I know there has been some discussion as to what exactly the LRC is and what its relation is to the LP. I don't pretend to be any sort of expert but I did run accross the group last year before I got involved here in the local LP affiliate. Here is a summation of who/what they are:

They originally formed becuase they found themselves very ineffective despite lots of energy and activism somewhere is Virginia? Their core was as a county affiliate and when they were unable to grow much they questioned why that was. Clearly, they believed (as do I) that Libertarian philosophy was robust and many people ascribed to much of what we believe to some extent.  They then looked at what makes the Rs and Ds successful and contrasted it with what we do.

In short, they found a number of differences with respect to joining the party, platform positions, and the like. Essentially, the major differences they found that they believed we needed to change was the pledge and the platform.

The other parties don't have any sort of pledge to sign which the LRC purports keeps a lot of people away from the party. This is very true, however, I don't think it fundamentally weakens us as a party. The Rs and Ds don't have any sort of pledge or requirements at all except to say, 'Hey, I'm a democrat/republican." It certainly makes it easier to find candidates, etc but it also makes it easier to find candidates, etc. because there is no basic principle. This is what makes us unique and strong and rather unwavering in the face of changing times. This lack of pledge makes their parties more flexible, malleable, and able to shift positions with however they sense the public/opponents. I'm guessing the LP has changed its positions very little since it was founded in the 70's because of the 'pledge-like' view of the world. Again, I think this is a good thing as it maintains our principle for freedom.  I would also add that signing the pledge is legally meaningless and a whole lot of people could 'lie' and join if they liked.

Second, they contend the platform is based too much on where we'd ultimately like to see the US. A sort of endgame utopia. I think they are accurate at this point and probably some updates to the platform with an emphasis on where we'd like to see things in four years would be more important. Ultimately, I don't think 99.9% of the voters have any idea what's on anyone's platform so it doesn't really prevent growth.

So in summary, I think they're good people who are looking at ways of growing the party and working on its appeal to the public and not the usual closed circle that the LP grew by in the past. Frankly, their proposed changes, if implemented would make little difference in my opinion.

I think what is needed is what no one wants to hear - teamwork and elbow grease. The LP is founded on an idea and ideas are great for those of us who think things through. I think most people rarely think through anything especially political ones and spend very little time planning to vote. Most voter preference is historical (who they've voted for, who their parents voted for-how they were 'raised') and what they see in the media. Clearly, we have little historical power since we're new and rarely topped single digit support in elections so we have to rely on media.

Of course, the media cover things which are newsworthy - meaning something lots of people are interested in and few are interested in third parties. For many years, the LP pushed its 'outsider' image and would point to the insiders and chastise them for being corrupt and ask for votes. Unfortunately, people views outsiders as just that - on the outside. So we essentially need to become big enough so the media pays attention, voters identify with themselves as 'Libertarians', and we are insiders so we can shape the political scene. No problem.

On top of this, the US system is adversarial with two sides writing all the rules and no interest in yielding any power to anyone else.  So what do we do?

I think we start doing what we have just begun to realize the past few years - play like insiders and build coalitions. We need to work with the ACLU, NRA, friends of the courts groups, liberal watchdog groups, small business owners, anyone who might agree with us on principle on a few points. We need to run as many campaigns as we can to train ourselves to win elections and the most important thing of all is WORK TOGETHER!

We need to stop acting as one thousand different entities running one thousand different directions and all work the same way. I don't know which way that is or what the winning coalition may be but I know that if we don't work together as a team we'll never win. That means we define what we want (liberty), devise a strategy (whatever that may be), and work towards it. We might not all work the same way or using the same methods but unless we help each other we'll never make any progress. Just as there are eleven multi-million dollar athletes on a baseball team with their own interests, they come together and play as a team so they can accomplish the same goal - winning. Our recipe is the same. Simple and achievable but not something to be taken lightly.