Thinking about 2006
Yep. The 2004 election season isn't even over and I'm thinking about 2006.
Assuming the Libertarian Party of Washington State retains major party status - and I think it will - it will need to start thinking about two things:
Assuming the Libertarian Party of Washington State retains major party status - and I think it will - it will need to start thinking about two things:
- Increased outside interest in the party.
- The 2006 election cycle.
Increased outside interest in the party will translate to several subsidiary factors:
- Increased media contacts
- Increased membership
- Increased importance of watching legislative action, particularly in election law
The 2006 election cycle will (should) involve the following:
- Candidate recruitment beginning in 2004 (not 4 months before filing week)
- Candidate training and development
- Candidate support
- Fundraising
- Get out the vote (GOTV) strategies
- Media follow up -- i.e., making sure L candidates are recognized in surveys, overview articles, tables and charts, etc.
The party has historically been great at analysis. Now it needs to get good at planning and follow through.
Let's get busy!
posted by Richard Shepard | 10:28 PM
3 Comments:
Do you think the "top-2 voting" referendum will pass? I'm a little worried that it will.
Also- any thoughts on the sort of weird right turn the party took a couple of conventions ago (when the party endorsed the "tell kids rights come from God" initiative)?
I like the "follow through" POV- it would be nice to get more candidates that are fluent in the issues of the day, but may not matter if we still can't get the daily papers interested in our campaigns.
I-872: I hope it fails, but at this point I would not be placing bets either way. I do think it will be closer than the pundits are suggesting.
"Right turn": I have noticed the "pragmatic" elements of the party have been ascendant over the past few years. I have also noticed that the "right" or "left" drift seems more like a pendulum that swings every 3-5 years.
"Follow through": While earned media is the holy grail of politics I think we need to refocus our quest on developing our core constituency. I think, rather than worrying whether mass media will write about us, we need to focus on a major and disciplined GOTV plan for 2006. That means cleaning up and "fleshing out" our existing membership list and acquiring, one way or other, lists of the politically homeless, i.e., those groups who have no home with the Ds or Rs. Two such groups come to mind, the drug reform groups and the gay/lesbian groups. There may be others.
Pragmatic swings- thank you for your perspective on the party history (I've only been here a few years).
I'll either register with blogger eventually or send you a link to my blog so you'll know who I am.
Thanks for a great blog!
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