Liberty Blog

For the record, again, I don’t really care about our state party. As I’ve involved myself deeper into our own county committee, I’ve tried to avoid getting involved in its various dysfunctions. I think the real power and opportunity for our party lies at the county level and it is where I always intended to apply my efforts. 

Despite this, I am a member of the LPPA as required by our bylaws and thus receive their newsletters. This latest issue contains what I consider some misleading and unwarranted broadsides against members of our county committee. As bad as these are, they are nothing compared to the flamewars taking place on various social media channels, proving once again that no one hates libertarians as much as other libertarians. 

Diminishing returns

Before I address the broadsides, let’s talk about postcard mailings. I know Kevin only from a brief meeting over two years ago and from some cordial exchanges we’ve had online. In his report, he celebrates the effectiveness of the primary referendum mailing, which may or may not have activated enough Libertarians to affect the final vote.  

I have some experience with direct mail but from an era when direct mail was the way to conduct outreach and marketing. Today, direct mail is something of a dinosaur, especially when not coordinated with other channels. I’m sorry to say that our own committee had to learn this the hard way only to watch the state party make similar mistakes.

Most of the mail that comes into my house is junk. Twice a week, our box gets stuffed with circulars, and if anything gets swallowed up in that pile, it gets trashed and unseen. In that mess, a postcard doesn’t stand a chance. As a marketer, when I see these campaigns, I wonder about a broader effort. Were there e-blasts? Did ads gets placed on Facebook? Was there a coordinated social media campaign? Was there a public rally before the media? Did anyone write and distribute a press release?

Yes, a 19% response is indeed impressive, but with a Libertarian mailing targeted at registered Libertarians, I have to wonder why it wasn’t 30% or more. I understand that funds are tight, and that managing volunteers is like herding cats, but the LPPA needs to focus their outreach resources on channels that reach actual people. 

Who's the enemy here?

Meanwhile, the LPPA saw fit to devote an extraordinary amount of space attacking two of our own members by name. 

I suppose Aaron Reinsmith is entitled to his own opinions, but he’s not entitled to his own facts. As someone who gets his ear chewed off regularly by Marc Bozzacco during our long drive to the monthly meetings, I know why Marc voted against the Moulton Maneuver, and again, it had to do with money spent on mailings.  

Having run several election campaigns himself, I think Marc understands the value and effectiveness of multi-channel marketing. Given my comments above, I think Mark legitimately cited a concern over the financial propriety of throwing limited funds solely at an obsolete marketing channel. 

That’s not being obstructive. That’s being fiscally responsible. 

But Aaron spent most of his article attacking Michael Heise and the Mises Caucus (again). I’ve concluded that this has nothing to do with ideology or party platform and everything to do with turf protection. I don’t consider myself a Mises “member”, but I know Michael Heise and after speaking with him, studying the Mises website, reading Mises newsletters, talking to supporters, I can’t help but ask, What is the fucking problem here? 

Aaron crows about the LPPA’s “record-breaking donations and membership levels” and then eviscerates the person and organization responsible for probably most of that. 

If Aaron is so curious about why Mises is so hell-bent on changing everything, maybe he should just go straight to the source and ask.

“If at the next convention, Mises successfully changes the guard with its own supporters, what would you like to see done differently?” I asked Michael via text. 

Michael responded:

“The messaging is completely uninspiring, the committees don’t produce much and are totally politicized, theres no culture (more events), theres no focus on races that actually matter meaning city council, sheriff, mayor, judge, etc. positions that could nullify. Issue work needs to be as important as candidates”.

This is why the LPPA is having seizures every time Mises shows up? Really?

Last but not least, it’s rather rich for the newsletter’s new editor John Waldenberger to pen a screed about party division that goes on to falsely and specifically indict one of this party’s most popular, active, and hard working members. What a great way to let the healing begin, Mr. Editor! 

Hey LPPA, you want to end the division? Then just end it. Lead by example.

I look around this tiny little political party, and I (mostly) see people who all pretty much believe in the same thing — an ideology that boils down to “don’t hurt people, don’t take their stuff.” I do understand that this is politics, and I’m no pollyanna, but if we want to attract qualified people to the cause, we need to be qualified people ourselves first.