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Freedom Action of the Week
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Free-Market.Net's F r e e d o m A c t i o n o f t h e W e e k
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Edited by Thomas L. Knapp. To subscribe or unsubscribe to this and
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----- Featured Action of the Week -----
First Week of April, 2002
Will you give at the office?
Many libertarians tend to minimize the role of electoral politics. Sure,
we'll criticize bad legislation and bad legislators; we'll complain to our
elected officials when we don't like something, or encourage them to
support something we want; some of us will even vote. What we all too often
fail to do is take the fight for liberty to the polling place by running
for office or supporting libertarians who do.
Some of us have philosophical objections; others just don't see any
prospect of success. My views on the issue tend to sway back and forth a
bit as my hopes for libertarian success in the political arena wax and wane.
Nonetheless, this week I'd like to talk about electoral politics and ask
you to give it a try. I purposely waited until this late date, after most
state filing deadlines for election to office have passed, because I am not
going to ask you to run for office yourself. If that's something you're
willing to do, chances are you went down to the appropriate election
authority some time last month, and threw your hat in the ring (I did --
for the fourth time in five years).
No, I'm not seeking candidates, nor am I endorsing them. I'm not even
endorsing a particular party -- we don't do that here at Free-Market.Net.
There is a Libertarian Party, and there are libertarian groups or caucuses
in the Republican and Democratic Parties. I know Green Party activists who
self-identify as libertarians, and a substantial number of Reform and
Constitution Party supporters also accept that label.
Whatever your party affiliation, there's a good chance that someone in your
area is running for office on a pro-freedom platform. They may be the
odds-on winner, or they may be a long shot. Either way, they deserve your
help, and what I am asking you for this week is a commitment to giving them
that help.
Aid to a candidate can take many forms. It can be as simple as writing a
check, or as complicated as becoming the manager of a campaign. In most
cases, it's something in between -- the willingness to let the candidate
put a sign in your yard, to hang literature on the doors in your precinct,
to turn out for a rally.
You know the level of involvement you're willing to commit to. This week,
I'd like you to find a worthy candidate, and *make* that commitment.
The first step, of course, is selecting a candidate. If you're interested
in campaigns for statewide or federal office, your Secretary of State's web
site should have a listing of candidates for those offices. If your focus
is more local, your county clerk will have the information you need -- what
offices are up for election and who the candidates are.
You may find that you recognize some names of local libertarian activists
when you go looking. If that's the case, this first step is pretty simple:
you have a race, you have a candidate to back, and you're ready to go.
If you *don't* know any of the candidates, now is the time to contact them
and find out what they stand for. Don't be shy. Call them or drop them an
email and ask some questions about the issues that are important to you.
Find the candidate who is on your side.
The second step, of course, is to volunteer your efforts. The election is
seven months away, and each of those months are filled with opportunities.
If the candidate has her act together, she'll have work for you to do. If
she doesn't, perhaps you're the one who can *get* the campaign on track and
working.
In the process of working for a campaign, you also have an opportunity to
bring your own beliefs before the candidate you're supporting. Politicians
listen to their supporters. If you're burning shoe leather for this guy,
he's a lot more likely to listen to you than he is to any stray email
complainer when thinking about the issues.
What I'm looking for this week is the commitment: the decision to take an
active role in politics at the most basic level -- that of electing people
to office and thereby affecting public policy in a way that promotes
liberty. The follow-through on that commitment may take you places you
never dreamed of going. You'll meet people you otherwise would never have
met, and you'll see the good, the bad and the ugly of our political systems.
The world is a very large place, and there are more election authorities
than a lone activist like me could be expected to catalog in a lifetime of
work. If you live in the United States, the National Association of
Secretaries of State has a convenient utility for finding the relevant
election authorities.
I'm also including links to national political sites which keep track of
major races, and to political parties (to their libertarian caucuses where
I could find them, to the main party page where I couldn't). If you don't
live in the United States, or if you'd like to investigate the parties and
organizations in more depth, Free-Market.Net's resource directory has
nearly 500 links on politics and political parties, including nearly 200
organizations.
Now go win an election.
National Association of Secretaries of State elections page:
http://www.nass.org/electioninfo/electioninfo.html
Politics1 -- a comprehensive guide to elections and candidates:
http://www.politics1.com/
Political Parties:
The Libertarian Party:
http://www.lp.org/
The Republican Liberty Caucus:
http://www.rlc.org/
The Democratic Freedom Caucus:
http://www.progress.org/dfc/
The Green Parties of North America:
http://www.greens.org/na.html
The Reform Party:
http://www.reformparty.org/
The Constitution Party:
http://www.constitutionparty.com/
Free-Market.Net's directory on politics and political parties:
http://www.free-market.net/directorybytopic/politics/
Action of the Week archive:
http://www.free-market.net/features/list-archives/activism/maillist.html
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