This just hit the inboxes of several of the party leaders. I hope I can spur them to get serious and start fighting buy I fear I am yelling at the deaf.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Libertarian party, good day.
I respectfully request your time and consideration of what is enclosed herein.
I would like to, first, thank you for fighting for this ideology and doing what you can to counter the dominance of the Republicans and Democrats over the peoples' governance.
Please allow me to introduce myself. I am not a registered member of your party, nor any party. Your positions on the issues of the day do most closely-align with mine, though, and you have the capability to act as a foil to the two parties I share very little with. Thus, it is my desire to assist you as much as I can to that end.
I consider myself fiscally conservative and socially liberal. I am confident in the capability of the individual to determine their own course in life and their ability to achieve their goals in a just environment. I define that as one without barriers to opportunity, overzealous regulation, or rapacious taxation. I believe in such an environment persons are also responsible for their own failures and that others should not be forced to subsidize their bad decisions. I consider this the “right to fail.”
We do not live and operate in such a world, though. Be it society at large, the business world or politics, the deck is stacked against anyone trying to establish a foothold and upset the status quo. From a demographic group seeking equal rights, to small business trying to fend off the predations of a chain vendor, or in this case, your party's attempt to insinuate itself into the exclusive club of America's ruling class. Failure of the little guy is codified into the system.
This reality is unfortunate but inescapable so we must not waste time complaining about it. Instead we need to suck it up and use it to motivate ourselves to push that much harder. It is for this reason I come to you today, not as a detractor but rather a concerned advocate offering tough love. I do not seek to insult you but rather be completely honest in the gravity of this situation and how I feel you are coming up short in response to it.
I own, and write my own website. It's nothing special, but I am responsible for all aspects from funding, to construction, to content. It's what I can do so I do it; I wish I could do more. I sat down this morning to do an brief expose' on your party. I want to compile information on your candidates and add them to my mid-term countdown page and try to highlight highly-contested races. I want to remind people that there are other choices besides the Republicans and the Democrats and make it as easy as possible to learn about them. After a couple of minutes of surfing around I am seeing some serious problems. It's not your message. I believe much of your platform would be highly attractive to many people, if they ever actually heard it. It's the delivery that's killing you.
I had the same concerns when Dr. Paul ran for the Republican nomination. You can have a flawless diamond, but if it comes in a Chicken McNugget container rather than a lovingly wrapped Tiffany box, she's not going to say “yes.” Like it or not, we must confront another American truth. It's not the product's merits that sell it, it's the marketing. People didn't buy mighty putty because it's a good product. They bought it because Billy Mays could sell a vegan a gift certificate to Outback steak house.
People didn't vote for Barack Obama because he was the best candidate, because he wasn't. They did so because John McCain was so stunningly bad, George Bush was such a pariah that simply NOT being him automatically gave you some votes, and “hope and change” fit so nicely on a T-shirt. I know it's a sad commentary on our electorate and I share your desire to wash your hands after dealing with the reality of politics, but it is the reality and we ignore it at our peril.
The level of dissatisfaction right now with Washington, both major political parties, and incumbents in general, is as widespread as I have ever seen it. We have here a perfect storm for finally breaking the stalemate of a two-party system. The Democrats are in full meltdown and turning on each other like rats on a sinking ship. The Republicans are so terrified of the Tea Party movement that they will do anything to avoid the wraith of Sarah Palin. Sarah “I couldn't finish my term as Governor because I had a book tour” Palin for crying out loud! All across America people are having their faces shoved into the cruel truth that Washington, all of Washington, is inept and corrupt. The hard left and right will never admit it because they are too invested in their ideology at the expense of their objectivity, but everyday voters are starting to question their knee-jerk loyalties.
Given this environment, it would seem a given that the Libertarian party would be gum-deep in the exposed throats of the two major parties, but you are not, not at all. I don't see any shift in strategy from your camp, just more of the same. You are squandering your inherent advantages as a principled outsider at possibly the last opportunity America may ever have to break away from the right-left, Republican-Democrat, fat elephant-braying jackass paradigm. If you do this, if you allow this moment in history to pass unfulfilled, it will not be their fault, it will be yours. I am on my knees begging you to reconsider, to grow a pair, to quit talking philosophically about the Constitution and start fighting for it bare-knuckle, to the death.
If I still have your ear, thank you for hearing me out, I apologize for my previous and upcoming candor, but I care too much to pull punches. Here are my observations and suggestions.
YOUR WEB PRESENCE.
Your party website is well-done. It's pleasing to the eye, stylistically consistent, and easy to navigate. Unfortunately, it easily navigates to too many dead ends. Here is what I get for my congressional district. http://www.lp.org/candidates/liberty-ca ... vid-dotson NOTHING! Why is there no information on him? Why do so many of your candidate pages have no information whatsoever? Why did I only find one national candidate that had anything more than a link to a website?
http://www.lp.org/candidates/liberty-ca ... im-hampton
This leads into my next point of concern.
YOUR IMAGE
I don't need to know Mr. Hampton's nickname. This isn't an election for Sheriff of Mayberry, this a race for a United States congressional seat. This folksy “shucks, I'm a simple fella” attitude oozes from many of the Libertarian candidates and I strongly suggest this is not the tack to take this year. People are justifiably angry and they aren't looking for a drinking buddy. They want people who are resolute, with a 1000 yard stare of someone who is ready to take their fight to Washington.
I see many of your candidates actually using Facebook pages as campaign websites. It would be laughable if it wasn't so sad. Being a website owner I am aware of just how easy and cheap it is to have a legitimate, professional web presence. Running for national office from a website that is used by prepubescent girls to gossip and swap pictures of themselves they will later regret sends the wrong message to potential voters.
Back to my district of Virginia. Only by doing a Google search do I find Mr. Dotson's page.
http://www.dotsonforcongress.com/ Thankfully, whoever built it did a very nice job, but where are his news items? They are “coming soon,” seriously? We are less than two months away from arguably THE most crucial election cycle in recent history and he's “coming soon?” I think most would agree that America is at a crossroads, that the results of this election may very well determine the future of this country. It won't be what the future will look like, but rather if there is a future at all. Mr. Dotson has nothing for me but statements. I have burned Google up and can't find anything resembling news on him. The Washington Post has him raising less than $1000 in campaign funds to date.
I ask you, does this look like a candidate who is equipped to beat Gerry Connolly? That guy is sitting on 1.2 million and has the full weight of the Democrat party behind him. His Opponent, Kieth Fimian is a Republican “Young Gun.” He's hard, hungry and has crossed swords with the incumbent before, but Dotson is “coming soon.” Gentleman, your candidate is dead on arrival, again.
We hear it every election cycle from the pundits and major candidates, “any vote for a third party is a wasted vote.” When the major political parties speak of votes for yours as “stealing a votes from us,” or “helping them,” their sense of naked entitlement is disgusting. It's repugnant, but it's TRUE! It's true because your party has dropped the ball year after year and 2010 is shaping up to be the same. Why is this? I have some thoughts.
DECENTRALIZATION
Not being within the party, I am unsure exactly how you disseminate control from the national level to the individual candidates. Looking at the ad hoc manner in which the various state organizations and candidates present themselves, the further from HQ we move, the more disjointed and unaligned it gets. While libertarianism is a great political philosophy, it's not an efficient model for running a business or national organization. This is a political party and control of the message is vital. Of course seek input from all corners. There is great strength in diversity. After that, though, a consensus must be arrived at and everyone taking their places to pull together for the big win.
The Republicans are famous for their ability to close ranks. Even when in the minority, they stymie the Democrats. The Democrats come up stunningly short in this department and fragment more easily. Your party, in contrast, appears to an outsider like a team of individuals running different plays simultaneously. This does not engender confidence. A party that cannot coalesce for an election does not suggest they can govern effectively if they manage to win. Your opponents are battle-hardened and forming seamless phalanxes for combat, you need to do likewise, immediately.
TOO FAR FROM THE CENTER
As the Democrats work tirelessly to expand government into every area of our lives they ignore the fact that most Americans are not all the way left. Similarly, the Republicans who would trust our future to fat cat businessmen unchecked ignore the truth that most Americans are not all the way to the right. Libertarians, possibly incorrectly, are cast as lawless hedonists who seek nothing short of anarchy. I do not believe this to be true, but we both know that truth is not as important in the dissemination of information as is momentum. The conventional wisdom is you are too far away from order and the modern expectations of society and many of you choices in candidates support that accusation.
Some of your candidates are too fringe. From Truthers to people calling for constitutional amendments right out of the gate, America fears kooks even if they are right. Slick BS trumps twitchy, dangerous-looking fact every time. The people that put an “L” next to their name on the ballot reflect your party. You should take a good, hard look at the people you back for office because it can affect not just the party, but other candidates you are running. The opposition plays hardball and any chink in your armor presented by too unconventional a candidate offers them purchase to damage you locally and nationally.
SPREAD TOO THIN
Your party appears to suffer from a serious lack of funding. This is understandable as you present a threat to the traditional sources of money in politics. You must recognize this, though, and get lean and mean. With finite resources you cannot afford to throw money at candidates who are fighting for a moral victory. It's a waste, it hurts you in other races, and supports the assertion that third party candidates are just sideshows.
The National leadership needs to sit down with the state chairs, go race by race and critically evaluate the chances of each and every one. Those that are just not going to work should be discontinued and plans for next election cycle begun. The handful that are still worth running should get emphasized and all the stops pulled out on the two or three that are really in contention. There are vulnerable incumbents out there and it's not too late to refocus the full attention of your party on the dozen or so truly waiting for a finishing blow. Their challengers from the other party are certain of victory armed with nothing more than the same tired messages that lost them the race last time. Surely a fresh message delivered strongly and consistently from a Libertarian candidate has a chance.
RECRUIT FREE AGENTS
As the Republican party steers hard right and the Democrats hard left, there are a lot of centrists from both parties feeling left out, some actually being pushed out. Part of moving towards the center should be looking at some of these people as converts. Weigh them against your values and see if you can work with them. Whose to say some of those “blue dogs” or “RINOs” wouldn't give serious consideration to joining your team if you approached them with a solid pitch respectful of their views? If they are people who have a loyal constituency they will come aboard with some of them still in tow. They also may survive the transition with some of their donors. You have nothing to lose and it demonstrates that the Libertarian party is for real.
PLAY HARDBALL
Get an all-star team of speech writers, verbal coaches, appearance consultants and the like together to get each of your solid challengers honed to a fine edge. They should ensure that all your in-play candidates are polished and on-message. This dream team should be supported by a group of fact-finders digging furiously to unravel your Republican and Democratic opponents. You are dancing with the devil when dabbling with character assassination, but as long as it's truth and relevant to their ability to govern honestly and effectively you are in no danger of losing the high ground. One of the advantages of being the outsider is you can hoist the incumbent on the petard of their past actions, where you can offer new solutions. Remember 2008? Unlike that campaign, your candidate should actually effect change and reward hope.
Challenge the big parties to debates in your strong target races and put that training and investment to use making them look foolish, disingenuous, out of touch, contrived and pompous. They are, and it would only take the right question followed up by more from a well-trained debater to unravel them. If they won't agree to debate make sure the people of the district know they are scared to meet your candidate. Don't whine, nobody respects that. Adopt the swagger of someone who has the answer. Call them what they are, cowards who can't hang with your guy or girl on the issues.
This is the year ladies and gentlemen. I don't think you are ever going to see an environment this conducive to the establishment of a third party presence in government again. With the Supreme Court allowing business to underwrite the two big parties, the moves being made to silence alternative media, and apathy spreading gangrenously through the American electorate, this year is liberty's final round. Are you going to lay up and hope for a second shot or are you going to pull out the wood and go for the green?
I am pulling for you, and I wish you the best in your endeavors. You give me hope.
Respectfully
THEMADMODERATE