[Lnc-business] [Statechairs] LP National's dilemma Re: Denver Post Voter's Guide contact information

Norm Olsen region1rep at doneDad.com
Wed Oct 1 15:07:14 EDT 2014


Hello Wes . . .

 

With regard to your message:

 

1>     National is capable of supporting a full time staff of 6(?).  State Chairs and other affiliate officers  are all volunteers.

2>     Maybe two or three affiliates have a full (or even part time) employee which is not a volunteer.

3>     National should respond to all reasonable requests in this very busy time of year in a reasonable manner.

4>     Affiliates where the requested information is not easily accessible to media are in no position to complain.

5>     The judgment of the Executive Director and the Political Director should be trusted.

6>     More frequent contact between national and the affiliates would establish some report and thus reduce substantially this type of paranoia which is hurting us.

7>     Yes, staff has a lot to do, but general elections only occur once every two years.

 

Norm

--

Norman T Olsen

Regional Representative, Region I

Libertarian National Committee

7931 S Broadway, PMB 102

Littleton, Colorado  80122-2710

303-263-4995

Norman.Olsen at lp.org

 

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Gandhi

 

From: Statechairs [mailto:statechairs-bounces at hq.lp.org] On Behalf Of Wes Benedict
Sent: Monday, September 29, 2014 2:56 PM
To: Chuck Plunkett; statechairs at hq.lp.org
Subject: [Statechairs] LP National's dilemma Re: Denver Post Voter's Guide contact information

 

Perhaps you can imagine the dilemma we face at LP National. Do we help expedite coverage for our candidates in a quick efficient way, or put another thing on the plate of the state chair, or engage in a sometimes time-consuming cumbersome permission process with the state chair?

It's quick and easy for us to make a list and send it to a reporter. It's even quicker simply to forward a note like this to a state chair. It's time consuming to contact the state chair, wait for a response for hours or days, then decide what to do if a response is not forthcoming.

Based on participation rates on recent IT Committee surveys, LP News affiliate submissions, and responses to requests for updates to things like State Chair contact lists, I think most state chairs are quite busy and don't have time to respond to lots of things like this. 

I don't think sending a list of contacts to a reporter violates state affiliate autonomy. I think telling a state affiliate they are required to send a list to a reporter DOES violate state affiliate autonomy. 

In this particular case for Colorado and the alleged Denver Post contact, I'm going to pass the buck and ask our political director Carla Howell to use her best judgement (meaning to judge whether or not the contact is legit and is a legit and important enough media outlet to warrant a list, is it important enough for us to send a list, should the state chair be contacted first for permission, etc.)

I've heard from one person "it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission" and also "don't talk to any media in my state." 

LP Colorado, please speak up if you have an opinion on this in the mean time. I know some states are quick to respond and some almost never respond. Thanks,

Wes Benedict, Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
New address: 1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314
(202) 333-0008 ext. 232, wes.benedict at lp.org
facebook.com/libertarians @LPNational
Join the Libertarian Party at: http://lp.org/membership

On 9/29/2014 4:25 PM, Chuck Plunkett wrote:

 

Hello Wes. We are putting together our General Election Voter's Guide and are inviting candidates to participate by answering our questions and fill in biographical information.

 

What does this mean for you and the Colorado Libertarian Party?

 

We would really appreciate it if you would send us a spreadsheet with the e-mail addresses and phone numbers for your party's candidates campaign spokesperson or manager or in smaller races for the candidates themselves. The desire here is to quickly connect with actual people in charge of the campaign to reduce communication lag time or misses.




all the best -- 

 

chuck

-------------------

Chuck Plunkett

Politics editor

The Denver Post

303.954.1333 o

303.810.6129 c

 

 

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