I have to agree with Eva's summation of this. We probably can't and maybe shouldn't even try to get people to change their registration to the LP. At least not make it such of an issue that it appears that it is our main goal. For some Libertarians doing outreach (Joe Johnson) it appears to be the only goal.
I have and continue to meet people that will and have voted Libertarian, or for Libertarian candidates while remaining members of their own party, or remaining unaffiliated. Pushing people towards being LP members can be a huge and useless time sink. Time that we could be spending with them on teaching them more about libertarian values.
Eventually, if they want to help shape the LP they can join up. (back to my issue of who can shape the party at convention).
Bo has pointed out several times that the largest party for Libertarians to draw from is the non-party of the unaffiliated. But that seems to assume that the unaffiliated means the undecided. I do not beleive that the unaffiliated are the undecided. I think that they are the private people that simply want to keep off the radar.
I propose that we stick to teaching libertarianism and let everything else happen in its own due course.
paul tiger
Eva Kosinski wrote:
It may be just the way my twisted mind works, but those numbers make total sense to me. Those who are Republicans with a clue are realizing what kind of nasty stuff is going down. They also realize they've belonged to a party that can be vindictive. Why change to being Libertarian and be, like the Russians say "the nail that gets hammered down?" If you are Unaffiliated, you are to some degree anonymous, and you can vote any way you want without anyone knowing for sure.
If you are a Democrat, you are beginning to realize that your party doesn't have the first idea of how to stop the snowballing loss of liberty, they're too busy taking potshots at each other. You aren't about to become a Republican, and you really, really, are convinced they are doing evil things and will be watching everyone. So, you go unaffiliated.
There's real potential here. I believe instead of trying to convince folks to be Libertarians because they have the answers, we should be telling people, "We don't care what party you
are from. If you care about Liberty, vote for us". Let the natural process which (I believe) is already underway, bring you votes, and you don't have to be sure they are "purists."
-Eva
