[Lnc-business] report on Oklahoma visit

Fri Dec 11 21:41:46 EST 2015

Good thoughts Norman,  and thanks for pointing out the difference between a meeting an event.  Gives me something to think about.  I guess you can say, you go to a meeting is to discuss business,  and you go to an event to get inspired.   Ideally,  we should combine the two. Roland Reg 6
      From: Norm Olsen <region1rep at doneDad.com>
 To: lnc-business at hq.lp.org 
 Sent: Friday, December 11, 2015 7:16 PM
 Subject: Re: [Lnc-business] report on Oklahoma visit

Mr. Ludlow is truly on point here.  Accomplishments cannot, at least can no longer, be measured by meetings.  Yes, the executive board needs to meet every so often.  But having “meetings” at which politics is discussed are no longer effective; in fact they are a big turn off.  These days, a political party must have events, and or get-togethers in preparation for events.  Defining the difference between an event and a meeting is difficult; I can’t define it but I know it when I see it.  In the long run, however, a gathering is an event if the attendees leave with a strong desire to come to the next one, possibly bringing a friend or spouse.  They tend to be centered around a specific cause.  That cause could very well be a libertarian one; but definitely not about abstract libertarian ideology.  Along the lines of Kevin’s list, add Colorado.  Colorado has legalized recreational marijuana; but the LPCO did very little to get that accomplished.  The organization which collected the thousands of signatures, raised the thousands in funds, and promoted its approval accomplished something.  An LPCO executive board meeting endorsed it.  Herein lies the crux of the issue.  Arguing about whether Rand Paul is a Libertarian or not certainly does not qualify as an event.  Planning an rally at the capitol in support of Bill of Rights day might qualify.  Hearing a truly interesting speaker might qualify, depends on the speaker.  When an organization accomplishes something, folks want to be a part of it.  “Success (accomplishments) has a thousand fathers, failure is an orphan.”    Norm--Norman T OlsenRegional Representative, Region 1Libertarian National Committee7931 South Broadway, PMB 102Littleton, CO  80122-2710303-263-4995  From: Lnc-business [mailto:lnc-business-bounces at hq.lp.org] On Behalf Of Kevin Ludlow
Sent: Friday, December 11, 2015 3:35 PM
To: lnc-business at hq.lp.org
Subject: Re: [Lnc-business] report on Oklahoma visit  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 LudlowRegion 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/membershipOn 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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