People continue to join the Caucus. Membership is up to 766.
Our PAC has received some major contributions since the convention.
Some of the anti-reform forces have gone into apoplexy due to the shrinking of the platform. L. Neil Smith's rant is particularly entertaining.
Tom Knapp has rounded up a couple hundred Rothbardians to form the Boston Tea Party. While this organization started as a caucus within the LP, at their August 20^th online meeting they opted to become a stand-alone political party. This is potentially very big news. If the Boston Tea Party becomes the new home of the purists, then the reformers might well dominate the 2008 convention. (But don't count on it yet!)
We have new discussion groups related to the Caucus.
The front page of the site has been streamlined a bit to make it easier to find what is new.
And we have quite a few new essays.

For a full report on what happened at the Portland Convention and its aftermath, see Bob Capozzi's Portland, After the Dust has Settled.

New Discussion Groups Launched

Ron Leonard and Bernard Carman have launched discussion groups related to the Libertarian Reform Caucus on MSN and Yahoo respectively. These discussion boards serve two purposes:

They are places to discuss reform with non-members. We have persuading to do! So let's try to be polite to non-reformers who join in the discussion.
Some do not like discussing strategy using the essay/comment system on the web site. A forum based discussion keeps the conversation alive better.

Ye are encouraged to join one or both.

Note: these groups are open to people who are not members of the Caucus as well as members. For private strategy discussions, use the comment area for Portland, After the Dust has Settled or the Action Team Discussion Boards on the ReformTheLP.org web site.

Financial Report

This is usually where I beg for money...but not this time. Due to some recent very generous contributions after the convention, we have over $1600 in the Treasury! ($1622.39 as of 7/31 bank statement, with a few contributions since.)

The pleasant question is: what do we do with these funds? Do we:

Buy some web ads to encourage moderates to (re)join the LP due to the platform reforms to date?
Save the money for later LP News ads to promote further reform internally?
Buy ads that simply advertise the Caucus to build up our numbers further? If so, now? Or later?

This is a good topic of discussion for one or more of the discussion areas already mentioned.

Click here for the complete second quarter 2006 financial report.

Political Party or Protest Organization?

by Carl Milsted, Jr.

“Welcome to Bubba’s Auto Parts and Day Spa, the one-stop source for your car, truck, and personal beautification needs. We got yer rubbing compounds and exfoliating facial scrubs, motor oils and scented oils, paste wax and bikini wax. Relax in our steam room while we steam clean your engine. Soak in beauty mud while we install new mud flaps on your four-wheeler. And check out our specials on aisle seven: buy one Fram oil filter and get a free loofah sponge.”

Bubba has an unusual business plan—one that is not very appealing. Both auto parts stores and day spas are viable businesses, but put the two together and the results are...not pretty. The Libertarian Party suffers from the same fundamental problem; it has two conflicting business models operating under the same roof.

more...

Anyone for a Bullet in the Foot? Instant Runoff!

by Devin Ray Freeman

“A vote not from the heart is a vote wasted” quoth Michael Badnarik in 2004. If only most voters would think in this way, and not in dismal thoughts of “electability,” drearily determined to vote against the greater evil.

No wonder, though, that so many are locked into that mindset. The current voting method (called “Plurality Voting” in voting theory talk) effectively locks us into the lesser-of-two-evils dilemma. This is well-seen, but there are some who say they hold the key. They call it “Instant Runoff Voting.” “IRV, easy as one, two, three” they tout. It'll “guarantee a majority,” “open the field to minor candidates,” “improve democracy!”

They're gravely mistaken. Instant Runoff is in no way suitable for multi-party democracy.

more...

Purists are from Mars; Pragmatists are from Venus

by Tim Crowley

The LP and its platform are transitioning from the Innovator phase to the Early Adopter phase. Most ideas or products go through several stages of acceptance, as shown below.

IMO the LP has already gone from the innovator phase to the early adopter phase. The state board meetings,for example, show 'pragmatists' outnumbering 'purists.' Most local Libertarian candidates are non-purists.

The purists cannot run the party at current levels by themselves. Pragmatists are coalition partners, not second class citizens who do not 'see the light'.

The LP News' editorial policies are designed to transition the party from the innovator to the early adopter phase. Just take a few back issues of the LP News and see if the take-away message of each article is that of an innovator or an early adopter.

The LP.org web site has dropped most of the philosophical and jingoistic material and is more topical and user friendly. It is designed in my view to entice the early adopters to join.

The Advocates have also updated their World's Smallest Political Quiz. I used to get a 70/80 on the old version of the Advocates' Quiz. Now I get a 100% on the newer version.

There is a time lag before the bylaws, pledges, formal declarations of the LP catch up with this trend. Each component of the LP will proceed at its own pace, but all products, movements and ideas go through the product life cycle. The product life cycle is based upon the biological life cycle that all living organisms follow.

more...

More Recent Essays

Is the LP Serious About Politics? by Lois Kaneshiki. This essay was written by Lois Kaneshiki in 2002 when she was Chair of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania and At-Large member of the Libertarian National Committee. She had seriously ran in 1999 for county commissioner in Pennsylvania. It is re-posted here with her permission. This essay questions whether the LP is serious about first getting Libertarians in public office or first educating the electorate. This was the companion piece to the one entitled “Are LP Candidates Serious About Politics?” This one was entitled “Is the LP Serious About Politics” and thus is focused on the LP rather than Libertarian Candidates.

Bring Back the Draft by Tim Mahar. Let's find strong candidates for top offices that may not find us and encourage them to run as Libertarian candidates.

Promoting Libertarianism Through Charity by Jason Archer. We, as libertarians (big- or small- 'L'), could help promote our philosophy through charitable works.

Raise Hell...Strategically by Jason Archer. We must demonstrate and protest around issues that everyone in the country cares about.

A Proposal to Limit Congress' Power by Joseph Godwin.

Every law, or resolution having the force of law, shall relate to but one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title.

A Final Word

We achieved partial reform in Portland, but we didn't do it alone. There were purists who also voted to get rid of old planks, not because they were too radical, but because they were poorly written. If we are to finish the job in 2008, we need to bring in hundreds of reform-minded libertarians into the party during the next two years, and get many to the convention.

Hopefully, this job has been made easier due to the platform changes made in Portland. If you are not currently a member of the Libertarian Party, please look at the new platform and decide if the party is worthy yet of your membership.

If so, please join soon, and donate generously. When doing so, let the staff know why. Enclose a note telling them why you decided to (re)join. This is critical! At present, the LNC and staff are still pandering to the purists, as can be seen in their press release regarding the platform changes. In other words, the staff are not going to use the reforms to date as a recruiting tool unless we prove to them that the more moderate platform truly does increase the party's appeal. They need to know that for every disgruntled purist lost they will gain at least two realists/moderates.

And should you join, please update your party membership status field in your member profile, so we can show off how many people the Caucus has brought into the party.