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DANIEL H. FYLSTRA
Candidate for Vice Chair www.fylstra.com/vicechair WHY I'M RUNNING |
I became heavily involved in the LP in recent years because I felt that the LP was ready to become much, much more than a 'minor party' held back at the margins of American politics. I saw increased professionalism, focus, pragmatism with principle, and a willingness to do the hard work to build the Party into a major force. In a short time, I feel that I've made a difference, in an organization that is 'going places' -- and I'm ready to do more for the LP.
Americans are yearning for a credible and permanent third-party alternative to the Republicans and Democrats. The high-tech community is just waking up to the impact of politics, and the Libertarian Party is its natural ally. The Internet has opened an enormous opportunity to 'route around the gatekeepers' and reach voters directly -- leveling the playing field at last, giving the message of liberty a chance to be heard. The opportunities are there -- but it's up to us to seize them -- to make it happen. I want to help make it happen.
The entire Libertarian movement is spreading the ideas of liberty, and challenging the 'status quo' in public policy at every level. But only a political party -- only the LP -- can translate those ideas into reality, by electing candidates to office who implement change. Some people think it's unrealistic to expect a third party to succeed. I think it's unrealistic to expect the Republicans or Democrats to ever implement the 'better ideas' that Libertarian public policy groups have advanced, on anything like the scale America needs. We have to make it happen.
My whole involvement in the LP is predicated on the idea that the next 5, 10 and 20 years can and will be an entirely new and exciting era for this party. My intermediate term goal is nothing less than major party status in all 50 states! My long term goal is nothing less than Libertarian majorities in the U.S. Congress and in state legislatures across the country! I hope you share these goals, and that you believe they can and will happen.
The Internet has given us (and anyone else who seizes the opportunity) a chance to bypass the gatekeepers, and reach voters directly with the message of liberty. But nothing will happen unless we make it happen. If all we do is talk to other LP members via email, it won't happen. We've got to reach out to non-Libertarians -- and use all the tactics that Sharon Harris, Mary Ruwart, Michael Cloud, David Bergland and others have been teaching for years, in our electronic communications. The Internet has lowered the barriers, but the need to listen, engage, and persuade rather than preach is greater than ever.
In 2000 and 2001, we need to make it happen on the Internet. If you elect me, I'll press every day to make this happen.
Our Website can be the greatest outreach vehicle we've ever had. It's got lots of great content, but it needs a graphical facelift, navigational aids, and a design that is inviting to new visitors. Thanks to my and others' efforts (especially Joe Dehn, Steve Dasbach, and Hugh, Steve and Mark), raising dedicated funds when there was no room in the 1998 budget, reviewing more than 30 bids, and spending hundreds of volunteer hours working with our Web designers, this is about to happen.
By mid May -- and well before the 2000 Convention -- you'll have a chance to see and use the new Website, and judge its effectiveness for yourself. Much more important -- you will have a chance to turn www.LP.org into our #1 recruiting tool for new members, activists and candidates, by using it, getting your friends to visit, and spreading the word via email. Our goal is to start a chain reaction of visitors telling more visitors, as we did with DefendYourPrivacy.com -- a project that built an email list 15 times larger than the entire LP list, practically overnight!
I'm a believer in Project Archimedes, because it has yielded more results than any other recruiting tool we've tried. But I also believe that intelligent use of the Internet can and will surpass Project Archimedes in effectiveness, maybe in 2000, surely in 2001. Let's make this happen!
In 2000 and 2001, we need to make it happen at the state and local level. If you elect me, I'll press every day to make this happen.
One role of the Vice Chair -- ably articulated and fulfilled by Hugh Butler, our current Vice Chair -- is to communicate with the state parties, find out what's working, and spread the word to other states where similar methods can be applied. I'd like to continue this effort in 2000 and 2001.
Some of our state affiliates are making visible, remarkable strides right now. (Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Nevada and many of the Region 3 states are current examples.) They're showing how the LP can overcome ballot access barriers, field many more candidates (and elect a surprising number of them), and achieve major party status on a state by state level. I'd like to make these successes highly visible to every state party. As Steve Dasbach has said, successful state parties have many attitudes and practices in common -- failing parties can fail for 50 or a hundred different reasons.
I'm a believer in supporting our state and local candidates, and 'growing' many more of them. I expect most of the growth in this party in future years to come from the successful states. And I believe that sustained, effective state and local activism must come from the 'bottom up' -- National can provide the tools, but National cannot do it for you. There's no substitute for able and committed state party officers, volunteers, and candidates who are prepared to run professional campaigns. National can, and should, provide tools like Success '97 and '99, candidate's guides and state and local party organizing manuals, and state personalization on the new Website (my favorite, and most-pressed-for new feature). National can, and should, ask whether advertising funds can be spent more effectively on state and local races than on generic 'image' ads. But it's up to state and local activists and candidates to use the available tools effectively. In other words, it's up to you -- each of us -- to make it happen both locally and nationally.
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