Campaign Objective
The Phillies Campaign is spreading the positive, people-friendly Libertarian Message, building a vibrant, growing Libertarian Party across America, and working to Elect Libertarians! (including us, if the American people are agreeable). We believe that our best approach is to widely and effectively and confidently publicize the Libertarian message. Americans need to hear practical Libertarian solutions to the real problems that concern us all. Our message must be easy to grasp and understand. Our solutions must be easy to visualize and obviously workable.
Campaign Approach
The campaign is discussing issues that Americans actually worry about, issues like Iraq, the economy, privacy, medical costs, and the direction of the country. We are presenting libertarian issues and solutions, using explanations that the American people will believe and support. We are organizing from coast to coast and beyond, using effective, inexpensive methods that get a maximum effect from campaign funds and campaign volunteers.
Campaign Organization
A successful political campaign has many parts. A legitimate Libertarian campaign is more complicated than most, because Libertarians must both Advance their Own Campaign and Build the Libertarian Party. A simple chess axiom serves well: Every move should have at least two purposes. You can't predict everything, but you can be sure that my message will be Vote Libertarian! Elect Phillies.
There are critical tasks:
Organization on a national level -
- Every Libertarian should have access to effective, active state and local parties.
- We should have vigorous outreach to young people, because a libertarian recruited is a libertarian for a lifetime.
- Every particular interest should have an affinity group advancing the Libertarian solution to their particular problems. In 2006, that's 'should have', not 'has'.
- My campaign will work across America to make sure that every state, city, and county has an effective Libertarian Party organization dedicated to running candidates who win: A Full Slate in 2008. And every one a winner.
Effective organization grows from the bottom up. Phillies 2008 will be there to help you improve your party in your community, but we will be there to help, not to tell you what to do.
- Volunteer incitement and organization, because all campaigns are local.
- Fund-raising, because money is the lifeblood of politics.
- Internal (Party) outreach, because the campaign is lost without the nomination.
- External (popular) outreach, because the day to start building the Libertarian voter base is yesterday.
- Back Office Operations: FEC compliance. Database maintenance. Web page maintenance.
Volunteers are welcome. Please contact the campaign. You can also contact our first statewide groups.
Fellow candidates are most welcome. In particular, I will organize a Libertarian Shadow Cabinet, people who can be identified as 'the Libertarian Attorney General' or 'the Libertarian Secretary of State', who can travel, give speeches, and make the local and regional news.
A minor aside about spending: we are running a volunteer-focused, electronically-based campaign for the nomination. We are looking for volunteers with proven track records who are willing to help build the Libertarian Party and build our campaign. Some mission-critical tasks, notably accounting and FEC compliance, will have salaried staff support. Interns giving full time need a stipend to keep body and soul together. As the campaign grows, the need for management will grow, too.
Even well-run charities need a quarter of their income for back office operations and fund raising. I'm certainly not going to promise to do better than that. However, you can be sure that your donations to Phillies 2008 will be tightly focused on real campaign activities.
