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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>I agree with
everything in Mr. Ludlow’s e-mail except the 2 sentences I made bold.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>Winning local
elections is moderately difficult. Winning state or federal elections is quite
difficult unless you know exactly what you are doing, and you have the ability
to remain focused on one goal for months at a time.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>The only legitimate
purpose of a political party is to win elections, since doing anything other
than that reduces the number of elections that you will win. Obviously a
political party can engage in voter registration drives, since I don’t think your
standard non-profit organization is allowed to do that.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>But even voter
registration drives are not an end in themselves: they are only a means to
winning elections.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>I will leave it as an
exercise for the reader to figure out why so many LP members are so reluctant<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>to concentrate on
winning elections.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'> Scott Lieberman<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'> Lnc-business
[mailto:lnc-business-bounces@hq.lp.org] <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>On
Behalf Of </span></b>Kevin Ludlow<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Tuesday, December 15, 2015
11:21 AM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> <st1:PersonName w:st="on">lnc-business@hq.lp.org</st1:PersonName><br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: [Lnc-business] report
on <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oklahoma</st1:place></st1:State>
visit</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In what seems to be a
growing trend for me, I want to express my complete agreement for what Mr.
Tomasso has written here. He has presented a much kinder version of what
I wrote paired with a much more condensed version of what Mr. Katz wrote.
It really hits some good points (as did Mr. Katz before him).<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>I want to clarify that at
no point in my writing was I attempting to imply --in any way-- that the LP
should ever be disbanded in favor of activist groups. As Mr. Tomasso
accurately points out, sometimes the LP is the only player in town seeking goals
of liberty. That's a wonderful thing. But as I presented numerous
examples of and he further articulates, we don't generally compete well within
the activism ecosystem.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>I hypothesize this is the
case because our focus tends to be split in two (or more) different
directions. On the one hand we want to play politics with the bigger
parties and think we'll get candidates elected without any real strategies of
doing do. On the other hand we want to be activists without any real
direction of what to support. In my opinion this leads us to do both
rather poorly. What I am really trying to impress upon this group through
these observations is that I truly believe our efforts are going to become less
and less supported by the newer generation. I cited numerous anecdotal
examples of this from campaign volunteers I had in 2014 and hear it frequently
from people my age in LPTexas. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The people that I work
with in the so-called millennial generation are some of the brightest and most
motivated people I know. Technology has enabled them with the means to
connect and they know how to do it - very well. Unfortunately (for groups
like the LP), they are NOT patient people. And frankly, why should they
be? Taking that point seriously, this is why the landscape is changing so
drastically. If I go back to the newsletters debate yet again, it's not
just a function of the cost being what it is, it's also a function of the
information being 3-4 months old by the time anybody reads it. While many
people on the LNC may see that as "just the way it is", it is not
tolerated by the younger crowd - at all. I quite honestly am uninterested
in information that is 3 days old, never mind 3 months old. Anyone is
welcome to scoff at that, but that's the way it is now and it's only moving
towards shorter and shorter tolerances. So as a consequence to this an
entire group speaks very poorly of us. For another reference point, take
a look at the almost comical amateur quality of our website (apologies to the
many hurt feelings that evokes, but let's get past that and pretend we're
Libertarians where capitalistic successes actually matter). Compare it to
<a href="http://gop.org">gop.org</a> or <a href="http://dnc.org">dnc.org</a> if
you'd like. This is a huge deal for building new members. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>To Mr. Tomasso's final
observation, even the people that build themselves into a position of becoming
"successful candidates" are likely to run as Democrats or Republicans
depending on their area. And why? Quite simply because they cannot
win as a Libertarian and so they don't try. We have no path for helping
to put them into office; winning elections is not a focal point of the LP as
far as I can tell. Yes it's great that they focus on a message of <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Liberty</st1:place></st1:City>, but how does
that help the brand of the LP? I contend it does not.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>My point is simply that
if we're not going to get people elected to higher level offices and we're not
going to do as good a job with our activism as local activist groups can do,
then what does the future of the LP look like? More importantly, what
does it look like when the newer generation starts to take over?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>I don't see any real
specific long-term strategies for winning elections, much less ones that are
conscious of what the landscape looks like in say 2020 or 2024<b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>. I remain dumbfounded that there exists a
faction of people who do not believe the purpose of our political party is to
win elections. It needn't be the ONLY goal of course, but to learn people
believe it shouldn't be a goal at all - yikes.</span></b> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Please really do consider the fact that political parties were born out
of the need to organize in order to accomplish a set of goals. 50 years
ago there was really no better way to do this and so a group was formed, had a
general direction and pushed forward. This is not the case any
more. I don't need a political party to accomplish my goals as I can
simply find a coalition of people on the internet and we can proceed
forward. So if we don't cater to the ONE thing we have over an activist
group then I can't see why younger people would want to work with us.
They can turn to any number of activist groups to accomplish their goals and
can do it much faster and historically with much more success.
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><br>
So to wrap this up, I would really like to encourage the LP to start
considering this reality. Just like any corporation needs to adopt for
the future through new innovations, risks, and actionable strategies, I believe
so does the LP. "What we've always done" is not going to work
for much longer. Young people ask me all of the time why they should join
the LP. If I can't honestly tell them it's to work on changing
legislation from the inside (eg: elected officials) then I'm not really sure
what I can tell them.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Thanks for your continued
time and attention on this topic.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>-Kevin Ludlow <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>On Mon, Dec 14, 2015 at 8:13 PM, Rich Tomasso <<a
href="mailto:rtomasso@lpnh.org" target="_blank">rtomasso@lpnh.org</a>>
wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Nice to see a strategic discussion on this list.<br>
<br>
Good points have been made here, I want to offer some quick observations now.
These should probably be spun into separate threads.<br>
<br>
Activists and volunteers don't care so much about labels, and in too many
cases, the LP label has baggage. If you're in a state where the LP is the only
liberty game in town, great. If you have competition in that realm, then we
don't always compete so well. I'm not sure why, I think there's a lot of
institutional inertia and our marketing tends to be more intellectual than
action oriented.<br>
<br>
We do have more restrictions as a political party than many other groups.
That's one reason December ballot access is more important for the long-term
than October ballot access. For many affiliates it's like night and day. For my
own affiliate the petitioning requirement keeps away more candidates than
anything else. Party status in general would make life an order of magnitude
easier and better.<br>
<br>
Building the bench is very important. When someone around here says they want
to run for state office next year, we tell them to run for local office this
year. If they want to run for Congress next election, we tell them to run for
state rep first, and prove you can run a campaign. At a minimum they should do
major work for another campaign this election. They may not like it, but it
serves to instill the idea that a winning campaign is a lot of work and you
can't do it just with a website and winning smile. Show the support base you
are serious about running for real. In my state we've spent the last 12 years
training activists and plenty have served on state-level boards, several of
them are now state reps and a few state senators. Most of them choose to just
run under the most popular party in their district, but they run on a
libertarian (sometimes even an anarchist) platform, and win. Our message is
popular, it's the packaging that needs an overhaul.<br>
<br>
<br>
~Rich<br>
Region 8 Rep<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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