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…
Third Party Watch
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…
A strategic analysis applicable to any third party, though focused on the Libertarians. I am lifting much text from my book Libertarian Renaissance, written in 2010. What is to be done? The answer is phrased for the Libertarian Party, but much of the advice works equally well for the Revolutionary Vegetarians. Just change the party name. In 2010 it appeared…
For English readers, that’s Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats The follow was written three election cycles ago. I’ve made a few updating notes, in square brackets.Please link widely to this article. A Simple Summary: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats Business plans sensibly start with a serious look at the situation. Where are we? What do we do well? What’s stopping us from succeeding? Where do…
What a third party needs to advance. Many of you will Recognize Richard Viguerrie as the grand master of direct mail, someone who did much to shape American politics in decades past. He now has a newsletter “The Paul Revere Lantern” and new book Go Big (not on Amazon, on his gobigconservatives web site). Buried in much messaging about what…
The following letter was sent to the Libertarian Party Discussion Group by PA activist Steve Scheetz. He reports: My message was deleted and I was blocked within 30 seconds. 10/25/2022Dear Chair McArdle: I am both disturbed and disgusted to receive this mailing asking for money for Ballot Access when you removed Jennifer Moore, the most effective player on that committee.…
Are you a third party candidate? Are you dismayed that issues polling is beyond your budget? Do not lose hope. The two larger parties and their supporters do issues polling, and publish their results. For tons of thoughtful graphs showing what issues really concern the electorate:https://democracycorps.com/national-surveys/democrats-must-still-close-on-the-cost-of-living/ You will have to think to see how questions oriented toward them can…