Resending this from March to remind us of what we are doing and why we
are doing it. :)
-- John
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Some (draft) notes on goals for this year's campaign
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2019 22:42:58 -0400
From: John Hicks <john.hicks(a)lpky.org>
To: 'Ken Moellman' <ken.moellman(a)lpky.org>, Chris Thrasher
<christophersthrasher(a)gmail.com>, Cristi Kendrick
<cristi.kendrick(a)lpky.org>, Ann Cormican <cormican1(a)hotmail.com>, Chris
Wiest <chris.wiest(a)lpky.org>, Randall Daniel <randall.daniel(a)lpky.org>,
Bryan Short <bryan.short(a)LPKY.org>, Lex Hannan <lex.hannan(a)lpky.org>,
Eric Cranley <eric.cranley(a)lpky.org>, 'Harlen R. Compton'
<harlen.compton(a)lpky.org>, Dave Watson <david.watson(a)lpky.org>, Chris
Dillingham <chris.dillingham(a)lpky.org>, Michelle Randall
<michelle.randall(a)lpky.org>, Dan Hull <dan.hull(a)lpky.org>, Mark Gailey
<mark.gailey(a)lpky.org>, Kyle Hugenberg <kyle.a.hugenberg(a)gmail.com>, Dan
Hull <dan.hull(a)lpky.org>
Folks,
I had meant to polish this up before distributing it, but time is
getting away from me so ...
Major takeaway is buried at the end:
Because of the multifaceted goals I list, *communication among all
the arms of our party is all-important *during this campaign.
We are all involved in the same effort:
* This years' LPKY campaigns
* 2020 candidate recruitment
* Party organizational effort
* Membership
* General outreach
- John
I'm copying the attached PDF below since some of you probably aren't in
a spot to open it:
Draft, March 10, 2019
Goals for this campaign:
1. Promoting the ideas of liberty.
*
I’ve placed this first on general principle. (We are always
promoting liberty. The next two items – candidate recruitment and
party organization – are urgent ones where we have an opportunity
this year that we don’t always have.)
*
The way we go about promoting liberty in this race will require some
thought.
o
Mr. Bevin is libertarian on many issues. There is not much to be
gained by trying to outflank him on these issues. I think his
weakest point is his belligerent attitude, treating his
opponents as evil rather than mistaken. (We counter this by
running a respectful campaign.) Secondly, he appears to be a bit
too willing to bring his religion into government, although I’m
not aware of how this has affected his policy stances.
*
Since we want to grow the party – by attracting both Ds and Rs – a
hard-line, anarcho-libertarian stance is not called for. Rather, we
should emphasize our big-tent (or big pro-liberty tent) that
includes stances on issues that the two parties play with but don’t
fully embrace.
o
Possible issues:
+
marijuana/drug reform and associated expungement
+
crony-capitalism
+
forfeiture / imminent domain ?
+
police militarization ?
+
money in politics
+
electoral reform – (not strictly a libertarian issue, but
one that will appeal to both Ds and Rs who are disgruntled
with the current system)
*
Doing this right is going to require some homework. Data gathering,
study, and analysis. Writing and practicing some fact-based stump
speeches. We need to be on top of our issues!
*
Field research may also be appropriate if we can afford it. (Surveys
of what issues resonate with [or repel] voters.)
2. Recruiting candidates for 2020.
*
This is the one area where we have the greatest opportunity to make
significant gains for the party!
o
2020 is our last chance to use the ballot access we earned in 2016.
o
It is also the year where a strong showing can earn us continued
ballot access.
o
Recruiting a full and strong slate of candidates for 2020 is
arguably our major motivation for being in this year’s race in
the first place.
*
One of our main talking points should be: “I’m running as an L this
year, and you can be running as an L next year. And here’s how …”
*
We need a hefty pamphlet to give out explaining the process and
requirements for running in all its glory.
*
We need to be assembling a list of all possible candidates as we go,
both manually and via a web page that lets individuals indicate
their interest and leave contact info.
3. Organizing the party throughout the state.
*
We should be doing this every year, but ...
o
We have a better opportunity this year to do this in conjunction
with our gubernatorial and candidate recruitment campaigns.
o
We really need this done this year so we’ll be ready for 2020.
If we’re going to field candidates across the state in 2020, we
need a party organization across the state to back our
candidates up.
*
This is going to require some special effort at coordination:
o
Scheduling campaign events throughout the state
o
Promotional publicity to registered Ls in the areas where events
are scheduled (direct mail, email, phone calls, etc.).
+
We need voter data as well as corresponding Aristotle data.
+
We need sufficient funding to pull this off on a small scale
early on in order to judge its effectiveness, tweak it, and
repeat it.
+
We should try to make the mailings self-funding as much as
possible by soliciting donations and memberships in them.
*
Just as with candidate recruitment, for party organizing we need:
o
A pamphlet to distribute as we go explaining how the party is
organized, how affiliates are formed, etc.
o
To assemble a list of persons interested in getting involved in
the party at a local level.
4. Growing the party membership statewide.
*
Along the way – while we’re campaigning for office, recruiting
candidates, and organizing the party – we can be soliciting state
party memberships.
*
We’ll need literature/pamphlets to distribute at events.
*
We can incorporate a pitch in any mailings we do.
5. Highlighting the problems with the two-party system and the need
for electoral reform.
*
This is an issue that all third-parties support and that many voters
will identify with, even if they’re not particularly libertarian.
*
It is specifically libertarian because:
o
the extra-legal two-party system embodies (and is perpetuated
by) crony capitalism, something that we oppose on basic principle.
*
The U.S. Supreme Court will be considering cases concerning
gerrymandering this year, and its decisions may very well make
redistricting, and our electoral system in general, a hot topic.
*
Possible elements of electoral reform:
o
Eliminating straight party voting
o
IRV (instant runoff voting), something that we already practice
in our internal party operations and that has just been adopted
by the state of Maine.
o
STV (single transferable voting), which eliminates the
motivation for gerrymandering among other benefits.
Notes
Note the vital importance of close communication and coordination between:
*
gubernatorial campaign,
*
candidate recruitment efforts, and
*
party organization efforts.
We need to clarify any legal issues affecting allocation of funds among
these three priorities.
