Hi Johns,
I think whether using the RP as a vehicle for educating people depends on the political environment. Marin and SF are hopeless cases for RP libertarians.
I was on the MUTA (Marin United Taxpayers Association) board for about three years and I got absolutely nowhere in budging the neo-con fascist board one inch.
Warm regards, Michael
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Either way, it will occur when the pressure is increased "over-the-top", either by tremendous opportunity for the LP or by impending demise for the RP.
Or, the RP may get going again with new blood. It is not easy to build a political party. The LP spends all its effort every cycle just getting back on the ballot. The disgusting election laws repress third parties. The RP is one of only two establishment parties that the establishment tolerates to give the public illusion of political competition. The whole political game is garbage. But I do think it is easier to infiltrate, gain access, and provide a moral foundation for an existing institution to rethink its purpose than to fight a repressive legal headwind in a struggling third party with a proven 40-year track record of fecklessness.
I say again, despite the RP being led by cronies, Ron Paul accomplished more to popularize the liberty message in his Republican presidential campaigns than the LP in its entire history, and probably more than the LP *plus* all other libertarian organizations combined. I think Rand Paul is set to do it again.
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