The Louisiana Libertarian Party is having a meeting, and Presidential candidates will be in attendance. Not that you have ever heard of either of them, or likely ever will.
I only point this up because the libertarian message - individual liberty, limited government, personal responsibility - should have great appeal. It sure is different from the major parties finger-in-the-wind, poll-driven "values" - which they abandon at their earliest controversy. Ideologically, I count myself as a (little L) libertarian. So why isn't the Libertarian Party more competitive? Three words: The Libertarian Party. Have you ever met a dyed-in-the-wool (big L) Libertarian? You'll know it when you do. They come across as either one-issue zelots or nerds who didn't date much. They'll blather on about this arcane author's treatise, or that law's unintended consequences, or the Constitutionality of this ruling or that regulation, and little to do directly with the issue(s) of the day. Yawn. (Think I'm kidding? Ron Paul used to be a Libertarian.)
Are the things that concern Libertarians important? Well, yes. Very important. But Libertarians seem singularly uninterested in trying to relate them to the average Joe, or Jill, or Jose. If the Libertarian Party wants to gain appeal, they need to do three things:
One - Make your message clear and understandable, and relate it to issues that folks are concerned about. If you can not state a position or policy in 100 words or less, you will lose people's interest. And relate it to concrerns in people's lives. While they may be important theorists, most folks have no idea who Adam Smith or Ayn Rand are, or really care. Example: Position on the War on Terror. Lose the tortured "neither force nor fraud" argument. Say this: "We stand for peace; we covet no one's land nor treasure. But, when attacked, we must and will vigorously defend ourselves. Our nation has been attacked and, if elected, we will continue to vigorously defend ourselves by whatever means necessary until the threat to our freedoms has been eliminated." See. Simple enough.
Two - Have a plan, guys. You want to eliminate the minimum wage, the IRS, half of the government bureaucracy, and most of the welfare state. I'm on with that. So is most of the country. OK...... HOW? That's where the Libertarian Party gets a little fuzzy. Alright, real fuzzy. What you say is, basically, just do it. That's it? It's more complicated than that, and folks (other than you) know it. That kind of change scares people; or, at the least, your opponents use it to scare people. Get your head out of your ideological butt and get more realistic and specific. Have a PLAN to eliminate welfare. "In two years we will.....", "In three years we will......" That kind of thing.
Three - This is about politics - so start being political, 'fer crissake! Rigidity can be a good thing. It can also be a bad thing. Know the difference, and learn to compromise without giving up your core values. Tip O'Neal once said that all politics is local. Remember that.
DO those things, and me - plus a huge part of the rest of the country - will be watching your conventions and cheering your candidates.
UPDATE: Thanks, Susan!
