Ronald,
Taking a hard look at the numbers is never a bad idea, so your posting
of the numbers of registered voters in each district is helpful. And if
we have one candidate clearly making a stronger effort than others, it
makes sense to try to coalesce the bulk of our resources behind him or
her. But I strongly believe we should continue to run as many people
for as many offices as possible. Reasons for this include:
(1) Multiple candidates can have a synergistic effect, for instance by
letting each other know about press and speaking opportunities.
(2) Running for office almost always turns people into more involved
activists than they would be otherwise.
(3) More candidates means more press exposure and more ballot exposure
for the Libertarian Party
(4) It's hard to know in advance where our best opportunities may
arise, and maximizing our runs for office puts us in a better position
to take advantage of them when they appear. For example, last cycle we
did not field a candidate in District 2, and as it turned out, Gavin
Newsom got to run unopposed.
(5) Economies of scale — in some cases, we may be able to get more
mileage out of the same amount of resources; for example, if we were to
put together a slate card, or materials designed to be used by multiple
candidates with individual overlays or something.
(6) The experience of running for office gives our activists valuable
knowledge of how the system works, and improves their public speaking
skills, visibility in the community, etc.
Yours in liberty,
<<< Starchild >>>
Dear Marcy and Everyone Else;
Marcy asked: Anyone for developing some structure in the pursuit of
strategy?Does the Libertarian Party of San Francisco want to pursue
a structured local political strategy? Does the Libertarian Party of
San Francisco want to have a genuine opportunity to elect a
Libertarian in San Francisco?Next year the odd numbered supervisorial districts are coming up for
election. My proposal is to select one of these districts where the
supervisor appears to be vulnerable on various issues or lack of
issues. Then concentrate ALL the LPSF activities on promoting the LPSF
and a candidate in one of these districts.The supervisors up for election and est. number registered voters are:
Jake McGoldrick - District 1 - Richmond - 41,000
Aaron Peskin - District 3 - North Beach/China Town - 41,000
Matt Gonzalez - District 5 - Haight/Western Addition - 56,000
Tony Hall - District 7 - West Twin Peaks/Park Merced - 44,000
Tom Ammiano - District 9 - Bernal/Mission - 35,000
Gerardo Sandoval - District 11 - Excelsior/Ingelside - 34,000It would be necessary to literally commit to a concentrated, focused
registered voter by registered voter door knocker - telephone
campaign. First with education on Libertarian principles. Attending
community and association meetings. Then promoting Libertarian voter
registration. It would require hard, dedicated, time consuming work
for a solid year.It would require finding a viable, articulate, attractive
candidate. Who also happens to be independently wealthy or has a lot
of coins in a piggy bank.Yeah - Yeah - Yeah. I know! Where do you find one of the above? Who
also lives in the district selected? Beats the heck out of me.Can this work? Yes! It is exactly how Fiona Ma won District 4 in the
Sunset.Any takers on this proposal for discussion?
Ron Getty
Chris and Starchild have brought up a dichotomy worth exploring. Our
interests are divided -- delving into the essence of Libertarian
thinking,
and addressing the political and social issues of our immediate
environment
(I will leave the administrative interests out of this discussion for
now).
My personal view is that both efforts are necessary. The challenge is
how
to achieve an effective balance. Largely due to the imaginative
creation of
the Political Chat, the "thinkers" are now enjoying a high profile. I
suggest that if some of us feel strongly about increasing the LPSF's
involvement in our community's political and social issues, we form a
"Strategy Chat." Or, even better, develop our political committees to
address political strategy, and more importantly carry out strategy.Chris and Starchild have put a great deal of effort in dealing with
local
politics; and right now Michael Denny is giving his all in running for
Mayor. I personally need a lot more incentive than a passing mention
to get
me to help these activists meet a deadline or make an event a success.
Anyone for developing some structure in the pursuit of strategy?Marcy
>From: "Christopher R. Maden" <crism@maden.org>
>Reply-To: lpsf-discuss@yahoogroups.com
>To: lpsf-discuss@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [lpsf-discuss] LPSF Discussions
>Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 01:31:35 -0700
>
>
>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>Hash: SHA1
>
>I have finally finished digging out from the deluge of mail from the
last
>week. It's great to see such active discussion.
>
>I might suggest that for broader philosophical discussions, there are
>other, more appropriate fora on the Internet; any libertarian in the
world
>is qualified to comment on private ownership of nuclear weapons and
the
>economic theory of monopolies, while the LPSF is uniquely qualified to
>worry about addressing homelessness and adverse business climates in
San
>Francisco.
>
>That said, I certainly won't take steps to censor anyone (nor do I
think I
>could if I wanted to); I just want to reiterate Starchild's request
to keep
>one eye on practical matters in our community. I would rather have
>vigorous abstract discussion than a wasteland, though.
>
>Thanks,
>Chris
>- --
>Conservative, n. A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as
>distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with
others.
>~Ambrose Bierce / Freelance text nerd: <URL: http://crism.maden.org/ >
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>_________________________________________________________________
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