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[cheselka]

Voting "the party line" is way too collectivist and statist for me.  I'll always vote for "the best one".  Meaning, the candidate that I feel will do the best job doing the kinds of things I want done.  So while Jason's concept of a NPL is very appealing, I'll personally use it as an information tool only, and not as a way of following "orders".  That's a big problem with the R's and D's (and maybe a lot of L's) -- they don't seem to think very much.  My father is like that -- he always votes the party line even if he doesn't agree with the candidate.  Crazy.


Matt

[JT]

So what's the plan?  Are we going to wait until everyone moves into the state before deciding on how to bring about "liberty in our lifetime"?  Since we are getting fairly close to deciding the state, we should start thinking seriously about how to get 20k people organized and on the same page.  

If we're not gonna vote LP, what are we going to do?  The Republicans don't need our support in many of the states.  Would we then tell the Democrats that we could help them win some elections if they become more of a fiscally conservative party???

[JT]

Yeah, I guess voting in the primaries could be a big help, but what if "our" candidate doesn't make it past the primary?  Do we then scour the list of candidates for the most Liberty-oriented person that's left?  And if there isn't a worthwhile candidate?  Write-in perhaps?  I'm not sure how to get a bunch of people organized to go out and promote a certain candidate.  Do we have people who are experienced in running campaings?  And I mean overseeing the day-to-day operations, not someone who simply put their name on the ballot and talked to a couple of people.   Sorry if I seem like I'm asking too many questions,  I'm just trying to figure out how things will work...

[JasonPSorens]

Yeah, I guess voting in the primaries could be a big help, but what if "our" candidate doesn't make it past the primary?  Do we then scour the list of candidates for the most Liberty-oriented person that's left?

We could endorse the most liberty-oriented candidate but give no money to him if he's not fully on board with the liberty agenda.

And if there isn't a worthwhile candidate?  Write-in perhaps?

If they're all raving statists, sure!

I'm not sure how to get a bunch of people organized to go out and promote a certain candidate.  Do we have people who are experienced in running campaings?

Most campaign managers are just in it for the money and don't have much of an ideology.  So long as we have money, we can hire good campaign managers for state and federal races.  For local campaigns, we will want experienced volunteers, however.

[Radar]

Voting "the party line" is way too collectivist and statist for me.  I'll always vote for "the best one".  Meaning, the candidate that I feel will do the best job doing the kinds of things I want done.

The Libertarian party is the only one with candidates who will do what they say and will do the best job.  The others will lie to you, steal from you, and then insult your intelligence.  All other parties result in larger, more expensive, more intrusive, government that attacks more and more of our civil rights and violates more of the Constitution.

I will never vote for a non-Libertarian whether or not they are a member of the Free State Project.

[freedomroad]

Voting "the party line" is way too collectivist and statist for me.  I'll always vote for "the best one".  Meaning, the candidate that I feel will do the best job doing the kinds of things I want done.

The Libertarian party is the only one with candidates who will do what they say and will do the best job.  The others will lie to you, steal from you, and then insult your intelligence.  All other parties result in larger, more expensive, more intrusive, government that attacks more and more of our civil rights and violates more of the Constitution.

I will never vote for a non-Libertarian whether or not they are a member of the Free State Project.

The LP is not "God's Party," it is just another party.  It might be the best party in the country but it is often taken over by loonies.


FSP members could be nominated as the Republican, Democrat, and LP candiates.  That way, we are sure to win.  It makes more sense to cover all of your bases.  This will be much easiler to do in a small population state like WY than in a high population state like ME.

[Robert H.]

I will never vote for a non-Libertarian whether or not they are a member of the Free State Project.

FreedomRoad makes a good point about this, Radar.  Personally, I believe that many more voters would be open to libertarian ideas, as well as the LP, if it were not for the reputation that libertarians have gained due to some loonies who sought refuge under the libertarian label (and various single issue fixations on the part of some LP'ers as well).

If we are successful in the chosen state, then libertarianism and the LP will be better understood and more widely accepted in time.  In the beginning though, we're going to have deal with voters who would not think to vote for libertarian candidates for any wide variety of reasons.  The process of educating the public on the true nature of libertarianism, although it is certainly possible, is going to take a considerable amount of time, and if we limit ourselves to LP activism only, we will lose ground to statist forces operating within the two major parties.

I'd rather see us spread out through a state's political infrastructure (where feasible, of course) and making headway on all available fronts, as opposed to isolating our activities to one minor party and struggling to be understood and accepted while our opposition governs.

[kekaha]

I am not sure that we should not have many FSPers running in all the parties. Register as Dems and Repbs and Libs and whatever and let everyone know that you are a registered FSPer. Infiltration might be a good way to get in. I am just thinking here. Just a thought. Of course me registering as a D or R would make my skin crawl.