Rather than trying to defend his record, in early 2000 Bergland announced that he would not seek re-election to the National Committee. [Editor: During this period, I ran repeatedly for National Chair. Each time, the Chair chose not to run for re-election. Supporters of the faction running the party played whack-a-mole to keep the National Committee in their hands.] Chapter…
Posts tagged as “Harry Browne”
It has been said that some people run for office in order To Do while others run for office in order To Be. Some people want the responsibilities of a job because having the job helps them reach their real objectives. Other people want the title of a job because the title makes them feel important. Bergland made clear he…
Browne also gave Bergland direct access to LibertyWire. The 18 June 1998 mailing of LibertyWire was “An Important Message from David Bergland to Delegates to the 1998 National Convention”. In this message, Bergland laid out his substantial qualifications to be National Chair. He also made clear—by being allowed to use Browne 2000’s LibertyWire message —that he was the chosen candidate…
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…
Browne announced in 1997 that he needed a much larger Libertarian Party, a party that by December 1999 would number 200,000 members instead of 22,000 members. Could the Party possibly recruit 200,000 members by the end of 1999? No matter what method the National Party used, Browne’s recruitment objective appeared unattainable. On one hand, to reach Browne’s objective, the National…
Browne’s published strategy did not mention internal political difficulties faced by Browne. I’ve noted above issues that had arisen as a result of Browne’s changes of mind during the 1996 campaign. Some these difficulties were issues that the Browne campaign could not mention publicly, but that needed to be addressed. An early indication that Browne’s 1996 Campaign had not been…
Browne’s announced strategy laying the groundwork for the 2000 Libertarian campaign thus had three independent goals: (1) The Libertarian Party needed to increase its membership from 22,000 in 1997 to 200,000 by 2000. (2) By the end of 1999, the Browne campaign needed to stockpile at least $1,000,000 of accumulated cash as a warchest. Note the key operative modifier ‘accumulated’.…
Browne first revealed his strategy in a letter dated February 10, 1997 reportedly sent to ‘maximum donors” to his 1996 campaign. In that letter, Browne revealed the formation of an exploratory committee, and set forth his campaign objectives: “It all comes down to one thing: how big the Libertarian Party is. Today the Libertarian Party has about 22,000 members. While…
What is the significance of the P Transaction for the Browne Campaign? Once again the National Party had given Browne’s campaign a direct subsidy of substantial value for Browne’s 2000 effort. Browne donors, in addition to the letters and the books and other tchotchkes, now had received Party membership extensions, which some of them believed had been paid for by…
The P Transaction Accounting software is seldom the stuff of political machinations. Accounting and programming can be dry-as-dust topics. The P Transaction was different. Through the P Transaction, Perry Willis and the Browne Campaign cost the Party tens of thousands of dollars, enhanced Willis’s salary, and selectively increased the 1998 and 2000 delegate counts of pro-Browne states. How could an…