GOOD IDEAS TO USE TO BUILD THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY Get your candidate onto lists, web sites, letters to the editor, forums, and who knows how many other places. Canvassing neighbourhoods and a meet up after that. It is in our courts right now to decide to make a serious push for Badnarik AND an equally serious push for the LP in the next three and a half years. So if you feel those fires burning, I suggest the following to do list, -Join the party and pay the dues each year. It should be $25 per year. This month will be my first time actually paying the party to be a member. If the party has to start from $0 in three years, we'll be facing much of the same battle. We can, by simply choosing so, make that different. -pool our resources, know someone famous, know someone wealthy [with free time or money] who wants to give to the cause, find ways to secure their services. Find a way to make your state party recognized as one to be reckoned with. Donate four hours a month to calling, meeting, being a missionary for the party/philosophy/ personing a booth at a fair or high traffic activity, etc. -Stay connected. We can change the title of our groups to be an ongoing one to keep us all connected directly. Choose to stay connected, ABOVE the loose lp.org connection some officials have. I am going to do all I can to come up with the best ideas to further the cause in the next few years. I moderate the group roundtabletalk@yahoogroups.com and would be happy to host a think tank for us intelligent, motivated people to make a real change in the next few years. That is if this group passes away. Scott ======================================================== Notes from the last election -------------------------------------------------------- The best time to hit the streets with signs is the week before the election. The day of the election is a little late because many people vote in the morning and by that time, most people have already made up their minds. The best time to put on radio and television ads is as soon as possible so that people still have an open mind when they hear the commercial. ======================================================= Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 10:06:40 -0800 (PST) Subject: [badnarik2004] For the next 2 years - improving the electoral process I think there are four important messages Americans need to get out in the next 2 years, irregardless of political philosophy: 1. the advance to instant runoff voting in all elections 2. the ending of public financing of elections 3. the involvement of all candidates in political debates 4. removing ballot-access obstructions I encourage citizens to spend the next two years writing letters to the editors of news publications, to your congressmen and senators, and to spread the word amongst your community and on the internet regarding any or all of these improvements. We need to create a buzz and involve the social conscience, in order to get these initiatives on election ballots in 2 years. The incumbents and media will fight us on this, but like all major movements in American history, the moral social conscience will defeat the concentration of power and the sooner the better. Let's make all politicians and media speak to these issues or they never will. Pick a goal (?one letter a week, etc.) Involve yourself with organizations like The Center for Voting and Democracy (www.fairvote.org) and others. Please forward around information regarding other organizations working for improving our political process. Sincerely, Marc Guttman ====================================================== From: "Mark S" Date: Fri, 5 Nov 2004 07:16:30 -0800 Subject: [badnarik2004] 101 THINGS 101 THINGS FOR VOLUNTEERS TO DO Volunteers can get burned out and bored easely when asked to do a task that does not chalenge them or fit their interests. This list is to find things for volunteers to do and let you know about some of the things that need to be done. This list can also be shown to volunteers so they can find things that they would like to do or a new thing to do when they no longer want to do what they are doing. By Mark Selzer 1.. FIND OUT WHAT OFICES ARE AVAILABLE TO FILE FOR IN YOUR AREA. The registrar of voters will be able to tell you what is possible to file for. Look for partisan and non-partisan offices. Lots of offices can be one just by filing for them. Some small cities even have offices that have to be appointed because no one filed for them. Things vary greatly from state to state. 2.. FIND OUT WHAT OFICES ARE AVAILABLE FOR APOINTMENT EACH YEAR. Some government offices are appointed. Sometimes they will appoint people who just write a letter asking to be appointed. Find out if there are any in your area by calling or writing the offices of the local city council or other such local politicians. 3.. BECOME A PARTISAN CANDIDATE. Having a partisan Libertarian on the ballot is invaluable. It raises Party Recognition and increases party registration. You can run full time or just do it to get a Libertarian on the ballot. Make sure you look for getting more registrants and Party members out of your run and take advantage of free publicity. We need to win more of these offices. 4.. BECOME A NON-PARTISAN CANDIDATE. Running a non-partisan campaign can also be used to promote Libertarianism. If you have a chance to win or do win the press will report you are a Libertarian and you have more chances of winning a non-partisan office. Some lower level non-partisan offices can be won by just putting your name on the ballot. This will vary from state to state. 5.. WRITE A LETTER TO YOUR LOCAL PAPER. Letters sections are the most read section of papers and periodicals. A good idea is to have a contest at your local meeting were anyone that gets a letter printed has their bill for their meal picked up by the party. 6.. WRITE A LETTER TO YOUR LOCAL POLITICIAN. You could get some interesting replies. You could also ask for a meeting with them and lobby them on Libertarian issues. The lesser the office the more likely you are to get into talk to them. Be sure and have written questions relevant to local issues ready. 7.. BECOME AN OFICER IN THE PARTY. Each area of the Libertarian Party has positions to fill. Try to find something that fits the time you have available and your skill set. Try not to overextend, this can lead to burn out. 8.. CANDIDATE RECRUTER. This ideally is someone who has run for office at least once. They should look for presentable persuasive people with social skills. Having some of their own money to put into the race is also a plus. This can be done at meetings or from lists of party members and registrants. 9.. CALL REGISTERD LIBERTARIANS. Thank them for being registered as a Libertarian. Try to get them to become dues paying party members and come out to the meetings and get more involved. Getting them to increase involvement and awareness at any level is a victory. 10.. CALL YOUR LOCAL PARTY MEMBERS. These are people who have already made some commitment to the party in becoming members. Try to get them to become involved more in any way that they would have time for and enjoy. Ask them for a monthly pledge to the party on their credit card. 11.. CALL A TALK RADIO SHOW. It is easier to get on the more local a show is. Make sure you are a persuasive person who is able to convince people and always be polite. Make your points but make sure the people listening like you. If the host is hostile do not get hostile back. Try to give out the website and phone number of the Libertarian Party. 12.. BE A CITY COUNCEL WATCH PERSON. This person goes to a local city council and speaks out against new laws regulations or taxes as a representative on the Libertarian Party. Don't for get to also find opportunities to praise when and if they do something good too. If a new regulation is proposed try spearheading a group of local businessmen to come and speak against it etc. Give reports on this at your local region meeting newsletter and website. 13.. VOTER REGISTRATION TABLE. This can be done anywhere with permission and in some cases with out permission. Stock the table with Libertarian literature and your most persuasive and social members. A clever individual can use this as a great way to talk themselves and their friends into concerts, fairs and other events for free. 14.. START A POLITICAL FAIR. This can be done on a high school or college campus or even in some workplaces. This can be a small event with a few people talking politics to a big event with a stage and entertainment. The various political parties can send representatives or people can volunteer to represent their political parties and candidates. Since you are a Libertarian and you are the planner you can make sure Libertarians are included and given equal time. 15.. DISTRIBUTE VOTER REGISTRATION FORMS. Go to your local voter registration office and get a box of voter forms and distribute them to Libertarians at local meetings. Make sure everyone keeps some voter registration forms in their home, office and car in case they need one. 16.. START A LIBERTARIAN MUSICAL GROUP. If you are musically inclined start a musical group and sing songs promoting Libertarianism. This can be anything from a church choir called the "Liberty Singers" to a punk rock band called the "Objectivists" 17.. PUBLIC ACCESS TV. This is free TV time given away by your local cable company. Usually they provide a place to produce shows. Find your most personable and photogenic person to host a interview show or just re-broadcast Libertarian speeches or conventions. A good pre-produced Libertarian show from another area can also be put on as well. The only Libertarian show I have ever seen worth re-broadcasting in other areas is available at www.libertarianalternative.org. r.. RUN A LIBERTARIAN WEBSITE. This can be for your local region, county or state. Make sure you put lots of pictures of happy smiling people being social on your website. You can also post upcoming events and articles about Libertarians and letters to the editors from Libertarians. This can also be a place to post your candidates and links as well as any local elected Libertarians you may have or anything else needed. s.. START A LIBERTARIAN ISSUE GROUP. These are groups that focus on a single issue like Free Speech, Freedom of _Expression, Self-Defense, Immigrants Rights, privacy, Etc. The possibilities are endless. Since this group will be run by Libertarians it can be used to educate your members on Libertarian ideas and serve as a stepping stone into the Libertarian Party. t.. BALOT INITIATIVES. These can be hard to do but very rewarding if you can pull them off. It can be to reduce or restrict or sunset a certain county city or statewide tax. Initiatives have been put on the ballot in some cities to legalize marijuana or medical marijuana. The possibilities are endless. The more local you do these things the easier it will be. u.. RUN A LIBERTARIAN ISSUE WEBSITE. This is a website that promotes a Libertarian issue not in an overt big "L" libertarian way but helps to bring people to our philosophy and websites. These websites can help to distribute information supporting a specific issue and facilitate activism regarding that issue. Just buy the website and get to work. v.. CYBERSQUATTING FOR LIBERTY. This is controversial and only for the more computer savvy people. This is were you buy website names that you think may be used in the future like DickChney4president.org, net, com etc. Then once you have it and people may someday start visiting it they will find a website with Libertarian arguments and propaganda as well as links to Libertarian websites. All is fair in love and politics. w.. SPEAK AT A LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL. If you get a good reaction from young people call or write your local high school and ask to speak in the political science or social studies class. This may take some work and time to learn who to speak to and how to get in. High school kids are tuff be ready for some hard-hitting questions especially from the teachers. You had better be good at answering questions about the environment and healthcare. x.. SPEAK AT A CHURCH OR LOCAL COMMUNITY GROUP. You never know who may want a speaker. Be sure you can speak well to that group of people and that point of view about Libertarianism. Call or write and make yourself available if you are a great public speaker. If you give any group the right angle they may take you up on it. I know a woman that lectures Christian groups about why the Drug War is wrong using passages from the bible. The sky is the limit. y.. LIBERTARIAN LITERATURE PERSON. This person brings Libertarian literature and books, videos, bumper stickers, DVD's and CD's to Libertarian meetings, protests, outreach tables etc. Sale of all books and other items goes to buy more literature. Their job is also to make sure every Libertarian has something to give away to inquiring minds they may meet on the street, at the office or even at home. Make sure that outside literature that may alienate some of our members is not included like conspiracy theory groups etc. z.. FUNDRAISER. Each local, county and state affiliate should have a fundraiser. A person who's job it is just to raise money for that organization. They should attend meetings and solicit funds as well as make phone calls if appropriate to solicit funds. They should also stage fundraising events. Money is the mothers' milk of politics- perhaps that is why it led some people to say it is the root of all evil. aa.. VOLUNTEER TO HELP A PARTY OFICER. People who are officers and officials in this party are often overworked. Try to relieve some of the pressure and volunteer to do things for them that they need to have done. ab.. VOLUNTEER TO HELP A CANDIDATE. Candidates need help filling out surveys, booking speaking or media events, making flyers and campaign literature, getting a website up, writing position papers, getting to and booking events and fundraisers and general help in getting people to join the party and register. Giving a candidate a bunch of advice is not volunteering. ac.. RUN AN E-MAIL LIST. This can be for your local region or state or a national or worldwide list to facilitate activism on any scale. You could have debate lists and list to debate specific issues with other groups as well. It is always best to separate the activist lists from the discussion/debate lists to keep your debaters from wasting the time of your doers. ad.. FLYER DESIGHN AND WRITING. Libertarians need flyers to hand out at Earth Day or Gun shows or Anti War rallies Etc. and often nothing is available on certain issues at LP.org. For instance you could make a flyer to hand out at Republican meetings that says" Stop the Creeping Threat of Socialism" Then show some graphs and charts revealing the Republicans are spending worse on social programs then the democrats and then an application for LP membership. The sky is the limit. Put these up on a website so people can download them and take them to a copymat or some such place. ae.. GET LIBERTARIAN VIDEOS STREAMING ONLINE. If you have the technology and the space you can put up online streaming video of Libertarian events or appearances in the media as well as Libertarian videos and shows that have been produced. Then just let others know through e-mail lists that it is available. People who are running Libertarian or websites sympathetic to us on some issues can then link to the ones they want. The URL's could also be sent out to people who may be swayed towards Libertarianism by watching them. af.. LINK AN LP SITE TO YOUR BUSINESS OR PERSONAL SITE. If you have a business or website somewhere on the net link it to LP.org or any other number of LP sites. ag.. SEND E-MAILS ASKING PEOPLE TO LINK TO LP SITES. You never know who might do it for what reason. 2nd amendment sites, anti war sites, economic education sites, music sites, etc. Just give it a shot, you never know who will do it on what pretext. People may also want to link to the Nolan chart on the Advocates for self-government site. ah.. START AN E-MAIL ANOUNCEMENT LIST. This can be for your local region, county, state, country, planet, or intergalactic empire. Just pass around a sign up sheet at meetings and then send out announcements of meetings, events, press releases as well as media appearances of Libertarians and opportunities for activism. ai.. HELP START LIBERTARIAN CLUBS AT COLLEGES AND HIGH SCHOOLS. Some info on how to do this is available at LP.org. Best to find someone who goes to that school who is a Libertarian. Sometimes putting an ad in the school newspaper or visiting the school with flyers could smoke out some likely candidates. aj.. CHALENGE PEOPLE TO DEBATE. This can be done on campuses and sometimes at some work environments in order to set up a political debate in which Libertarians are included. You can debate the college Republicans on the war or even the college Democrats on the war or any other topic. Make sure when you debate you make friends with those you are debating with showing them where they sympathize with Libertarian ideas rather than were they differ. ak.. JOIN A GROUP IN YOUR COMMUNITY. Join a community group or charity and after a while you can let people know you are a Libertarian. Then people will see what nice normal community minded people Libertarians are. A group of Libertarians wearing Libertarian T-shirts used to go along with community groups and help clean up graffiti etc. people talked and said nice things. Word of mouth is the best advertising. al.. ATTEND CONVENTIONS AND MEETINGS OF OTHER POLITICAL PARTIES. This may be a good place just to socialize or talk to people and practice being a charming and persuasive Libertarian. You may also hand out flyers and other things to make a point. This will also give you an idea of what the real world of politics is about. am.. RUN AS A MEMBER OF ANOTHER PARTY. This is a controversial thing and some may not think it is a good idea but I will include it for the sake of argument. Some areas are so jury-rigged that the D's or R's have given up running a candidate in that area. If you already have a Libertarian running in that area then you can run as a Democrat or Republican to get a built in audience for your Libertarian ideas. Try to make arguments that will persuade members of the party you are running for and put up a website with lots of links to Libertarian sites and ideas. an.. START AN INTERNAL LIBERTARIAN PARTY GROUP. This is to promote a certain issue or point of view within the Libertarian Party. Like a peace group or religious or ethnic group or a group supporting a certain style of outreach etc. ao.. JOIN AN E-MAIL LIST OF ANOTHER GROUP. If you like to debate or discuss politics by e-mail (we seem to have a lot of people who like that sort of thing in the party). Then join a group that is not Libertarian but may have some Libertarian leaning members that do not know it yet and join in the discussion. This seems like a good thing for Libertarians that are constantly debating other Libertarians on e-mail lists to do. Go and debate the real people who are not Libertarians. Remember that you are trying to turn people ON to us not OFF. ap.. POST LIBERTARIAN ARTICLES ON BLOGS. Lots of philosophies and organizations and political parties have blogs and e-mail lists you can post things to and even debate the members. You may wish to do so in a way that makes friends and is persuasive. You may wish to post articles about Republicans spending worse than the democrats on Republican sites or articles about market based solutions for the environment on Liberal sites etc. Sometimes the people on the right like a good debate but not so much liberals. Hard right, soft left sometimes is a good rule. aq.. GREETER. This is an important person to have at al LP gatherings. This should be a friendly and attractive member of the party that greets people at the door and makes them feel welcome, gets them seated and introduces them to others. Too many times I have heard people complain they went to a Libertarian meeting and no one spoke to them. ar.. GO TO CANDIDATE FORUMS AND ASK QUESTIONS AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY. Especially if we do not have a candidate in the race. You could start out your question introducing your self as the chair or such of the local Libertarian Party and ask the Republicans why they are growing social spending worse than the Democrats Etc. as.. DESPLAY LIBERTARIAN LITERATURE. If you have a business or other place were people might wait or pass through try to put out Libertarian literature and magazines. Put a Libertarian bumper sticker on your car. Ask your friends and family to do so also if they are sypathetic. at.. DISTRIBUTE LIBERTARIAN LITERATURE. This can be just leaving LP newspapers and tabloids in a waiting room or magazine rack for others. A lot of businesses have places were you can leave free flyers pamphlets and literature as well as schools and universities. au.. GO TO PROTESTS. Go to protests organized by other groups and pass out flyers stating why Libertarians agree with their position. Be sure to include a membership application on your flyer as well as phone numbers and websites. av.. PROTEST COORDENATOR. Protests need to be coordinated. Try to make sure you have a clear message on the sighs that are just a few words. No one is going to read a long sign. Make sure your sighs all say Libertarian Party. Have flyers to hand to press and others explaining why you are there. Be polite but assertive. Try to protest were the press will already be like when a star gets arrested for Marijuana, or seat belt checkpoint, opening of a corporate welfare business or venture etc. The press will probably not come out to a Libertarian event. aw.. HAVE A VOTER REGISTRATION/LP TABLE OUTSIDE YOUR LOCAL IRS BUILDING. People are all Libertarians when they leave the IRS building. Give them tax flyers and voter registration forms and see if they want to talk. Work on getting them to register to vote as Libertarians and joining the party. ax.. CALL ANY GROUP AND ASK IF THEY WOULD LIKE A SPEAKER FROM THE LP. Church groups, political groups, anti-war groups, free speech groups, self-defense groups, feminist groups may all need speakers for events. Make sure you have someone with experience getting a good response from the mindset of that group. You never know who may need a speaker. ay.. WRITE AN ARTICLE FOR YOUR LOCAL LP PAPER OR NEWSLETTER. Libertarian publications often need content. Write reports on activist events that you attended or are trying to organize. If you have an expertise that Libertarians may benefit from, like sales right an article about that to share it with others. az.. START LIBERTARIAN NEWSLETTER. Regions, county, state organizations all need newsletters. Start one or find out how you can help with one that already exists. You can also start any newsletter for any group inside the LP like Outright Libertarians, gun owners, activist's etc. You can also start a newsletter for a group or philosophy outside the LP with the goal of bringing more people in. ba.. DATABASE ORGANIZER. Lots of data constantly needs to be organized and distributed. Lists of members and registrants and inquiries all need to be mailed or e-mailed to people who have volunteered to call them in your area. bb.. MEDIA ARCHIVIST. This is someone that records appearances of libertarian candidates and celebrities, from TV shows and then plays it for others at the local meetings or conventions. Reason, CATO also have appearances as well as Drew Carry, Bill Mahar or Penn Gelet go on TV from time to time and say good things about Libertarians or that they are one. Northern exposure, the simpsons and the Whoopi Goldberg show all have moments were Libertarians are mentioned, but things like that are pretty hard to catch. These things can sometimes be streamed online if you have the technology. bc.. PRINT ARCHIVIST. Keeps a scrapbook of all articles that mention Libertarians or letters to the editor by Libertarians or articles showing proof of our points. This can be done for your local or even state organization. bd.. PUBLIC ACCESS SHOW DISTRIBUTER. This is a person that takes tapes of a public access show around to the various cable companies each month. Sometimes these must be hand delivered. Others will accept them by mail. be.. CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND SHAPERONE. This should be a person that has some background in counseling that tries to have meetings with groups or individuals conflicting inside the LP. This person may also try to head off inappropriate behavior by members if he sees it happening at an LP event. Try not to be a busybody. bf.. E-MAIL LIST MODERATOR. Sometimes a person may enter an e-mail list and attack others. This may be fine if it is debate list. Separate your lists between activist and discussion/debate lists. Keep the debaters from distracting the activists and you may also wish to set limits on some lists because these at times can be a public face of the party. bg.. MEETING PHONE REMINDER. Collects phone numbers at meetings and then calls members and reminds them to attend a day before the next meeting. People from member lists and even registered Libertarians can also be called. bh.. DONATE OFFICE SPACE OR MEETING ROOM. Especially if you have lots of phones in the office. Libertarians need space to meet and to plan and conduct campaigns, store signs and materials etc. bi.. DISPLAY A LIBERTARIAN BANNER. If you own a business or building or have a home with a rear wall that can be seen from a freeway or busy street. bj.. PRINT OR DESIGHN T-SHERTS. Libertarians need nice friendly looking T-shirts to wear out. If you have the ability just start making and selling them or giving them away to Libertarians. They can be also sold on websites. I always liked the design idea of children holding hands under the statue of liberty. Try to keep the shirts upbeat and positive. bk.. SCRAPPBOOK KEEPER. This person could keep a scrapbook of pictures of events and people attending to foster a sense of community. This can be done online or with a physical scrapbook passed around at meetings. bl.. PRESS RELEASES. If you have some experience in advertising or publicity it may help. Try to make sure that all press releases are not left or right leaning but work right down the middle as not to alienate or misrepresent one side of the LP or another. bm.. EVENT ORGANIZER. Organizations need events, events need organizers. Some people have a talent for it. If this interests you then you might have that talent. Fundraiser, concerts, parties, rallies, protests or anything else you can think of. bn.. VOLUNTEER YOUR HOME FOR AN LP COFFIE OR EVENT. This can be for a candidate visiting or for a fundraising event. If you have a nice spacious home and you won't mind a bunch of Libertarians in it, then you may have a valuable asset to donate to your party. bo.. KNOCK ON THE DOORS OF REGISTERD LIBERTARIANS. Usually after4 PM and on the weekends is best. Arm yourself with Libertarian Party literature and bring people you meet into the party. Ask them to join the party and give money and get involved in some way. bp.. SIGNATURE COLECTOR. Signatures always need to be collected for something. Getting candidates on the ballot, petitions to get propositions on the ballot either being sponsored by Libertarians in whole or in part. Some people also get paid to get signatures for some petitions, paying petitions can always be a way to add getting some dollars to your volunteer work for liberty. Just get signatures for those to while you work. bq.. VOLUNTEER COORDANATOR. Volunteers need to be documented and then called and set about doing a specific task. Someone needs to lead and organize efforts. A volunteer coordinator should keep lists of volunteers and what they will do and then organize them into coherent groups performing concrete set tasks with clear beginnings and ends and goals. br.. ISSUE GROUP DIPLOMAT. Contacts issue groups that we may support on an issue or ballot initiative and coordinates cooperation. This could be just putting a link on their websites or ours, having joint events or just getting us listed as a proponent or opponent of a ballot initiative. bs.. BALOT ARGUMENTS. If you can get these they are invaluable publicity. Usually some other elected official or group will trump you but you never know. Find out were ballot arguments are needed and submit one for your local Libertarian affiliate. Make sure they approve it. You can find out about due dates and how to submit at the Registrar of voters. bt.. START A LIBERTARIAN CHARETY. We keep saying that private charities can take care of those in need. Well, Lets start showing them how it is done. Food banks, immigrant aid, aid for the victims of American Wars. Etc, etc. etc... bu.. LINK CHARITY GROUPS TO YOUR LOCAL WEBSTE. Identify charity groups that do not except government money and ask them if we can put a link to them on our website. bv.. VISET YOUR LOCAL NEWSPAPER OR WEEKLY. Introduce yourself as the local Libertarian chair and you would like to have them meet with your candidates for a possible endorsement. Ask them to start covering Libertarian campaigns and events and points of view. bw.. HAVE YOUR MEMBERS WRITE LETTERS TO THE LOCAL PAPERS AND WEEKLES WHILE AT THE MEETING. Bring all the local papers and magazines to you're meeting and have your members compose letters to them. Also magazines like Time and Newsweek also have letters sections. Those would be a big prizes for us but the larger the magazine the less chance we have. Those that get a letter published should get a free dinner on the party or the other members can just pitch in to pay for it to show their appreciation. bx.. HAVE PEOPLE WITH CELL PHONES SHOW UP TO MEETINGS 1 HOUR EARLY TO CALL. Call the other party members or the registered Libertarians. Doing this together will be fun. This also gives people the chance to get over shines and they can learn from listening to others who may have some skills as phone selectors. Try to get people you contact to come down to the meeting, become party members and make a monthly pledge. Make sure you can process credit cards. This is hard but worth it if you can learn to do it. by.. HAVE A PHONE BANK. This can be done if a member has an office with lots of phones to volunteer. Call other members, registrants and inquiries. The goal is always more members and funds but just hearing from another Libertarian can be good to increase people's dedication and activism. bz.. ORGANIZE A MAILING. To get more members or to raise money or get signatures. Some states require signatures from registered Libertarians to get on the ballot. Sometimes these can be collected through the mail. A mailing could be more effective coming from a local organization inviting people to get involved in local activities. Starts small, if it works expand. ca.. PUT A VOTER REGISTRATION FORM IN YOUR NEWSLETTERS. Make sure that at least twice a year you send out a voter registration form in your newsletter and encourage people to register others as Libertarians. Also your members should be encouraged to make sure they are registered as Libertarians if they can in their state. Sometimes people will believe they are registered but they are not. In rare cases the registrar may not record your registration, so it never hearts to send it in again just to make sure. cb.. FORCE A PRIMARY WITH UNDESIRERABLE LIBERTARIAN. If you have a candidate in your area that advocates violence or other un-libertarian things you may want to make sure you have someone to run against them in a primary if they will not voluntarily stop running as a Libertarian. Ask for consensus on this one, make sure you do not overreact and that the philosophical differences are egregious. cc.. DEBATE THE GREEN PARTY. This can be on a national or local level. It can help to get press for us, especially because the press seems eager to cover the Green party. This can be an option if the major candidates will not include you in the debates. cd.. TAKE A SALES COURSE. The Republicans and the Democrats employ the slickest salesmen for socialism and statism that they can find like Bill Clinton and G W Bush. We need to catch up. ce.. JOIN TOASTMASTERS. This is an organization dedicated to teaching its members how to speak in public. Check it out. You can find it online or sometimes by calling 411. cf.. BE A CAMPAIGN MANEGER. Candidates need a lot of help. No matter what your level of expertise any help you can give a candidate is invaluable. If you would like to learn more there are many good books on campaign management and I would also recommend Campaigns and Elections Magazine. Remember when running a campaign that you are not likely to win you want to run a membership and registration campaign. cg.. GET A SUBSCRIPTION TO CAMPAIGN AND ELECTIONS MAGAZINE. Read it, it will teach you how real politics is done. It will give you an idea how to win a local election, how much money it costs and what needs to be done to win a campaign. Real world politics. ch.. TRY TO CHANGE THE VOTER REGISTRATION POLICY IN YOUR STATE. In about half the states you can not register to vote as a Libertarian. This will take some research and a lawyer. You may wish to contact Ballot Access News. This will be a huge undertaking but the reward is great. ci.. TRANSLATER. Pamphlets, books and websites need to be translated into other languages. Spanish is the most obvious, but Korians and other groups escaping from more authoritarian countries are a good target language as well. cj.. LEARN TO SPEAK LIBERATARIAN IN ANOTHER LANGUEDGE. If you are a right winger learn to speak Libertarianism in left or liberal terminology, and vice versa. ck.. PARADES. Lots of cities and towns have lots of different parades. Make sure the LP is included and make sure people show up in force with lots of big signs, banners, bullhorns and costumes if appropriate. cl.. TALK TO OTHERS. Tell others about the Libertarian Party. Don't keep it a secret. Any time you can move others in a Libertarian direction, no mater how slight is a good thing. Make sure you are not being a pest, overbearing or a complainer. cm.. BE A GUEST ON A TALK SHOW. This is a difficult task and you must be a polished spokesperson. Various small local cable shows can be contacted. Pick a hot topic that is in the news and tell the producer that you would like to come out and talk about it. It helps if the Libertarian Party is doing something newsworthy or the talk shows just can not find enough guests to talk about a hot news item from enough angles. Always offer a new and unique angle. This is a difficult thing to accomplish. But if you are polished and have some experience in media you may succeed. cn.. BECOME A PAPER CANDIDATE. If you do not have time to campaign much but are in an area were no candidates are then this may be an option for you. How much work it takes to get on the ballot varies from state to state. All you will be doing is putting your name on the ballot and filing out the questioners that will come to you on your positions from various groups. You will also need to attend candidate forums if any are available but these are usualy very few as well as put up a website if you can. co.. BECOME A FULL TIME CANDIDATE. This would be either for city council or a race you feel you can realistically win or for a race were you think you will give the Libertarian Party lots of publicity. You will have to quit or take a vacation from your job to do so and campaign full time. Raise money and hire a campaign manager etc. cp.. START A 501C3 LIBERTARIAN EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION. The process of filing the papers to do so and getting approved can take some time and money but once you do all donations to your organization are tax deductible. People will be more willing to give. This can be small effort on your part or you may be able to raise enough money to work at it full time and pay yourself a salary depending on your abilities and ambitions. cq.. FIND OUT HOW TO SUGGEST PERCHASES OF LIBERTARIAN BOOKS AND LITERATURE AT YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY. Libraries usually have some procedure to suggest books and videos for purchase. Some of them may even put Libertarian periodicals in their periodical section. cr.. MEMBERSHIP CHAIR. This is a person at a state or local level that concentrates on membership. This person should make sure all people at meetings have been asked to join the party as well as calling inquiries and registered Libertarians to get them sighed up as dues paying members. cs.. ATTENDANCE COORDENATOR. Collects names and phone numbers and e-mails of people at meetings to create regular list of likely suspects to show up for the next meeting. The day before the meetings send out e-mails and phone these people to get them to show up regularly. ct.. GET ELECTED TO OFFICE. Usually this will be a non-partisan office, but I do not want to discourage anyone from getting elected to a partisan office. Even getting elected to a position like Water or Airport Board will help us to get more respect in the community even if you are not able to implement Libertarian ideas. Being elected to a minor non-partisan office will also make the electorate take you more seriously when you run for higher partisan office. The best way to educate people about the fact that Libertarian ideas work is to implement them on the local level and show that they work. cu.. OPOSITION RESEARCHER. Candidates may need ammunition against their opponent. One thing a Libertarian can do in a race if he can not win is use the race to expose how wasteful and dishonest politicians usually are. If you can find the dirt, go to the papers and see if they will do more than just sweep it under the rug. cv.. MARKET RESEARCHER. If you have experience in this it can be invaluable to us. What would make a person switch to a new party? What would make people vote Libertarian? Do people see us as too right wing or too liberal? What percentage of people know who are presidential candidate is? These and an endless amount of questions need to be answered. You can also do this informally as a questioner taking a survey in a mall or fair or outreach table as a way to get people to register to vote as Libertarians and talk to you about politics. cw.. MEETING PUBLICITY. This person is in charge of listing a meeting in print and TV announce lists as well as e-mail lists and mailings for any event or meeting. This person just has this one job so they can concentrate on it. E-mail lists of your party and others, blogs, community bulletin boards on Community access TV, local weeklies in community events all kinds of likely and unlikely places list community events. A new place to list an event can always be found. Just ask them how they would like it submitted and then submit your meeting regularly. New places to list your meeting can always be found. See Libertarian videos online and Help use TV to spread the LP- almost free Show website at: http://www.libertarianalternative.org For Libertarian Videos or to donate go to : http://libalt.gemm.com Public access is the basic grass roots minimum we should be doing. Call me at 323-633-6275 to get the LP on TV in your area or e-mail me to volunteer. See Libertarian videos online and Help use TV to spread the LP- almost free Show website at: http://www.libertarianalternative.org For Libertarian Videos or to donate go to : http://libalt.gemm.com Public access is the basic grass roots minimum we should be doing. Call me at 323-633-6275 to get the LP on TV in your area or e-mail me to volunteer. ----- Original Message ----- From: To: ; ; ; "Alicia Mattson" Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2004 9:45 PM Subject: Re: [badnarik2004] AP story mis-reporting our results > > > Those ones do look a lot nicer than zeroes. > CSPAN is the only network which gave us honest > coverage. We should be congratulating the good > folks in Idaho who got .64%. I think that was the > best nationally. Finally, .51+ is closer to one than zero. > > Dave Macko > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Alicia Mattson > To: badnarik2004@yahoogroups.com ; tnlp@yahoogroups.com ; > LPTNcountychairs@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Friday, November 05, 2004 12:23 AM > Subject: Re: [badnarik2004] AP story mis-reporting our results > > > Ah, so! I didn't even crunch the numbers myself, just read 'em off the > screen. Fine reporter I'd make, huh? :-) We've got plenty of other > things to get worked up about, so might as well make sure that what we get > worked up about is true. Thanks for the correction! > > Alicia Mattson > Tennessee