The primary objective of any political party is to build a voter base sufficient to elect the party candidates to public office, the most important of which are candidates for the U. S. Congress and the Tennessee legislature.

A basic LPTN county organization will require a minimum of three Libertarian Party members for each voting precinct in each county. The County Chair, then, is the kingpin in party growth. The Chair makes things happen!

Although we are just beginning, we are making good progress. We are few in numbers. We can’t expect to raise large sums of money. Good! Now we can afford to be different.

We are going to build from the bottom up. We are going to depend on Libertarian volunteers for most, perhaps all, of the work. The ultimate payoff is that our party will then be controlled from the bottom up instead of the top down as in the major parties.

Your starting point is the Libertarian Party National (LPN) database for your county, which lists your dues-paying members. It also lists those prospects who have requested and received information from the LPN Headquarters.

First, contact your members by phone or in person. Tell them that you seek their help in getting the County Party organized. Do not write them a letter. It is a waste of time and money. There is absolutely no substitute for personal contact.

Next, begin to contact the prospects just as you have done with the members, using as many members to help you as possible. Obviously, the reason for contacting the prospects is to persuade them to join the LP and become active members of the County Party. What you have started will become an ongoing situation because you will be receiving regular updates to the database. Get the system set up and stay with it. When you feel that you have a sufficient number of members to warrant meetings, start having them. Obviously, the sooner the members get acquainted with each other the better.

Your next step is to start your local recruiting. Right away you are going to be tempted to dream up all sorts of media events to tell your public about the Libertarian Party. Stop! There is a better, more direct way and the expense will be almost negligible compared to media events. Winning the next election will get you all the media attention you could want. Sixty-four percent of the registered voters did NOT vote in the last congressional election. This indicates to me that they are probably so disenchanted with the two major parties that they don’t want either of them. If even half of them turn out to be Libertarians and we can convince them to vote for Libertarian candidates, we can win.

Go to your county Registrar of Voters and obtain a list of the registered voters who failed to vote in the last election. These are your most logical prospects. Arrange your list into precincts. Assign your members to his/her own precinct, give them brochures and get them started calling on these registered voters. Before they start, though, be sure they have listened to the three-tape set The Essence of Political Persuasion by Michael Cloud. A large number of people will join the Party if they are asked to do so in a direct manner.

Now remember, I didn’t tell you it was going to be easy. It surely won’t! Your members are going to be basically lazy and reluctant to get involved. Keep talking until most of them are convinced that there is no other way to get their Libertarian candidates elected. If they finally realize there is no way they can divert you from the path you have elected to take, they will be forced to join you or forced to step aside!

These are my suggestions and they are based on my experience. I feel very strongly about what I have written, simply because I have “been through the mill” and know what works and what doesn’t work. Of course, you are under no obligation to follow these suggestions. It’s entirely up to you. Don’t hesitate to challenge me or ask questions.