Hmm... I didn't realize so many folks in our group were actually switching party registration. I'm personally not taking that step despite supporting Ron Paul -- I think the influence I can have as a convention delegate in the LP is more important for the cause of liberty than any effect the single vote I could cast in a presidential primary is likely to have. There is also the LP national presidential nominating convention in 2008 to think about. Being a registered Republican at the time of the LPC convention when national delegates are chosen could complicate your getting selected as a national delegate. I think it may technically also mean you can't vote at LPSF meetings; my recollection is that the state bylaws say voting members have to be registered Libertarian unless ineligible to do so.
I would urge anyone who is potentially able to come to the LPC convention, or potentially willing to run as a Libertarian candidate in 2008, *not* to register Republican. You can do plenty else to help Ron Paul aside from voting in the primary, and it is vital that we have the votes to keep the Libertarian Party libertarian and get it on track to effectively spread the message of freedom for the long haul, whatever the results of next year's presidential election. Right now the LP is badly off track, imho (see critique below).
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
5 Key Values
(1) BOTTOM-UP, NOT TOP-DOWN. We see a party that too often takes after the establishment parties and corporations rather than manifesting itself as a grassroots organization with revolutionary goals. We seek a decentralized Libertarian Party run by its members and activists rather than by a centralized clique of corporate-oriented professionals.
(2) POLITICALLY BALANCED. We see a party that has become too conservative in both style and substance. We seek to restore a balanced approach to Libertarian Party policy-making and outreach that strives to appeal to the political left as much as to the political right and emphasizes personal liberty no less than economic liberty.
(3) FUN, BOLD, AND FREE-SPIRITED. We see a party that has become too staid, timid, boring, and unimaginative. We seek a culture within the Libertarian Party that is bolder, more irreverent, more free-spirited, more creative, and more fun-loving.
(4) RADICAL AND PROUD. We see a party that has become too ashamed of its own ideals, a place where "idealist" is too often treated as a dirty word. We seek a party in which Libertarians proudly share a sense of solidarity as radical freedom fighters in a larger movement committed to the vision of worldwide individual liberty expressed in the Preamble and Statement of Principles of the Libertarian Party's national platform.
(5) YOUTH-FOCUSED. We see a party that is largely failing to connect with young people. We seek a Libertarian Party whose style, structure, culture, and materials speak first and foremost to the younger generations who hold the future in their hands.
Grassroots Libertarians Caucus