Taking it to the Next Level: My 4-point Plan for a Successful Libertarian Party
My fellow Libertarians,
When I announced my intent to run for LNC Chair last September, I laid out four areas I wanted to focus on in order to foster both the growth and electoral success most Libertarians long to see for our Party. Specifically, I singled out Enabling Local Leaders, Cleaning up the Party, Retention and Amplification of Donations and Memberships, and Effective and Efficient Marketing as areas I intended to focus on the most, as I think these are things we must improve upon if we want the LP to make it to the next level as a viable political party. In the interest of better communicating my vision to the Delegates of the 2018 Libertarian National Convention, I’d like to take this opportunity to elaborate on the specifics of my 4-point Plan for a Successful Libertarian Party.
Enabling Local Leaders:
Like so many grassroots Libertarian volunteers I’ve met over the last few months, I believe the national party leadership needs to put its focus back on winning state and local races. So many of these smaller races are winnable and provide the most direct opportunity for us to show voters across the country that we are a viable party with viable candidates. From a logistical standpoint, it doesn’t hurt that these races typically require less money and less manpower to win, especially with ballot access becoming a reality all across the country. In fact, often the only thing missing for otherwise willing and eager candidates is the “leadership and know how” it takes to run a successful campaign.
It is with that in mind that I propose to the LNC that we create and launch a candidate training program in the mold of the “Libertarian Leadership Academy” to help educate our candidates and enable them to be successful. While our candidates are often very strong when it comes to conveying libertarian principles, many simply lack the knowledge needed to effectively recruit volunteers, raise funds, and manage a campaign at the local level. Technology offers us an opportunity to make how-to videos and presentations easily accessible to anyone, anywhere, as well as to quickly respond to questions and requests for support from the field. We have a ton of talent in our party already that stands ready to share their knowledge (I’ve personally met plenty of them over the past few months), and the LNC is in a fantastic position to help facilitate the connections between those who know how to run a campaign and those who are eager to learn.
Clean Up the Party:
Unfortunately, some members of our party have used this plank of my plan to suggest that I believe we need to start some kind of purge of people who do not fall within my personal definition of “what a libertarian should be”. However, my vision for this plank is less about a “purge” than it is about clearly defining who we are and what we stand for. While it is true that there are many flavors of libertarianism, the unifying principles of the Libertarian Party remain the same; specifically, a “Respect for Property Rights” as well as “Adherence to the Non-Aggression Principle”. There is nothing even remotely anti-libertarian about expecting those who aspire to run under our banner or serve as officers within our Party to, at a minimum, meet these two criteria before receiving any material support from the Party.
Just as Democrats would never advocate for someone who believes in truly free markets, and Republicans would never advocate for someone who stands for a policy of non-aggression in American foreign relations (ask Ron Paul), we should never accept anyone who actively opposes either of these basic, bedrock libertarian principles to be leaders or candidates of the Libertarian Party.
Retention and Amplification of Donations and Memberships:
To complete with Republicans and Democrats, we have to begin to close the financial gap in fundraising between us when and where we can. While we may not see that gap fully closed anytime soon, we certainly can do better than we are right now. As such, I propose the LNC create a new Fundraising Committee consisting of our most successful current fundraisers. Libertarian leaders like Larry Sharpe, Jess Mears, Jenn Gray, and Boomer Shannon continue to demonstrate an ability in this area that we as a party need to emulate, and I will personally ask each of them to assist with this effort.
We also need to do a better job of leveraging our membership’s connections within the Crypto community as a fundraising avenue. Right now, there are literally billions of dollars wrapped up in Crypto, with the majority of those currently investing being very Libertarian-minded people. Building coalitions with this community can help change our financial situation immensely, as well as quickly, and serves the added bonus of bringing new members to the party. I have already started building coalitions among libertarians involved with Crypto-community leaders such as Nexus and Vector Space Systems and would continue to build upon these efforts as LNC Chair.
It is worth remembering that the millions of people who make up the Crypto and Blockchain communities also make up a large portion of the people in this country who do not vote, as political parties have never made it a point to advocate for their interests. This all changed two weeks ago, when I and others passionate about this issue showed up to an LNC meeting and were able to get a Blockchain Committee voted on and put into place. As a result of that effort, we are now the first American political party actively pursuing blockchain solutions for party issues, as well as continuing to look for creative ways to advocate and fight for causes that are near and dear to the Crypto-community. Continued focus in this area will allow for both the growth of our party, as well as the retention of those who see the promise in this most “free-market” of technologies.
Effective and Efficient Marketing:
While we have come a long way over the last few years, when we compare ourselves to the opposition parties it is evident that we still have a long way to go when it comes to effective and efficient marketing of both our candidates, as well as our ideals. Often times it is our candidates themselves who best articulate who we and what we stand for, and it is in this spirit that I will encourage the LNC to leverage the party’s reach on social media by running regular “Candidate Spotlights” from the LP national media hub. I also intend to use my own media experience to help create a national “LP News Podcast” and will encourage LNC members to participate in monthly video blogs aimed at engaging our membership in everything we do. From understanding our processes, to being a part of the solutions to the challenges we face, we must do more to engage our greatest asset: our membership.
Finally, since “who” you are marketing to is just as important as “how” you market, I will also propose that we create a “Young Libertarians” wing of the LNC. This organization (akin to the Young Republicans or Young Democrats) would have its own board and would send one non-voting rep to LNC meetings. Their primary focus would be on campus and youth outreach, and their Rep would keep us updated as to what is working, what is not, and what additional resources are needed to grow our presence and influence with the nation’s fastest growing voter demographic.
Above all else, I pledge to each and every Libertarian Party member that I will be accessible to all and will be open to any genuine solutions offered up by party members to solve the challenges we face. I further pledge to be a worthy ambassador of our brand that you can be proud of. I am committed to leading with full transparency of my actions, with a focus on outreach and adherence to our libertarian principles. I promise each and every Libertarian that I will do all within my power to help enable our party to succeed.
It is with these goals in mind, as well as a keen understanding of the awesome responsibility I am asking each one of you to entrust me with, that I humbly ask for your support.
In Liberty,
Joshua Smith