<div dir="ltr">I have my own thoughts on corporate titles, and I'd like to bring them up someday, but at the moment, I want to say this: I don't think the LP's first starting point should be "a libertarian America." I'd call that a goal before the goal - it's something so far from what we actually do that it can't have any impact on shaping our goals. Our rock-bottom zero point goal should be putting Libertarians (or libertarians where the first is not possible) in office. Stop. We each have personal reasons for wanting to do this, but they don't, in my opinion, rise to the level of organizational goals. <div><br></div><div>I agree that increasing membership is a tactical goal - it gives you a larger steady, predictable income stream (very good,) gives a larger margin of safe votes (good) and a larger body from which to pull volunteers (good.) Other good tactical goals - getting a larger steady, predictable income stream from existing members, increasing member turnout for elections, and getting more of our members to volunteer. </div><div><br></div><div>You may think I'm being cute (I can't help it, heehe) but I think this is a distinction worth making. For example - if our rock-bottom goal is electing people to office, we will necessarily put less emphasis on races where we cannot reasonably do so at the moment, and be less apt to waste resources in ways that do not advance this goal. If we allow the reasons we want to win races to be considered, it's always possible to argue that any race is valuable - exposure, getting ideas out, etc. The problem is - other organizations can provide ideas more exposure, and without FEC regulations, and without the "sell-out" factor that necessarily comes with running for office in the first place.</div><div><br></div><div>I still consider myself a purist at heart. When I do philosophy, I am a purist and will not taint my philosophy. In office, I simply cannot be a purist because the question freedom/statism never comes to my desk. As an office-holder, I'm necessarily "sold out" and that's a good thing. I sold the purity of my ideas for the opportunity to actually do something - and I am moving the needle, or at least keeping it from moving the wrong way too quickly.</div><div><br></div><div>I've met libertarians who criticize me for holding office. I ran into one a while ago who said libertarians should not engage in politics. After asking him to not join the LP, I explained why I do politics, and gave some examples of actions I've taken in office. When I pointed out that in less than a year in office, I've personally been able to act to get 5 applications for special permits accepted, and those 5 people are now in the process of building the businesses they want. The response was "well, that's mighty kind of you massah." I see where he's coming from - I shouldn't be granting anyone the right to build a business. Would the world be better if they just got told no? (Some people think it would because they'd then revolt. I don't think so. It's actually amazing what people will take... I regularly see applicants come in with heads down, apologizing for annoying us, and with sketches that clearly aren't what they want, but what they know the board holds as its 'aesthetic vision.' Sometimes I feel like refusing to approve these applications because I'm so upset at this whipped-dog attitude.)</div><div><br></div><div>Anyway, that's why I say running for and holding office is, itself, a kind of sell-out. That's why I don't consider unwinnable races a particularly good means of getting ideas on the table and think other organizations should do those things. But it becomes easy to argue for doing less than serious things when we admit "a free world" as a goal of the LP. Just my thoughts.</div><div><br></div><div>Anyway, given that - are there, in fact, 40 states where statewide ballot access carries with it all local positions? In Connecticut, for instance, Presidential performance doesn't directly get you access in local races - although it would probably increase registration which can, etc. If the LNC wants to help CT get ballot access for local offices, it will need to provide funds for a Gubernatorial race, since only that race carries local offices here. If there are not 40 states where the LNC can actually do something to achieve ballot access for all local offices, then I will submit that 40 in '16 is less helpful. Also, I think 40 in '16 should be clarified to mean - not 40 states where the Presidential candidate in 2020 is on the ballot, but 40 states in which the affiliate can nominate candidates for all local and locally elected offices without petitioning. That's one I can get behind on the national level.</div><div><br></div><div>Joshua Katz</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr">Joshua A. Katz<div>Westbrook CT Planning Commission (L in R seat)</div></div></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Sep 15, 2014 at 3:11 PM, Scott L. <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:scott73@earthlink.net" target="_blank">scott73@earthlink.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><font size="1" color="black" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial">“When I was
executive director of the LP Texas, I had one personal goal: run as many
candidates as possible. It's not all that I did, but it was by far THE top
priority. I made whatever database I needed to make that happen (or got someone
else too. </span></font><font size="1" face="Wingdings"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Wingdings">J</span></font><font size="1" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial"> And I raised
whatever funds I needed to make that happen.<span class=""><br>
<br>
We also greatly increased fundraising, membership, and elected Libertarians in <u></u><u></u>Texas<u></u><u></u>. But much of that
happened as a result of (or was improved as a result of) my top priority, which
was to run as many candidates as possible.<br>
<br>
I'm expecting a broad range of goals for the national LP, with perhaps funding
IT-Committee projects being #1. But an example of a very focused set of goals
could be:<br>
<br>
2015 goal: increase membership from 15,000 to 20,000.<br>
2016 goal: run 1,000 candidates for office.<br>
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<u></u><u></u></span></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><font size="1" color="black" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial">Wes Benedict,
Executive Director<br>
Libertarian National Committee, Inc.”<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">The above
e-mail helps confirm my belief that our Executive Director is extremely good at
coming up with an achievable goal, and then doing “whatever it takes”
to accomplish that goal. That is a very good trait for the COO (1) of the
Libertarian Party to have.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">I certainly
welcome the ED’s input into process of goal setting for the organization.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">I like to
imagine what the end goal is like, and then work backwards from that. If
we agree that we want a libertarian <u></u><u></u>America<u></u><u></u>, then we need to figure out
how to get there without a violent revolution. Although changing to a
proportional representation system and the like might get us to that goal
faster, that is not the job of a political party – that is the job of an
advocacy group specifically set up for that purpose.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">Since myself
and much of the outside world believes that political parties exist to enact
legislation that fits their ideology, the question is – how do we get to
that point?<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">Increasing
membership might make staff and the board happy, but does it help us elect
Libertarians to public office? . I maintain that although those
goals might be good tactical goals for the ED or for specific LNC Committees, I
don’t think they quite fill the bill for a BHAG that I described in an
e-mail last night.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">The advantages
of 40 in 16 are:<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:29.25pt"><u></u><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><span>1.<font size="1" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></font></span></span></font><u></u><font face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">It is
definitely achievable.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:29.25pt"><u></u><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><span>2.<font size="1" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></font></span></span></font><u></u><font face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">It shows
the major parties that we are serious when we say that we are getting very
close to being the 3<sup>rd</sup> major party in the <u></u><u></u>United States<u></u><u></u>.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:29.25pt"><u></u><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><span>3.<font size="1" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></font></span></span></font><u></u><font face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">Given
the amount of blood, sweat, tears, and money that our donors have spent on
ballot access over the past 4 decades, achieving this goal will get us much
closer to ballot-access nirvana.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:29.25pt"><u></u><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><span>4.<font size="1" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></font></span></span></font><u></u><font face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">By
definition, achieving this goal will have taught dozens of LP candidates and
volunteers across the country how to lift their vote percentages for statewide
offices from the low single digits to the high single digits. Remember –
the marginal cost of getting votes is much lower when you are trying to go from
3% to 5%, than it is to go from 30% to 32%.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">Needless to
say, Mr. Redpath’s continued help with ballot access will be invaluable
if the LP wishes to achieve this goal, <u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">since 40 state
ballot access in Dec 2016 will be impossible unless we have 48 to 50 state
ballot access in October 2016.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">
Scott Lieberman<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">1. COO is
my personal definition for the job description of the ED of the LP. It is
not in any way an official or even semi-official description of the ED position.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
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