am pleased to report that the LNC, having recently appropriated $12,000 for Michigan Trademark legal action, has made a further step. It appropriated $1500 for Arkansas ballot access. In other good news, the Montana law to impose Top-Two for one election to one office is apparently going down in flames, as there was a negative committee vote, 1-17. The…