Vetting candidates, making recommendations

Activists List
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Nick and I briefly discussed the possibility of holding an event, or establishing a process, for recommending candidates. The LPSF has done this sporadically in the past. Per state LP bylaws we can't formally endorse non-Libertarian candidates, but short of such formal endorsements we've sometimes recommended votes for some candidates we judged to be significantly better (or in some cases perhaps "less bad" would be more accurate!) than their opponent(s).

  Below is an announcement from the local Young Democrats about their endorsement event on Feb. 21. I'll probably plan to attend, and thought others might also be interested, as it'll be a good opportunity to hear what the candidates are telling a Democrat group, and to see how another group does endorsements. Not sure I want to post a Democrat event as a Meetup or put it on the website calendar though...

  When we haven't had a process for vetting candidates, sometimes we've heard from them on an ad hoc basis. Apparently one mayoral candidate spoke to Nick about his interest in appearing before us. That's always an option, however I think it would be preferable to have a fair, organized process of inviting and hearing from everyone.

  Thoughts?

Love & Liberty,
                                ((( starchild )))

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Hi Starchild. The very first LPSF meeting I ever attended was in October
2010, and as it happened, Rob had invited a candidate running for
Supervisor to speak at that meeting. He was a Democrat, no doubt, but
seemed somewhat reasonable on fiscal issues--something that should have
appealed to the LPSF. The group was particularly hard on him, I thought,
though I did find the meeting lively and interesting. The next time we
brought a candidate in was Joel Engardio, who I invited myself when he was
running for District 7 Supervisor the first time. Again, the LPSF tore him
up too because he wasn't "Libertarian enough." I never invited anyone back
again after those two experiences. I think the LPSF is too small for most
candidates to be interested in courting, so if we find someone who is
willing to talk to our group, then let's give them a chance to air their
views--without giving them the Libertarian Third Degree. I don't think we
need a process to listen to a candidate running for local office.

Thanks!
Aubrey