[Lnc-business] Suggestions regarding LP outreach literature

Mon Dec 14 15:27:16 EST 2015

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/dec/13/dnc-craves-tax-dollars-for-convention/

Here's an issue people might get upset about if they knew about it.  The
Libertarian Party - we don't want your money to pay for our convention!

Joshua A. Katz
Westbrook CT Planning Commission (L in R seat)

On Mon, Dec 14, 2015 at 3:11 PM, Joshua Katz <planning4liberty at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I agree that, with sufficient creativity, we can find a unique angle or
> way to "slice" into an issue and make it one that differentiates us.
>
> It doesn't follow, I don't think, that all issues are wedge issues, at
> least not if by wedge issue we mean something where we have something to
> say that is unique and that people want to hear.  Maybe I'm using the word
> incorrectly.  Here's the concept I'm getting at: I can think of three
> marketing approaches:
> 1.  Selling a product everyone already wants and knows they want, and
> which is widely available
> 2.  Selling a product everyone already wants and knows they want, and
> which is hard to find (good position)
> 3.  Selling a product people don't want - then your marketing needs to be
> centered around convincing people that they should want your product.
>
> 3 is a high-risk/high-reward proposition.  If you can create a demand no
> one would have ever thought of (say, Topsy-Tail) you'll do very well.  But
> it's very hard, and certainly not the kind of thing you do by handing
> someone a rack card or bumper sticker.  It's a long-term sales approach.
> In general, telling people they should want what you're selling, despite
> the fact that they don't, doesn't work out well.  Of course, the way to do
> it might be to show that the product meets some demand that they know about
> in a non-obvious way: no one knew they wanted this loop of metal, but they
> knew they wanted a fast, easy way to make their hair look nice.  Maybe we
> can give an angle on an issue that suddenly changes the mind of someone who
> looks at our rack cards - in which case, fantastic!  However, short of
> that, what we'd get is a rack card that doesn't sell anything in particular.
>
> I repeat my other criteria - our products should be useful to our
> candidates, meaning they should "work" on a number of levels.
>
> I'm trying to stay on topic, but to touch briefly on Mr. Olsen's point in
> this connection:  one issue we run into is the credibility of our claims.
> That is, even when someone likes what we have to say, it's not obvious that
> our candidates can achieve it once in office.  Sometimes, the fact that
> others don't just tells someone "that's really hard to do - and that
> Libertarian has even less support to achieve it!"  We are in the unique
> position of having to convince voters not only that they like what we're
> selling, but that we can actually deliver the product where others have, to
> their minds, tried and failed.  In that sense, even in the races Dr.
> Lieberman mentions, people often vote for a party rather than a candidate.
> Yes, you can get around that by doing things like knocking on every door
> (in a small enough race, of course) and having a plan that makes you at
> least appear credible.  For higher office, you can establish your
> credibility by having run for, and won, a lower office, and achieved the
> things you set out to achieve - hence my comment last week about a "bench."
>
> Joshua A. Katz
> Westbrook CT Planning Commission (L in R seat)
>
> On Mon, Dec 14, 2015 at 2:07 PM, Carla Howell <4smallgov at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Thanks all for your fine suggestions. I'm working on several of these
>> now.
>>
>> I will present them in the form of Libertarian solutions, which includes:
>> 1. what government is doing now, enacted by Ds and Rs, that is causing
>> the problem.
>> 2. the Libertarian solution and specific actions we can take to correct
>> them (repeal, withdraw, dereg, dismantle, reduce, etc). This is where we
>> differentiate ourselves from the Ds and Rs.
>> 3. the copious, attractive benefits to voters that will result
>>
>> I note that almost all Libertarian issues are wedge issues. Even where we
>> appear to be aligned with Ds and Rs, they not only refuse to implement our
>> shared goals, they usually vote and act against them.
>>
>> I plan to add a talking point on government *financial* transparency,
>> but this again needs to be presented as a wedge issue. While Ds and Rs
>> frequently claim to support transparency, they refuse to do anything
>> meaningful about it, and therefore encourage it. It's not the very most
>> urgent voter issue. But the fact that our opponents regularly give it lip
>> service suggests their polling tells them it's a concern of many voters.
>>
>> Carla
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Carla Howell
>>
>> "The (government) designed (by our Founding Fathers) has turned into a
>> congealed ball of lard that eats money and excretes red tape."
>> - Scott Adams
>>
>> On Mon, Dec 14, 2015 at 1:22 PM, Joshua Katz <planning4liberty at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I don't yet have my final recommendations, but I want to make an
>>> observation.  It seems to me that there are at least 3 approaches to this,
>>> and likely more:
>>>
>>> 1.  Choose current "hot button" issues - that is, what people are
>>> already interested in and talking about.
>>> 2.  Choose "wedge" issues - things people are interested in, perhaps not
>>> their highest priority, but topics on which the LP has something unique to
>>> say that will likely be more popular than what comes from others.
>>> 3.  Look to our own past messaging and consider which topics have been
>>> most successful.  In its simplest form, this would mean looking at a bunch
>>> of FB posts and measuring likes.
>>>
>>> I would suggest that, while 1 is the most obvious answer, 2 might be
>>> position us in a stronger way.  I don't know if it helps us all that much
>>> to message on a really popular hot-button issue if our position is likely
>>> to not be the most popular, or to be so unpopular as to chase people away.
>>> Of course, maybe a 1-issue can become a 2-issue with clever enough
>>> packaging.
>>>
>>> The counter-argument, of course, is that if we have a 1-issue where our
>>> position is unpopular, and which is critically important for freedom is
>>> this land, we should message it hard in order to change the dialogue.  I
>>> don't find that a particularly viable answer, though, for at least 3
>>> reasons.  First, I don't think we're loud enough to succeed in that.
>>> Second, we can do the most to move policy by being persuasive, not shocking
>>> for its own sake - our job is to build support for our candidates, not to
>>> actively push people away from their campaigns.  Third, we'd be trying to
>>> change the dialogue against high leverage.  In a 2-issue situation, on the
>>> other hand, we still have the opportunity to reshape the dialogue on an
>>> issue, but to do so with the benefit of high leverage.  Messaging hard on
>>> 2-issues is like, in my mind, having a runaway truck heading downhill at
>>> high speed, and trying to change the angle at which it goes down the hill,
>>> while 1-issues is like trying to turn it all the way around and have it
>>> fall uphill.
>>>
>>> Disclaimer:  That isn't to say we have to treat 1-issues where our
>>> position is unpopular as poison, just a suggestion as to where they sit in
>>> the hierarchy of priorities.
>>>
>>> PS:  Of course, I also prefer to message on issues that translate well
>>> to races where our candidates are strongest.  Some national issues can be
>>> easily made to "drip down" to any race, some cannot, and if we focus on the
>>> ones that can, we gain the advantages of a symbiotic relationship, so to
>>> speak.
>>>
>>> Joshua A. Katz
>>> Westbrook CT Planning Commission (L in R seat)
>>>
>>> On Mon, Dec 14, 2015 at 1:06 PM, Norm Olsen <region1rep at donedad.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hello All . . .
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> A review of the political climate as established by the presidential
>>>> debates indicates what the hot issues are.  Selecting those hot issues
>>>> which will survive the 2016 Presidential election I get:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 1>     Government irresponsibility is destroying the economic fabric
>>>> of our nation.
>>>>
>>>> 2>     Immigration Reform:  Individual Freedom vs Economic & Personal
>>>> Security
>>>>
>>>> 3>     War on Terror: How do we provide security without sacrificing
>>>> our liberties and economic future.
>>>>
>>>> 4>     Government involvement in education (Common Core and Every
>>>> Student Succeeds?).
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> If others on this list would convey to me (either directly or on this
>>>> list) what your four (an arbitrary number I have just picked) topics are
>>>> your choices for new outreach literature, I will try to compile a list from
>>>> which we can choose five via some variation of approval voting using
>>>> e-mail.  This process is about making some choices.  Please deliberate
>>>> carefully and limit your suggestions to a reasonable number.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> One of our goals, indeed the easiest to achieve of our six goals, is
>>>> “Updated issue-based outreach literature”.  If we fail to meet this
>>>> relatively easy goal, the only excuse is neglect.  Let’s get busy on this.
>>>> Staff has suggested that they can do the heavy lifting; all we need to do
>>>> is provide some direction.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Norm
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> PS> I apologize for my delay in making my choices.  My family’s holiday
>>>> get-together was over the Thanksgiving weekend, and this item fell in the
>>>> crack during my travels.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>>
>>>> Norman T Olsen
>>>>
>>>> Regional Representative, Region 1
>>>>
>>>> Libertarian National Committee
>>>>
>>>> 7931 South Broadway, PMB 102
>>>>
>>>> Littleton, CO  80122-2710
>>>>
>>>> 303-263-4995
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> *From:* Lnc-business [mailto:lnc-business-bounces at hq.lp.org] *On
>>>> Behalf Of *Brett Bittner
>>>> *Sent:* Sunday, November 22, 2015 4:44 PM
>>>> *To:* lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>>>> *Subject:* Re: [Lnc-business] Suggestions regarding LP outreach
>>>> literature
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> My suggestions:
>>>>
>>>> 1. A broad economic liberty piece.
>>>> 2. A broad civil liberties piece.
>>>> 3. A broad piece regarding freedom "across the board."
>>>> 4. 2nd Amendment piece (for gun show outreach)
>>>> 5. Campus freedom piece (for on-campus outreach)
>>>> 6. An "open for business" piece tailored toward the issues faced by
>>>> small business owners.
>>>> 7. A Spanish language piece (possibly just a translation of #3 above)
>>>> 8. A Spanish language piece specific to issues important in the
>>>> Hispanic community (immigration/freedom of movement, economic opportunity,
>>>> "flex your rights")
>>>> 9. A "No Cronies" piece in opposition to cronyism
>>>>
>>>> I'm sure I could come up with more, but I think these would be a good
>>>> start, covering many topics and offering some literature specific to some
>>>> of our most popular outreach activities.
>>>>
>>>> Brett C. Bittner
>>>>
>>>> Region 3 Alternate
>>>> Libertarian National Committee
>>>>
>>>> **This message sent from my phone. Please excuse any typos.
>>>>
>>>> On Nov 22, 2015 5:55 PM, "James Lark" <jwl3s at virginia.edu> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Dear colleagues:
>>>>
>>>>     I hope all is well with you.  As usual it was nice to see you in
>>>> Orlando last weekend.  I have enclosed below some suggestions regarding
>>>> topics for LP outreach literature.  I hope you find these suggestions
>>>> worthy of your consideration.  I apologize that I was unable to send my
>>>> suggestions sooner; during the past week I have been swamped with faculty
>>>> duties, along with my duties to other libertarian organizations.
>>>>
>>>>     As always, thanks for your work for liberty.  Best wishes to you
>>>> and your loved ones for a wonderful Thanksgiving.
>>>>
>>>>     Take care,
>>>>     Jim
>>>>
>>>>     James W. Lark, III
>>>>     Dept. of Systems and Information Engineering
>>>>     Applied Mathematics Program, Dept. of Engineering and Society
>>>>     University of Virginia
>>>>
>>>>     Advisor, The Liberty Coalition
>>>>     University of Virginia
>>>>
>>>>     Region 5 Representative, Libertarian National Committee
>>>> -----
>>>>
>>>> Suggestions regarding topics for LP outreach literature:
>>>>
>>>>     I believe we should develop material (including flyers/pamphlets)
>>>> concerning the following topics (listed in no particular order of
>>>> importance):
>>>>
>>>> 1)  American foreign policy (ending activities which are hideously
>>>> immoral, horribly counterproductive, extraordinarily expensive, and/or
>>>> blatantly unconstitutional)
>>>>
>>>> 2)  Health care and insurance (moving to a truly free market in both
>>>> health care and insurance)
>>>>
>>>> 3)  "Crony capitalism" (ending the ability of governments to play
>>>> favorites in various ways)
>>>>
>>>> 4)  The increasingly predatory nature of the law enforcement/judicial
>>>> system (e.g., police brutality, generating revenue for the state via heavy
>>>> fines for minor offenses, civil asset forfeiture, pre-trial seizure of
>>>> defendant assets)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>     There are many other topics about which we should develop outreach
>>>> material.  My gut feeling (based upon a fair amount of seat-of-the-pants
>>>> empiricism) is that outreach material concerning the topics listed above
>>>> would give us the best return on investment over the near term.  One topic
>>>> about which I may be able to offer specific suggestions for outreach
>>>> material concerns what I view as the increasing pettiness of government
>>>> involvement in our lives.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Lnc-business mailing list
>>>> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>>>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Lnc-business mailing list
>>>> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>>>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
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>>>
>>>
>>
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>>
>>
>
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