Dear Everyone;
In fairly recent e-mail there was a description of how Norm Westwell became known throughout Huntington Beach as Mr. Libertarian. Because it went to just the LPSF Activists list right before Memorial Day it may have been missed. And the LPSF Discussion group was completely left out.
Below is the article which is well worth reading as several of the things Art does we could emulate. I have also attached the word.doc with the article for whenever the LPSF yahoo groups e-mail get eventually forwarded to the list as the groups yahoo does not save attachments.
Ron Getty
SF Libertarian
THERE IS A PRICE FOR BEING FREE Torch of Liberty, enlightening the world
www.ModernPublic.com It's your government - GET INVOLVED!
How did a local Libertarian in Huntington Beach become an influential political force in his community with out even being elected?
Let me introduce you to a very special person named Norm Westwell. Norm has run for office so many times in his own community he has become well known and somewhat of a political power in his city.
Recently when he spoke out against a proposed ordinance regulating RV's at a local city council meeting he said he would like to see the statistics on the situation. The next week the police chief had the relevant data for him to analyze.
The local newspapers often seek his opinion on various issues and proposals. He is known to be "the Libertarian guy" in Huntington Beach.
How did he do this? One way he became well known was by running for office each election cycle. Some times he would even run for more than one office so he would appear on the ballot more than once.
So if someone was not willing to vote for him for State Assembly maybe they would vote for him for city council or school board. Seeing his name multiple times on the ballot made it hard to miss and hard not to vote for him at least once.
It also allowed him to participate in many candidate forums and afforded a great deal of press opportunities. This helped to raise his overall vote total.
Another thing Norm did was to associate himself with an issue that was popular locally, the re-legalization of safe and sane fireworks. After appealing a refusal by the Secretary of State, Norm's official ballot listing was allowed to be, Norm "Firecracker" Westwell. This was done to make his name the longest on the ballot, unique and unforgettable, all good things for a candidate.
I am not saying that all Libertarians should get silly nicknames, but that you should be creative and use your personality if you happen to have one. Norm does have a colorful and friendly personality and uses it when appearing before his local city council. His city council speeches are rebroadcast multiple times on the local city channel giving him even more exposure.
Many times the audience can be heard roaring with laughter and applauding loudly in approval of Mr. Westwell's comments or jabs at the foibles of government.
Another tactic he used in the last election was to recruit many other Libertarians to run for city council with him. One libertarian in a field of 16 is only a whisper. But 6 libertarians in a field of 16 can sing a harmonized chorus and is aptly noted by the voters and the press.
Multiple candidates articulating common solutions can run as a powerful cost saving slate, and has a much smaller risk of being marginalized the single right wing candidate. It also builds the party for future elections as these virgin candidates have now had their feet wet and can now be groomed for future races.
Norm was also quite visible in all the letters sections of his local papers. The letters sections are the most read part of any paper and more often than not the colorful and eloquent prose of the Libertarian candidate Mr. Westwell, was published. He would always make sure the word "Libertarian" appeared once if not multiple times in each letter.
Visibility around the city is also important according to Norm. That is why he would go around and pick up all abandoned political signs after each election cycle. He would then paint over them and stencil his name on them and post them around town during the next election.
Eventually he had over 800 signs around town saying "VOTE FIRECRACKER". More than 100 of these signs were 10' by 4' and his collection just gets larger each year as he stores them in his garage for next time. This costs him an astounding $60 in paint per election. He would always pay less per vote than any candidate in the election.
Norm also comes to his local LP meetings and talks about what he is doing and often brings his kids and wife to vote because he wants the Libertarian Party to be more of a family orientated organization that concentrates on local races.
Norm has also hand delivered 50,000 voter registration forms to the front doorsteps of his local citizens, with a flyer attached urging them to change their registration to Libertarian listing reasons why they should. Voter registration has gone up as a result. He did this while getting his nightly exercise rollerblading around the city.
Now, I am not saying all of these techniques are for everyone or that they would even be appropriate for some of our candidates but they are some ideas to consider. Norm has individually created styles and methods, which works well for him.
Being a libertarian, you should utilize any means, which will individually work for you. Norm's activism illustrates that where there is a will there is a way and you can achieve positive gains for the libertarian party without winning the election.
More importantly, you can gain political local influence with out large sums of money from special interest groups. So go out and "Norm Westwell" your community. Start today!
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