LP Admins and Moderators: LP Candidate questionnaire

Leeann Hutson Solice on the facebook group LP Admins and Moderators:

We currently have 23 candidates who have submitted info via the questionaire. Ideally it would be every one because a lot of time is spent on our end searching for links, websites, quotes, etc.
(The questionnaire is at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1aF8jrX4BNILt3RlsNQzHe2261gi1AK1ekfYxTsaPZV0/viewform. )

Arvin Vohra consulted as we developed the questionaire and is our “official approval” – most of the shared information would be public info, just nicely archived (websites, facebook pages, contact emails) We would just provide you with the public stuff, but easier than searching the web for everything. Or I could design a questonaire for you (or you could do your own) and send it out on your own, but I think it is valuable to have just one form that is promoted to all the candidates rather than some candidates doing one and some another.

For anyone reading who is a LP candidate or working on a campaign for one or more, or knows LP candidates/is in touch, the candidate team asks that you please fill out the form/have them fill out the form/ask them if they are aware of it and have filled it out.

LPHQ maintains this listing of 2014 candidates, but subsequent discussion on the group revealed that this is not complete:

Jeffrey Bathe: Paulie, we have been sending the link to the survey to candidates. When we find out they exist, we send an e-mail. We have started to see more responses (17 in the past 2 weeks) in addition to what Leeann mentioned. The challenge is two-fold, finding candidates, since the candidate information is not centralized and then getting a completed survey. So anything to help get it out is appreciated.

Me: Try writing staff at lp.org to see what can be done about centralizing the candidate info. They can publish the survey in the LP blog, blast it out as an email, etc.

Jeffrey Bathe: The info on the LP web site is lacking. Either, it is missing candidates or there is nothing other than a name. We have gone to creating our own spreadsheet of information to assist in our efforts. One wonders if it is due to information not being pushed to the LP or is it that they are not pulling it from the states/other levels (not knowing the process).

Eric D. Dixon: Bob Johnston adds all candidate info to the lp.org site, but it’s important to keep in mind that we ONLY add ballot-qualified candidates. There may be many declared candidates who have not yet qualified, but they don’t go up on the lp.org candidate pages until after qualification.

Jeffrey Bathe: Paulie, unfortunately in many cases, the name link is just a link to the name, race and election date. Eric, I remember that distinction from a conversation some point last year. But even with that, I know of some omissions in some states (i.e., Illinois). The challenge is definitely the information getting in the right people’s hands. You would think that the state chairs would do their part to ensure that Bob Johnston had all the information possible.

Me: State chairs are pretty busy volunteers. Not all of them know who to talk to at national and some may not see the point of talking to anyone at national at all. If you know any info Johnston does not have and should you ought to let him know.

Jeffrey Bathe: Well, that shows a definite communication breakdown between national and the states and should be addressed by the appropriate entities. And with the workload that the candidate team already has (especially considering the size of the group), it really is not realistic for us to invest additional time to check the work of members of national to see if it is in alignment. Despite that, I can share what difference I noticed yesterday during a cursory glance.

Matt Hasty: And the downside to ‘centralized structure’ rears it’s ugly head. Too bad getting libertarians on the same page is like herding cats. Decentralizing a power structure is great until something like this comes up.

Eric D. Dixon: I think you’re overestimating the size and available resources of LPHQ. Nearly every aspect of the LP is smaller and less funded than I think we’d all like.