[Lnc-business] report on Oklahoma visit

Fri Dec 11 17:34:32 EST 2015

Wes,

We can talk about this for days if you're interested, though I suspect it
will draw the ire of some of LNC members rather quickly.  Additionally, I
have no problem speaking about this publicly.  The fact is that it IS a
problem.  How we address it is clearly a matter of some opinion.  My effort
is to apply as many objective measures as possible so it becomes less of an
opinion and more of a strategy.

To most people it doesn't really matter what the group has; it matters what
they accomplish.  Yes, the Travis County LP has very consistently met for
years and has done some great things.  But as a member of that board, I can
tell you we really don't have much of a direction at the moment.  We tend
to choke ourselves with academic arguments, pedantic interpretations of
laws, and otherwise "play by the rules".  Activist groups don't really care
about any of that.  They just do what they need to do in order to succeed
at their goal.  And usually that goal is very clear whereas our party goals
seem to be a bit more vague and misunderstood.

The Texas Libertarian Party is large, responsive, generally willing to work
with one another (even through our factions) and is probably making larger
strides than most other state parties.  Still, what they have accomplished
pales in comparison to what many Texas activist groups have accomplished.
I could cite examples all day long, but here are some off the top of my
head:

TX NORML has done more for marijuana reform in Texas than LPTexas ever
dreamed to do.  TX Bitcoin Developer groups have done more to advance the
understanding of economic freedoms than LPTexas has ever done.  The Texas
Open-Carry movement has done more for gun advocates (in about 2 years mind
you) than LPTX has done in its entire history.  Mixed-partisan groups
advocating for ballot choice (of which LPTexas has joined forces with) have
probably done more for ballot access laws than the Party has done by
itself.  Austin PRIDE has probably done more to advance gay rights in Texas
than LPTexas has ever done.  I could go on.  All of these groups directly
affect the legislative process, mostly successfully.

So by and large, and very much to your point, the ONE thing the party has
consistently done well is to unite people of a similar cloth with one
another.  You are right.  The 30 people that worked on my campaign all got
together through MY campaign - an extension of the Libertarian Party.  As
far as I know, all of them keep in touch and continue to work in various
activist groups supporting whatever that thing is that they support.  All
have said they will support me again in 2016.  Many of them are anarchists
and don't support parties at all.  A number of them are Democrats and feel
that's a better alternative to accomplish THEIR goals.  And one or two are
Republicans who feel that's the best way to accomplish THEIR goals.  And
yet right off the bat, we would shun most of them because most are not
"pure Libertarians".

You might also recall that my campaign was largely successful because I
purposefully refrained from referencing the Libertarian Party.  I know that
rubs a lot of people the wrong way, but people supported me because they
felt I genuinely represented their views, not because I was affiliated with
a party.  I suspect they would have supported me if I had run as a Democrat
and had still been as forthcoming with my positions as I was.  That is the
nature of the new generation and the LP would be wise to wake up to that
reality.  Parties are NOT popular, and with technology, they're largely
unnecessary.

I will further note that I have consistently refused to sign the "pledge of
allegiance" to the Libertarian Party.  I do not, by any means, intend to
blindly support any party.  I do however, HAPPEN to support the Libertarian
Party because they support my personal views, but not the other way
around.  When I opted not to sign that pledge in late 2013 to the dismay of
many local leaders, I went on to say that they should judge me by the
efforts I make and the successes I have, not by the meaningless piece of
paper I sign.  And they did.  And it was well-received.  I would submit
that as a metaphor for the mentality that many young[er] people have.  We
can throw out all of the perfect logic we want to.  In a generation that
expects a response within seconds of asking it, we're simply not afforded
the time to not act in the interest of our agendas.  Telling people "it
takes time to work within the system" was never a good option and it's
becoming less and less of an available one.

Going deeper into my brain, this is largely why I question things like
"ballot access".  You and I know it has importance within the system, but
let me assure you that it does NOT market well outside of people who are
already "in the know".  Take a step outside of the Libertarian Party for a
minute and think about how patently absurd it sounds.  Here's this
seemingly insurmountable machine that bends rules to suit its own purpose
on a whim.  And you're going to tell a wide-eyed 22-year old that the best
way to spend part of his $85,000 contribution is to pay to play within that
system?  Best of luck with that effort.  It might work on a 50 year old.
It barely works on a 35 year old.  It will NOT work on a 21 year old.

I don't mean to be so negative, but these are realities the LP is going to
have to face.  I specifically claim to NOT be an expert, but some of what
I'm writing should be so obvious and yet is consistently challenged.  For
example, why did I argue against the printed newsletters?  Because they're
just a luxury to benefit people who are statistically NEVER going to leave
the party.  Maybe if we cut the newsletter entirely we'd lose 0.25% of
members.  But maybe if we put that $45,000 savings into mediums that people
actually use in 2015 we'd reach a NEW audience.  I know it's wild thinking
for the LP, but there's a pretty significant consequence to follow if we
ignore it.

Apologies again for writing so much.  I'm happy to take this offline with
Wes, but I also don't mind it being part of the public record as I really
feel that somebody needs to voice these realities.

-Kevin Ludlow
Region 7

On Fri, Dec 11, 2015 at 4:01 PM, Wes Benedict <wes.benedict at lp.org> wrote:

> The Travis County Texas Libertarians averaged about 10 people who showed
> up to monthly meetings and other things. Between meetings maybe 3 or 4 of
> them spent a few hours on Libertarian Party projects. Their budget was
> about $500 to $1,000 per year, if that.  What group does way more, with
> much less? Some probably exist, but I'd be interested in a few examples.
>
> I suspect other groups she is referring to do way more with way more. They
> may not have as big of a budget as the Travis County Libertarians, but I
> suspect they have way more volunteers who spend way more time and more of
> their own money on things. I could be wrong, but I'd be interested in the
> names of such organizations.
>
> The national Libertarian Party has the budget of half of one small
> McDonald's location, or about 1/30th of the Cato Institute, yet I bet more
> people have heard of the Libertarian Party and know what it is than the
> Cato Institute, and that's largely because of our candidates at high levels
> on the ballot. That's not to disparage the Cato Institute. I've given
> $3,900 to Cato, though it's been a few years.
>
> By the way, if we had not had you running for office, then "she" would not
> have been involved at all with the LP, right? Another good reason to run
> candidates. Some people will volunteer for Libertarian Party candidates,
> but not for the local Libertarian Party bureaucracy.
>
> 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 12/11/2015 3:46 PM, Kevin Ludlow wrote:
>
> But from her chair, there are activism groups doing way more with much
> less.
>
>
>
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>

-- 
========================================================
Kevin Ludlow
512-773-3968
http://www.kevinludlow.com
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