Marketing Strategy

Discussion
1

Rob,

While I applaud and agree with both your view that we should 'customize'
our message to the group we're cultivating and the view that Libertarian
messages should be 'full-spectrum', as an ExCom member, I feel somehow
we've given you the wrong impression.

Under no circumstances and in no situation have I ever seen, heard or
felt any minimalization of Libertarian issues, 'fringe' or not.

Every single member of the ExCom is fully committed to equal rights
for gays and to end drug prohibition.

As well, the characterization of 'shoving Ned Roscoe down your throat'
is incorrect. We carefully considered who to endorse, after having a
scare that we might not have ANY Libertarian candidate. We considered
endorsing both people, but Jack Hickey didn't garner enough support to
gain an endorsement.

Frankly, we felt good about both candidates as people and as Libertarians,
but my impression was that since Ned had made a much better case to us,
and was better funded and organized, the majority voted to endorse him.
Whereas Jack didn't seem very interested in pounding the pavement to us.
Because of that he had far too many abstentions to get endorsed.

Under no circumstances is anyone on the ExCom 'right-wing', by any
stretch of the imagination.

As well, as long as I am defending myself and my fellow ExCom
members, there has never been a more active or more responsive
ExCom. We have committee meetings nearly every two weeks
by phone and every few months in person. Each Board member
is REQUIRED to chair an active committee as well, something
never done before.

We're very open to suggestions and ideas and are quite proud of
what we've accomplished, even not considering the limited
resources we have.

Rob, I know you're protective of your party.
You should be.
I know you're concerned about a loss of direction and focus.
So are we.

But, we are your allies and not your enemies.
Use us to your advantage.

My phone and e-mail are always open to you,
regardless of what region elected me.

Your servant,

Bruce Cohen
ExCom -- Libertarian Party of California
(949) 813-8001

2

Bruce,

  Did Ned actually say anything to give the impression he was better funded, or was this just assumed? When I asked him, I found out he planned to spend only about $4000 on his campaign. Before that, I had also assumed that he would have more money to promote his candidacy. Did the ExCom act on a similar incorrect assumption?

Yours in liberty,
              <<< Starchild >>>

3

Dear Everyone;

First - before you talk a marketing strategy - you have to know your market. See the link below for a picture of SF based on the 2000 Census.

The most important figure is 45% of the population above the age of 25 have college degrees. For the rest of California its 22%. The SF market place isn't a bunch of dummies. They are intelligent despite the way they sometimes vote. It's also 44% white, 30% Asian, 14% Latino and 8% African-American. 37% are foreign born. The population is about equally split between male and female. ( transgender doesn't count twice ) 14% are above the age of 65.

               http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/06075.html

Of the 564,427 eligible voters in San Francisco in 2003:75.4%
Registered to vote 55.06%
Registered Democrats13.05%
Registered Republican3.08%
Registered Green1.75%
Registered American Independent.62%
Registered Libertarian.23%
Registered Natural Law.82%
Registered Miscellaneous25.39%
Declined to State

These are some of the figures which need to be analyzed to determine what the message should be for introducing SF to the Libertarian message. With I believe the concentration should be on the 25.9% of registered voters who are decline to state. That's some 146,000 people who still think enough of the process to maintain their registration.

Ron Getty
SF Libertarian

Bruce Cohen <brucedcohen@...> wrote:
Rob,

While I applaud and agree with both your view that we should 'customize'
our message to the group we're cultivating and the view that Libertarian
messages should be 'full-spectrum', as an ExCom member, I feel somehow
we've given you the wrong impression.

Under no circumstances and in no situation have I ever seen, heard or
felt any minimalization of Libertarian issues, 'fringe' or not.

Every single member of the ExCom is fully committed to equal rights
for gays and to end drug prohibition.

As well, the characterization of 'shoving Ned Roscoe down your throat'
is incorrect. We carefully considered who to endorse, after having a
scare that we might not have ANY Libertarian candidate. We considered
endorsing both people, but Jack Hickey didn't garner enough support to
gain an endorsement.

Frankly, we felt good about both candidates as people and as Libertarians,
but my impression was that since Ned had made a much better case to us,
and was better funded and organized, the majority voted to endorse him.
Whereas Jack didn't seem very interested in pounding the pavement to us.
Because of that he had far too many abstentions to get endorsed.

Under no circumstances is anyone on the ExCom 'right-wing', by any
stretch of the imagination.

As well, as long as I am defending myself and my fellow ExCom
members, there has never been a more active or more responsive
ExCom. We have committee meetings nearly every two weeks
by phone and every few months in person. Each Board member
is REQUIRED to chair an active committee as well, something
never done before.

We're very open to suggestions and ideas and are quite proud of
what we've accomplished, even not considering the limited
resources we have.

Rob, I know you're protective of your party.
You should be.
I know you're concerned about a loss of direction and focus.
So are we.

But, we are your allies and not your enemies.
Use us to your advantage.

My phone and e-mail are always open to you,
regardless of what region elected me.

Your servant,

Bruce Cohen
ExCom -- Libertarian Party of California
(949) 813-8001

4

Bruce,

Let me put it this way -- when I submitted photos to the state and
national LP newsletters from our April 15 tax day protest, there was
plenty of interest, and the LPSF tax protest got the front cover
photo in LP News. When I submitted similar photos to the same state
and national newsletters just a couple of months later from our LGBT
Pride parade entry and outreach booth, I was told that such local
events aren't usually covered prominently.

Now, you tell me there isn't a growing Republican slant in the modern
Libertarian Party.

While I'm glad that you have an "open door" policy, I must say that I
make my decisions based on actions, not words. Fair warning -- I'm
in "vote the bums out" mode right now, and you LPC ExCom guys have
until March to get me to change my mind.

Rob

- -----Original Message-----

5

Ok, imagine you're someone with no knowledge of the LP and you look at the state party page:
http://www.ca.lp.org/

The primary messages seem to me to be:
- recall Davis (conservative)
- yes on 54 (conservative)
- reduce taxes (conservative)
- vote for Ned Roscoe, a guy that has made a fortune from selling a product that kills people (not exactly appealing to liberals)

What impression do you come away with of the LP?

Where is the anti-war, anti-bush, pro-civil liberties, pro-gay rights, drug legalization message? These are the messages that are causing people to flock to the Greens. Why have we buried them?

-- Steve

6

Hey Ron,

  You sound like someone who wants to turn the abstract into the concrete, and this -- actually doing things instead of just talking about them -- and this is a quality our party sorely needs! I didn't see you at the meeting Saturday; can you make it to the Direct Action Forum this Wednesday? How about the Speakeasy social at my house this Friday? Or perhaps we could go try out these theories while registering new voters at a naturalization ceremony some time? Sometimes we all need a little help to get our engines going, and I'd find it easier to do this with another Libertarian to accompany me. Perhaps you've been waiting for that little extra push to get more involved too?

Yours in liberty,
                <<< Starchild >>>

Dear Everyone;

First - before you talk a marketing strategy - you have to know your market. See the link below for a picture of SF based on the 2000 Census.

The most important figure is 45% of the population above the age of 25 have college degrees. For the rest of California its 22%. The SF market place isn't a bunch of dummies. They are intelligent despite the way they sometimes vote. It's also 44% white, 30% Asian, 14% Latino and 8% African-American. 37% are foreign born. The population is about equally split between male and female. ( transgender doesn't count twice ) 14% are above the age of 65.

           http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/06075.html

<image.tiff>

These are some of the figures which need to be analyzed to determine what the message should be for introducing SF to the Libertarian message. With I believe the concentration should be on the 25.9% of registered voters who are decline to state. That's some 146,000 people who still think enough of the process to maintain their registration.

Ron Getty
SF Libertarian

Bruce Cohen <brucedcohen@...> wrote:
Rob,

While I applaud and agree with both your view that we should 'customize'
our message to the group we're cultivating and the view that Libertarian
messages should be 'full-spectrum', as an ExCom member, I feel somehow
we've given you the wrong impression.

Under no circumstances and in no situation have I ever seen, heard or
felt any minimalization of Libertarian issues, 'fringe' or not.

Every single member of the ExCom is fully committed to equal rights
for gays and to end drug prohibition.

As well, the characterization of 'shoving Ned Roscoe down your throat'
is incorrect. We carefully considered who to endorse, after having a
scare that we might not have ANY Libertarian candidate. We considered
endorsing both people, but Jack Hickey didn't garner enough support to
gain an endorsement.

Frankly, we felt good about both candidates as people and as Libertarians,
but my impression was that since Ned had made a much better case to us,
and was better funded and organized, the majority voted to endorse him.
Whereas Jack didn't seem very interested in pounding the pavement to us.
Because of that he had far too many abstentions to get endorsed.

Under no circumstances is anyone on the ExCom 'right-wing', by any
stretch of the imagination.

As well, as long as I am defending myself and my fellow ExCom
members, there has never been a more active or more responsive
ExCom. We have committee meetings nearly every two weeks
by phone and every few months in person. Each Board member
is REQUIRED to chair an active committee as well, something
never done before.

We're very open to suggestions and ideas and are quite proud of
what we've accomplished, even not considering the limited
resources we have.

Rob, I know you're protective of your party.
You should be.
I know you're concerned about a loss of direction and focus.
So are we.

But, we are your allies and not your enemies.
Use us to your advantage.

My phone and e-mail are always open to you,
regardless of what region elected me.

Your servant,

Bruce Cohen
ExCom -- Libertarian Party of California
(949) 813-8001

From: "Rob Power" <robpower@...>
To: <lpsf-discuss@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2003 2:22 PM
Subject: Re: [lpsf-discuss] Marketing Strategy

> Unfortunately, Steve, the state party is going in 180 degrees of what
you're
> proposing. They're pushing the economic side of our agenda to recruit
from
> the Republicans and trying to minimize publicity around the "fringe"
issues
> like drug legalization and gay rights. You're very correct, that we in
San
> Francisco should concentrate on these issues that resonate better in our
> little 50 square mile leftist enclave, but we can't do that very well if
we
> keep having Ned Roscoe types shoved down our throats by the state ExCom.
> Until San Francisco can muster as many delegates at state conventions as
> Orange County and the Central Valley, we'll keep seeing our state party
moving
> rightward, with the rest of the country.
>
> --
> Rob Power
> http://www.robpower.com
>
> Steve Dekorte said:
> >
> >> As my daughter often states "Libertarians and their cruel
> >> and heartless messages are totally not cool."
> >
> > I wonder if most people even now about the Libertarian stance on social
> > issues. I think the only thing they typically know about us is that we
> > want smaller government and assume this is because we want less taxes
> > because we are greedy. Perhaps in heavily Democratic areas, we would be
> > better off stressing our social positions (drug legalization, gay
> > rights, civil liberties, anti-war) as this is actually something that
> > many people don't already know.
> >
> > -- Steve
> >
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> > lpsf-discuss-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> >
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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>
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>

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7

I'm gonna say my 2c and then shut up.

The core libertarian message is to replace government with personal responsibility.
Replacing government means both Personal Freedom and Economic Freedom.

So if we must select only a few messages, to be fair, we should select an equal
number of issues from both the "personal" and "economic" sides to freedom.

Not only is this fair, it's good marketing sense, because we want to draw the correct
people from both the left AND the right -- the correct people would be those who are
not put off by the message geared to the side they didn't come from.

-Mike

PS: Personal evaluation of Iraq situation:
    > Very much anti-(bush,cheney,powell,Perle,Bremer) They should all lose their jobs.
      Wolfowitz and Feith may have been just following stupid orders.
      Rumsfeld seems good, and even possibly an anarchist: "Freedom's untidy"

8

Steve,

Another good point, if this is the first thing one
gets when looking at the state party page. Maybe I
should look at it some time.

I still remember two responses I got from some friends
and family members when I told them that I'm a
Liberarian:

Response #1: "What, you're a Libertarian? You guys are
worse then the Republicans!" (This one came from a
"Liberal.")

Response #2: "What, your a Libertarian? You guys are
more left than the Liberals!" (This one came from a
"Conservative.")

It's frustrating.

Dave Barker