Posted by Donny Ferguson on Jan 31, 2009 at LP.org. Posted to IPR by Paulie.
2008 Libertarian vice-presidential candidate Wayne Root discusses job growth, economic recovery and Obama’s government expansion plan with Neil Cavuto.
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Yes, Trent Hill, Commissar of Transportation, Louisiana, Cool and Playa Hatin’. Pretty good for a minarchist Republican former Constitution Party member in a state founded on liberation theology.
“Fine, I’ll take Dondero’s job as Transportation Commissar away and give it to Trent, and also make him the governing commissar for Louisiana. Happy?”
Hmmm. Throw in Commisar of Cool, and we’ll talk.
I got a better idea. I think you should make Trent CommieCzar of Playa Hatin’.
Fine, I’ll take Dondero’s job as Transportation Commissar away and give it to Trent, and also make him the governing commissar for Louisiana. Happy?
It’s because I wasnt picked as a Commissar ; )
Trent is an agent of the counterrevolutionary coalition of Protestant Stalinists, Maoist Scientologists, Orthodox Christian Andropovites, Rothbardian Temple of Setians, Orthodox National Jewish Anarchist Partniks, Tibetan Galambosians, and the rest of the enemies of the people.
It’s either that, or he’s just mad that he was not picked as a Commissar.
No Catholic Trotskyite Australian Sex Party for Trent!
I definetly object,lol.
Haven’t gotten the email, but if Trent does not object, you’ll get a headline.
Thanks Paulie. I actually e-mailed that to be considered for posting as a headline, like what was done for the Protestant Stalinist Party, but obviously some Naderites intercepted it.
A lot of you may be wondering why I gave Eric Dondero a job? That’s because he opposes practically everything that Catholic Trotskyism stands for. As Bush gave the Secretary of Transportation job to Democrat Norman Minetta, and Obama gave that post to Republican Ray LaHood, thus I gave that post to someone who would be a very strong opposition figure. I did put a lot of libertarians in there, which would displease a lot of Catholics and socialists, but I want to maintain a broad-based level of support and co-operation. The Libertarians are put in posts where their positions coincide with Catholic trotskyism, like drug policy and homeland security.
no fair big P got the job I wanted!
I’ll let you work directly under me as Assistant Commissar for Drug Testing and Quality Control. And whatever else you can do under me while you’re down there would be appreciated as well.
😛
no fair big P got the job I wanted!
http://catholictrotskyist.wordpress.com/2009/01/26/16/
Shadow Cabinet of the Catholic Trotskyist Party of America, to take office upon the victory of the Catholic Trotskyist World Order.
General Secretary of the Catholic Trotskyist Party of America: The Current Chairman
President of the Council of State, Chairman of People’s Commissars, and Premier of the Christian Socialist People’s Soviet Republic of Middle North America (a division of the Global Federation of Christian Socialist Soviet States): Barack Obama
Vice-Premier of the above-named entity: Joe Biden
People’s Commissar for Foreign Policy (Secretary of State): Dennis Kucinich.
People’s Commissar for Defense (Secretary of Defense): Cindy Sheehan.
People’s Advisorial Co-Commissars for National Security: Mike Gravel, Noam Chomsky and Cynthia McKinney.
People’s Commissar for the Public Safety (Secretary for Homeland Security): Ron Paul
People’s Commissar for Finance (Secretary of the Treasury): Daniel Imperato (under probation status)
People’s Commissar for Justice (Attorney General): Steve Kubby
People’s Commissar for Education: Father Theodore Hesburgh (President Emeritus of Notre Dame). Alternatively, Father John Jenkins (current President of Notre Dame).
People’s Commissar for Energy and the Environment: Al Gore
People’s Commissar for Labor: Barbara Ehrenreich
People’s Commissar for Commerce: Michael Moore
People’s Commissar for Marriage and Family Institutions: Rick Warren
People’s Commissar for Socialist Enlightenment: Brian Moore
People’s Commissar for Catholic Orthodoxy: John Lowell
People’s Commissar for Housing and Urban Development: Robert Milnes (on probation).
People’s Commissar for Drug Policy: Paulie Cannoli
People’s Commissar of the Federal Reserve: Paul Krugman
People’s Commissar for Catholic Social and Political Justice: Father Michael Pfleger
People’s Commissar for Catholic Democratic Reform: Robert Casey, Jr
Chairman of the new 9/11 Investigation Commission: Andy (IPR Commenter)
People’s Commissar for Transportation: Eric Dondero
This cabinet is subject to change at any time. Explanations will be given upon any questions being asked in the comments section here or at IPR.
truth resonates louder than the bullshit
your a punk ass sucker if you wanna jump ship and quit
CT, tell us more about your new shadow cabinet..
All you libertarians thought I was stuck in the dark
But im a comin’ back, cause im a combination of Cardinal Newman and Karl Marx
Government in our money, Government in the bedroom.
Thats my line, im the LP’s worst nightmare
I convince the left not to sweat about abortion and gay marriage
Then the Catholics and communists role the state like it’s a carriage
Increasing the taxes, funding the entitlements like drunken sailors
Getting the New World Order on and arresting all the whalers
Preventing the climate change and stopping the imperialism
But don’t worry libertarians, the drugs will be flowin’ like wildfire
I’m the leader of the parade, I’ve got my plans ready,
But noone will ever touch this song,so the LP will survive like Roosevelt Teddy.
smells worse than P-Funk
Yeah, I don’t know why that is. I shower daily and use deodorant, but nothing seems to help.
Oh well, funk ’em if they don’t like smelling the P.
Fuck the LP, I said it with an attitude.
Give them the middle finger, they don’t deserve my gratitude.
For those who stay, good luck.
After 37 years of existence the LP still sucks.
I got better things to do like take care of my family.
Dissolve the LP is the perfect little remedy.
Aaron Starr is bunk
Sullentrup smells worse than P-Funk
Wayne Allyn Root is jobless and sleeps in his Mercedes trunk.
I spent many years thinking that the LP was the shit
but realized that I wasn’t the one that fit.
So long you suckers
who stay with these punk mother-fuckers
the purge was on
and now I’m gone!
LG
I like how you think, great minds think alike 😛
Great hearts, too…
Slight re-write on a classic….
Love is a burning thing
and it makes a fiery ring
bound and gagged by my desire
You’ll fall into a ring of fire
You’ll fall into, a burning ring of fire
You’ll go down, down, down, as the flames go higher
and it burns, burns, burns
the ring of fire, the ring of fire
The taste of blood is sweet
When hearts, like ours meet
You’re falling for me like a child
Oh but the fire will go wild
under of course…my ass could be poking out from under the tablecloth( its my best bodypart) and you can write on it.
win-win
I don’t have a tied up uncle sam ready. Let me know if you find one. I have this Lady Liberty…
Do you want to be tabling with me on the cover? At the table, or under?
heres a lyric for you
they say im not a criminal
cuz we like our gov-ment minimal
id like to add uncle sam sitting in a corner tied up and gagged to your album cover
For those not into that genre of music, that was an adaptation of Eminem:
http://www.lyricstime.com/eminem-my-name-is-lyrics.html
Ninety-nine percent of my life I was lied to
I just found out my mom does more dope than I do (Damn!)
I told her I’d grow up to be a famous rapper
Make a record about doin drugs and name it after her (Oh thank you!)
I’ve even thought of the cover art. I’m sitting at a table with a “libertarian party” table skirt. On the table are some scales weighing marijuana and cash, a large pile of cocaine which I am face down in like Tony Montana in Scarface,
some pistols, sawed offs and an AK 47, and some hypodermics. The statue of liberty is in the background, behind me in the harbor. The sun is coming up.
You can steal that, FTLP.
he suggests rapping it to his homies
I told the LP I’d grow up to be a famous rapper,
Make an album about doing drugs,
And name it after ’em
I too would like help in finding my lost riches and assets as well as my cock and balls .
stay human!
Oh and CB/FTLP, about your non-functioning URL
http://www.onlyrichwhiteguyslikethelp.net/
Rich:
Someone forgot to tell my bank. Would you please help me locate those assets? I’d love to know where I am misplaced them, and how to get them to where I can use them now. I’ll even cut you in on a good finder’s fee – hell, you can have half.
White:
Depends on who you ask. Most of the regime’s bureaucrats who fetishize pseudoscientific racial classifications will say I’m white. The second largest group of people after them who are obsessed with these same pseudoscientific racial categories – white aryan nations, nazis, KKK, etc – will say I’m not white. In the segregated Orange County, CA jail (segregated by inmates, not guards) my racial classification was “other.”
Me, I don’t much care whether I’m white or not. I consider my race to be “human”.
he suggests rapping it to his homies
Fuck the LP comin straight from the underground…
lol
Fuck the LP, spread the libertarian message as an individual not in the name of an irrelevant party. You’ll get more accomplished that way!
OK, sure, I’m for diversity of tactics. When you spread the message of liberty these days, do you suggest any course of action for your audience to take?
Once again Rachel and LG are correct. Like the song says, the women are smarter.
Not that the way that Dr. Phillies is looking at it is necessarily wrong. But, we need to test the hypothesis. Let’s get one or more past/likely future presidential candidates from the left-leaning and/or radical libertarian wings of the party to get frequent coverage – it could be in outlets such as I describe above in several places. Then document this coverage and feed it back to the LP staff and blogosphere. Rinse, lather, repeat.
If this fails to get mention at LP.org, LP News, etc., we will have a stronger case that something is wrong there. Or, maybe it will get some coverage there. Either way, it will carry the libertarian message to some places besides FOXland, and hopefully plant some seeds.
Fuck the LP, spread the libertarian message as an individual not in the name of an irrelevant party. You’ll get more accomplished that way!
I love Rachel , we need more like her!
Aaron @5 –
Good on ya! Disputing the anonymous attack in a respectful fashion. Exactly what we all need to do more often.
@ Thomas Sipos & Steven Linnabury –
Are you all aware of the Security Without Empire Conference scheduled for Feb 27- Mar 2 in DC? Looks to be good. And while we may not have official presence there, we may (probably will) have a couple of Libertarians there, taking notes.
We SO need to have more connections to, relationships with, these kind of groups!
George @ 43 –
We’re constantly on the look out for the other side of things, George. If you, or Kubby, Ruwart, Knapp, get some good (or even mediocre) coverage, be SURE to eMail Donny ASAP. I’m sure he’ll want to publicize it, as well.
I want him to publicize it, as do several other LNC members, if not all.
For now, we take what we can get. If others are getting great media, they MUST let us know! I know Wayne doesn’t miss an opportunity to let us know.
Y’all have a gentle day . . . make it so. :o)
Dear Professor Phillies,
As they say up here in the locklands, awa’ an’ bile yer heid!
You sir are full of rubbish! A very quick look by my young grandchild produced the following list of folks other than your Mr. Root being featured on your LPUS web pages:
Bob Barr,
Robert Bluey,
Larry Kadlow,
William Redpath,
Michael Malkin,
Goerge Getz,
Michael Tanner,
Dan Griswald &
Dr. Mary Ruwart
I am sure there are many others, but noticeably absent are you sir. We, using some common news searches, also note that you apparently (unlike many of the above) are not quoted in the news much either. I would assume you could join the list of distinguished Libertarians if you too had something notable, other than rubbish, to say. Petty jealousy doe not suit you sir.
Good day,
Geoffrey
George, are you saying National shouldn’t highlight our last VP candidate when he appears on national TV?
C’mon…
And here comes the LNC and its neutral headquarters once again launching a campaign for a particular Presidential candidate.
For the last pass, note the highly biased coverage the national party gave to 2008 candidates, leading us to the Barr 2008 Sham-paign.
dick
Suspend income tax for a year? Why just a year? DESTROY THE TAX COLLECTING INFRASTRUCTURE AND YOU DESTROY THE STATE!
How about marching under Libertarian banners at rallies? Letters to the editor? Campus tabling and speeches? Alternative weeklies all over the country? Op eds in major dailies? Public access cable? College newspapers? There are tons of potential outlets.
Oh yeah, and youtube. That’s a huge one!
Root is a good communicator, but I’d say that Harry Browne was just as good a communicator – if not better, plus Harry Browne was a more solid libertarian than Root.
Someone halfway between Root and Browne on the Ron-Popeil-ometer would be optimal.
But the war continues unabated. Today the anti-war movement is Cindy Sheehan and a few Christians. Those coming into the anti-war movement now will not be democrats, but independents (and non-voters).
Somebody said that politics was finding a parade and getting out front acting like your leading it.
Steve, excellent point, and one I’ve been making.
Sure, we blew a huge opportunity with Bush in office, but Obama represents a different kind of opportunity. With the Democrats leaving the peace movement in droves, we could well be taking their place.
Antiwar libertarians should be louder. But cable and talk radio are mostly prowar, and promote prowar libertarians.
And many Leftists want to “own” the antiwar issue, and see an antiwar Right as competition rather than an ally.
That leaves antiwar libertarians with mostly websites and some think tanks.
How about marching under Libertarian banners at rallies? Letters to the editor? Campus tabling and speeches? Alternative weeklies all over the country? Op eds in major dailies? Public access cable? College newspapers? There are tons of potential outlets.
It could just be my impression, but it seems that most of the “anti-war” movement to date has been a lot of people with “Bush Lied-Thousands Died” stickers and signs. IOW, the anti-war movement has been merely democrats against a republican war (that few democrats in Congress opposed).
This weeks anti-war rally drew only 7 people. This article from todays paper says only 30 came to earlier rallies. But I remember 5-10 times that many.
http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/02/01/Peaceniks.ART_ART_02-01-09_B3_B5CON5H.html?sid=101
But the war continues unabated. Today the anti-war movement is Cindy Sheehan and a few Christians. Those coming into the anti-war movement now will not be democrats, but independents (and non-voters).
Somebody said that politics was finding a parade and getting out front acting like your leading it.
PEACE
The immigration rallies were NOT an uprising of freedom loving people.
Of course they were. Most of the people there were simply regular people standing up against the state oppression of migration restrictions. Most of them wouldn’t know Karl Marx from Groucho Marx. The organizers are a different story.
The people marching in the immigration rallies were a collection of Marxists and “useful idiots” and the entire thing was orchastrated by the neo-cons to push the New World Order agenda.
Same thing that bushbots say about the peace rallies, minus the “neocons” line. And, when you consider what the ANSWER coalition is, true, but besides the point as far as the recruiting angle.
The anti-war rallies were a little different. …more spontaneous and contained a greater cross-section of people.
They were not any more spontaneous. Both were orchestrated by Marxist-led groups (ANSWER coalition tied in with PSL and North Korea in the case of peace rallies), and both contained many spontaneous participants who did not share the agenda of the organizers.
I think that recruiting people at anti-war rallies would have been far more successful than at that those staged “immigration” events.
Both would have been great venues.
I think that this had more to do with the fact that Browne’s runs were during the Bill Clinton era than it had to do with Browne’s message. Harry Browne ran on a pretty hardcore libertarian platform and he did give a lot of focus to issues that appeal to people on the left, especially ending the insane War on Drugs.
A lot of it had to do with Browne’s campaign strategy, which was about building money more so than activism. I think it backfired in the long run, although certainly understandable from a short term perspective.
Th ebottom line is that no matter who is in office or what reasons are given, the LP always tailors its message and recruits mainly from the right, if it recruits at all. I believe this has held the party back tremendously.
Underdogs and people shut out of the system are well represented among independents and non-voters, many of who could not really be classified as leftists (or rightists for that matter).
You are still failing to understand how I am using the terms left and right. I’ve provided the links many times. You show no evidence whatsoever of having read them or understood them.
Root is a good communicator, but I’d say that Harry Browne was just as good a communicator – if not better, plus Harry Browne was a more solid libertarian than Root.
Ruwart and Knapp are probably some of the best on the writing/theory side who take the party seriously. I think Roderick Long and Charles W. Johnson both had enough of the LP after the Barr nomination.
I don’t know that any of them are good rabble-rousers on the stump. Knapp might be. Ernie Hancock and Loretta Nall are good stump speakers/TV and radio audience people.
Steve Kubby can be as well, although unfortunately we were hurt by a bad impression he left from a combination of having the flu at the Las Vegas and San Diego events in early 2008, and his youtube clips where he was just learning to use a teleprompter. In the C-SPAN debate and preceding debates in Denver, he did much better, but it was too late.
We didn’t have the ground troops to counter misinformation/disinformation about his legal and medical situations, and Ruwart came off as too nice, quiet and even mousy for a lot of people. Nothing that some of the public speaking work Phillies did in 2006-8 couldn’t fix, given a better starting point.
“That would be ‘the left’ as I define it: the underdogs and those on their side, those shut out of the system and those abused by it.”
Underdogs and people shut out of the system are well represented among independents and non-voters, many of who could not really be classified as leftists (or rightists for that matter).
“Antiwar marches were put on by Marxists too. Not a reason to pass over the recruiting opportunity. How many times have we been over this?”
You are forgetting about the neo-conservatives. Yes, that’s right, Bush cronies helped stage the immigration rallies. The immigration rallies were NOT an uprising of freedom loving people. Anyone who believes this is a fool. The people marching in the immigration rallies were a collection of Marxists and “useful idiots” and the entire thing was orchastrated by the neo-cons to push the New World Order agenda.
The anti-war rallies were a little different. Yes, there were Marxists there and yes there were “useful idiots”, but at least the anti-war rallies were not orchastrated by neo-conservatives and most of them were more spontaneous and contained a greater cross-section of people.
I think that recruiting people at anti-war rallies would have been far more successful than at that those staged “immigration” events.
http://praxeology.net/unblog01-06.htm#22:
And, by the way, that’s a rough explanation of how “the left” was defined by those who came up with the term. For example, Frederic Bastiat sat on the left in the French Parliament.
See:
http://mises.org/story/2099
http://www.bradspangler.com/blog/archives/283:
I’m all in favor of more outreach to the left, but I think that the two biggest groups that the Libertarian Party ought to reach out to are independents and non-voters.
That would be “the left” as I define it: the underdogs and those on their side, those shut out of the system and those abused by it.
The “pro-immigration” marches were all staged events that were put on by Bushite neo-conservatives and Marxists.
Antiwar marches were put on by Marxists too. Not a reason to pass over the recruiting opportunity. How many times have we been over this?
“When any of us do win, it could be because we sold our souls to sound like republicans and democrats, or it could be because we motivated the non voter to go to the polls.”
I don’t think that we’ll ever win by sounding like Democrats or Republicans, I think that if we ever win it will be because we rallied the silent majority and sleeping giant of independents and non-voters to our side.
I’m all in favor of more outreach to the left, but I think that the two biggest groups that the Libertarian Party ought to reach out to are independents and non-voters.
Andy is exactly right on this one.
In any given election, we as Libertarians (or Greens or Constitution or Socialist) must recognize that 30% of any electorate is republican and 30% is democrat (they’ll vote for a dead dog before anyone else).
Then we ALL fight over the 40% left over. Sure, theoretically we MIGHT win. But chances are we won’t.
When Perot ran, he did appeal to the non voter. The percentage of eligible voters that voted was never higher.
And Perot didn’t come close to getting anything more than a large minority of (usually) non voters to actually vote. He APPEALED to them.
When any of us do win, it could be because we sold our souls to sound like republicans and democrats, or it could be because we motivated the non voter to go to the polls.
PEACE
“At the time, I didn’t, but compared to what we have now, yeah.
Unfortunately, most of Browne’s outlets were conservative talk shows, and fund raising dinners where most of the people were upper middle class, upper middle age, almost 100% white, disgruntled ultra-conservatives.”
I think that this had more to do with the fact that Browne’s runs were during the Bill Clinton era than it had to do with Browne’s message. Harry Browne ran on a pretty hardcore libertarian platform and he did give a lot of focus to issues that appeal to people on the left, especially ending the insane War on Drugs.
“Yeah, I’ve encountered a lot of that. The real fundamental problem is that we have laid a lot more groundwork on the right. I think outreach to the left will pay off in a bigger way, but not as immediately – there is more groundwork that needs to be laid down first.
It’s really quite frustrating.”
I’m all in favor of more outreach to the left, but I think that the two biggest groups that the Libertarian Party ought to reach out to are independents and non-voters.
“We have plenty of people in our party who have a great understanding of the issues. But in my nearly 30 years with this party, I came to realize that I can’t train a solid libertarian to become a great communicator. But I can train a great communicator to become a solid libertarian.”
Root is a good communicator, but I’d say that Harry Browne was just as good a communicator – if not better, plus Harry Browne was a more solid libertarian than Root.
“pro-immigration marches, and so on”
The “pro-immigration” marches were all staged events that were put on by Bushite neo-conservatives and Marxists. Yeah, it would have been nice if Kubby could have converted a few people, but I think that the reality is that he’d have been drown out in a sea of Marxists/New World Order acolytes.
Knapp:
Mostly correct, and I actually do know the difference, more so than my comments above would suggest…but there is definitely a continuum as well.
Sipos:
I think that they fear an antiwar libertarian movement even more than an antiwar right (e.g., Constitution Party).
I don’t think this media attention is all Root’s doing. Rather, the prowar conservative media (i.e., Neocons), are using Root to paint libertarianism as prowar. By this, they hope to neuter an antiwar Right.
We live in a polarized nation. People think there’s only Left and Right. People pick their team and support—dittohead fashion—the position their “team leaders” dictate.
So long as antiwar is associated solely with the Left, the Neocons can rely on a fixed base of support from Rightist voters.
But an antiwar Right would confuse Rightist voters. They’d say, “Gee, I’m right-wing, so how do I go on this war issue? I thought only Leftist America-haters opposed the war. But now I see that people on ‘my team’ oppose it too! Maybe I should take a closer look into this issue…”
This is why Neocons hate and fear Ron Paul so much. Their worst nightmare is an antiwar Right. An antiwar Left won’t appeal to Rightist voters. But an antiwar Right can siphon off Republican and conservative voters.
So Neocon media promotes prowar libertarians (or at least, libertarians who avoid this “divisive” issue), and smears antiwar Rightists, to paint antiwar as a purely “Left” issue.
Antiwar libertarians should be louder. But cable and talk radio are mostly prowar, and promote prowar libertarians.
And many Leftists want to “own” the antiwar issue, and see an antiwar Right as competition rather than an ally.
That leaves antiwar libertarians with mostly websites and some think tanks. But we’ll keep on promoting libertarianism as antiwar, despite the obstacles.
I see one immediate problem with the framing of discussing outreach to “the left” — and that’s the notion that “the left” and “liberals” mean the same thing.
“Liberalism” (post-Wilson definition) is pretty much the center/mainstream of the American political spectrum right now, not the “left.” Move further to the left and you find a lot of distrust of state power as it is exercised right now.
The key is convincing the people in that demographic that state power itself, rather than “who’s at the wheel” of it, is the root problem … and there’s a lot of leftist history and tradition that can be brought to bear on that.
One issue that has significant appeal to the left is reducing the overseas military commitment of the U.S. But we gotta get the word out.
MW
Oops – last line was Aaron’s – but it works as part of my response too. Read it either way.
All I can say is that I applaud receiving new libertarians, regardless of from where they originally came politically.
Once they become libertarians they are no longer left or right. And the longer they are exposed to us, the more solid they become in their libertarian views — both economic and social.
True to some extent, but not completely. The reason why the LP could not be strongly antiwar or pro-immigrant this decade was because we brought in a lot of conservative-leaning libertarians in the preceding years, and they turned out to be somewhat anti-immigrant and/or pro-war, especially after 9/11. The call becomes that the LP should either stay away from these issues because they are internally divisive, or change our stance on them.
So, it’s a two-way street – new libertarians tend to become more libertarian over time, but they also tend to make the LP a little more of whatever they came from, recruit more people from the same direction and frame issues in a way that appeal to some possible prospects – and turn others off.
I don’t really like talking in terms of left or right because I don’t believe that paradigm helps us, but for the ease of discussion here, I will do so.
I haven’t been very successful in recruiting folks who currently identify with the left part of the political spectrum, but it hasn’t been due to a lack of trying.
One possible explanation I’ve heard that might have merit is that it’s easier to teach a conservative to become socially tolerant than it is to teach a liberal to become economically literate.
Funny – I’ve always thought of it just the opposite. A liberal, especially a young one, may just not know or care much about economics yet, or may never have heard a bottom-up presentation of smaller government economic views, or tentatively accepted big government views as part of a left “package deal.”
One is a matter of overcoming lack of knowledge, which can be done given an open mind and willingness to learn, which young people tend to have. The other is a matter of overcoming prejudice, which is what is often at the root of social intolerance. That seems to me, and I think is in practice, a lot harder.
I’ve found it to be relatively easy to convince folks on the right that if we stay out of people’s personal lives it’s easier to keep their taxes lower. I find that these people are generally more skeptical of government to begin with.
There are a lot of people who are skeptical of government in different ways. I’ve found black people to generally distrust “the government,” in a lot of cases, for instance.
However, when I try to tell folks on the left that if we keep taxes lower than it will be easier to keep the government away from their bodies and out of their bedrooms, I’m either met with blank stares or I’m told how it’s fundamentally unfair for some people to make more money than others. Blinded by their idealism, they’re convinced that the problem can be solved by having the correct people in office to make sure that civil liberties are protected.
Yeah, I’ve encountered a lot of that. The real fundamental problem is that we have laid a lot more groundwork on the right. I think outreach to the left will pay off in a bigger way, but not as immediately – there is more groundwork that needs to be laid down first.
It’s really quite frustrating.
I see concern that Wayne is focusing too much on the conservative side of things. Has anyone bothered asking him to start reaching out more to leftist causes and media? If so, what was his answer?
I have. His answer was that liberals are all about Obama right now. Some are, true.
Oops, I meant @ 9.
@ 10
Gene,
I’m sure he’s willing to.
Frankly, it’s harder to get a willing audience and a fair hearing with those on the left when you are advocating cutting off government funding to them and their allies.
Also, it seems like radio and cable television are predominantly conservative and Wayne performs better with the visual and audio media than he does with print media, such as newspapers and magazines.
Wayne Root doesn’t seem to shy away from the left. He marched in the Gay Pride parade in San Francisco. And he has certainly spoken out on the merits of legalizing prostitution, holding out Nevada as an example.
Aaron Starr
Treasurer
@ 8
All I can say is that I applaud receiving new libertarians, regardless of from where they originally came politically.
Once they become libertarians they are no longer left or right. And the longer they are exposed to us, the more solid they become in their libertarian views — both economic and social.
I don’t really like talking in terms of left or right because I don’t believe that paradigm helps us, but for the ease of discussion here, I will do so.
I haven’t been very successful in recruiting folks who currently identify with the left part of the political spectrum, but it hasn’t been due to a lack of trying.
One possible explanation I’ve heard that might have merit is that it’s easier to teach a conservative to become socially tolerant than it is to teach a liberal to become economically literate.
I’ve found it to be relatively easy to convince folks on the right that if we stay out of people’s personal lives it’s easier to keep their taxes lower. I find that these people are generally more skeptical of government to begin with.
However, when I try to tell folks on the left that if we keep taxes lower than it will be easier to keep the government away from their bodies and out of their bedrooms, I’m either met with blank stares or I’m told how it’s fundamentally unfair for some people to make more money than others. Blinded by their idealism, they’re convinced that the problem can be solved by having the correct people in office to make sure that civil liberties are protected.
It’s really quite frustrating.
Aaron Starr
Treasurer
I see concern that Wayne is focusing too much on the conservative side of things. Has anyone bothered asking him to start reaching out more to leftist causes and media? If so, what was his answer?
I agree for the most part with what Aaron Starr said. I just worry about balance. It seems to me we keep trying to recruit from the right. That’s better than what we do all too much of – not recruit anyone from anywhere – but I think the biggest opportunities are on the left.
I’ve personally gathered tens of thousands of data points on College OPHs. The biggest cluster of responses is left-center-libertarian. The issues that most appeal to them are the ones that liberals and libertarians have in common.
Studies show that most people never switch their party after age 30.
The people who are most likely to switch their party are the opposite of the demographic the LP recruits all the time in every way.
Plus, we keep going to the same well we’ve tapped, and picking from the same tree where we already got the low hanging fruit.
We’re failing to reach near-libertarians from the left – people that could easily be available to us with a little bit of effort to go where they are and speak their language.
For the most part, if these folks hold non-libertarian positions on economic issues, 2nd Amendment, etc., at all (and often they have no position on these issues at all, or a mildly libertarian view they haven’t worked out in detail and mostly keep quiet about), it’s only because they are part of the left’s “package deal.” For the issues that really inspire them, mostly peace and civil liberties issues, are mostly libertarian just as much as they are leftist.
This includes not just students, but teachers, professors, artists, musicians, creative people of all sorts, immigrants, people with alternative sexual orientations, alternative recreational pharmaceutical preferences, etc – we have many constituencies we never even try tapping, which could really serve us well in reaching even larger numbers of people.
Ironically, the quite old and square Ron Paul, who is to the right of the L P on several key social issues, was able to tap this constituency – and even get them to be excited about issues which normally make their eyes glaze over, like ending the fed. So why can’t the LP?
@ 5
I don’t believe that is a fair statement to make.
Most libertarians (regardless of their ideological bent) are not knowledgable when it comes to getting media exposure.
Most of our candidates (regardless of their ideological bent), do not have the ability to communicate a message very well.
Most people (regardless of their ideological sympathies), do not have the discipline or the ability to successfully execute a plan.
Wayne Root stands out as an exception to the norm. He understands the media (he used to be a television anchorman). He understands how to communicate (he has done a lot of professional speaking). But more than anything else, this man is relentless. He is like the Energizer Bunny. He keeps going … and going … and going. The man is amazingly productive.
When Wayne Root first approached me about seeking the party’s nomination, I soon concluded that he was very Barry Goldwater-like way, and that with some effort he could become much more like us. And I was willing to invest the time required to accomplish this.
We have plenty of people in our party who have a great understanding of the issues. But in my nearly 30 years with this party, I came to realize that I can’t train a solid libertarian to become a great communicator. But I can train a great communicator to become a solid libertarian.
I believe this investment has paid off.
Soon, with his book “Conscience of a Libertarian” coming out later this year, he will reach perhaps even more people than he did during his run as Vice President.
Wayne Root is absolutely committed to our success. This man has a great future with our party. And we have a great future with him.
We need to make similar investments with other talented individuals with whom the public can identify.
Being internally focused on what divides us does not win us a libertarian society.
I believe being externally focused and providing a less-judgmental, open and supportive atmosphere for our fellow travelers eventually will gain us the freedom we want in this country.
Aaron Starr
Treasurer
That’s the radical quandary…they want to belittle the members that get them the most attention when they themselves bring nothing to the table in terms of increasing the exposure of the LP.
I believe them to be simply lazy–more comfortable talking within the very homogeneous radical circuits rather than working for exposure in larger media outlets.
Not universally true. Kubby spoke to 50,000 people at Hempfest, most were not Libertarians or even libertarians. If he had the support from party members to afford to travel, he could have been doing that all over the country – and not just at hempfests, but eventually at other events like Gay Pride, antiwar rallies, pro-immigration marches, and so on. If his new business takes off, maybe he’ll do that in a couple of years.
There was Harry Browne, which may be the exception to the rule, but do we consider Browne to be a radical?
At the time, I didn’t, but compared to what we have now, yeah.
Unfortunately, most of Browne’s outlets were conservative talk shows, and fund raising dinners where most of the people were upper middle class, upper middle age, almost 100% white, disgruntled ultra-conservatives.
I’m still waiting for the radical libertarian who knows how to talk to the left – and actually DOES it on a mass scale, the way Wayne is doing with the Fox audience.
Loretta Nall does a great job here in Alabama. Maybe we can get her to run for President in 2012. But I’m not betting on it, at least not yet.
I’m willing to do my part, but I’m neither well-off nor a good public speaker. But if an effort gets underway, I’m willing to bust my ass in a support role.
We have a whole youth generation to grab.
That’s the radical quandary…they want to belittle the members that get them the most attention when they themselves bring nothing to the table in terms of increasing the exposure of the LP.
I believe them to be simply lazy–more comfortable talking within the very homogeneous radical circuits rather than working for exposure in larger media outlets.
Ruwart was incredibly lazy in her presidential bid. She had a horrendous looking Web site until about a week or so before the convention.
These radicals can talk all they want about increasing the size of the LP, but if it weren’t for more moderate Libertarians, I doubt they’d get much exposure at all.
There was Harry Browne, which may be the exception to the rule, but do we consider Browne to be a radical?
Wayne bringing more and more attention to the LP. Keep it going, Wayne!
Wayne is friggin everywhere! awesome job , go WAYNE!
Yes. It would rock even more if Kubby, Knapp, Ruwart, Ernie Hancock, and/or other radical LPers were doing the same thing – even if not with the same media outlets.
And, of course, I’m glad to see Wayne move steadily closer to the ideological position of people like Kubby, Knapp, Ruwart and Hancock – although there is still work to be done on that front, he’s come a long way in just the past couple of years, and there is lots of time until the next presidential election.
Wayne is friggin everywhere! awesome job , go WAYNE!
Finally, a video I want to see.