In Buncombe County it is not hard to get press as a Libertarian. While our membership is not as big as the D's and R's, our active core is significant.

As such, we had a chance to give other theories a try. We tried lobbying; we tried radio; we tried door-knocking; we tried lit-dropping; we tried forums; we tried working with other groups; we tried bringing in presidential candidates (three times in 2004); we even tried advertising on racing motorcycles. These actions had their benefits, but they were nowhere near enough.

We need salable ideas.

Moderate libertarianism is salable. Anarchy is not.

Two Anecdotes

"In 2001 I had a chance to move wherever I wanted to since I had a telecommuting job. My friend Kevin Rollins, who was chair of LP-Buncombe then, suggested Asheville, NC. I visited to find beautiful mountains, a town with a vibrant culture and night life, and a very active party that met weekly. I walked the streets of Asheville to find an amazing diversity of people; and hippies everywhere. Then I saw a hiker walking down the sidewalk in downtown, finishing off a joint in broad daylight. I realized that if Libertarians cannot win here they cannot win anywhere. So I moved.

"And we lost.

"A year later I was at event called 'Hempstock.' Imagine hippies laying on the lawn in front of City Hall, getting stoned and listening to bad bands singing songs about the virtues of marijuana. Surely this would be a good place to register Libertarians, right? Well that is what I thought and I went out into the crowd with my registration forms. Got some registrations, but not as Libertarian. 'I'm worried about the environment.' 'I want to do something about big corporations.' We are The Party of Pot and we cannot even register the hardcore potheads!

This lead to my creating www.holisticpolitics.org and pitching such ideas to local leftists and environmentalists. The difference in response has been like night and day. If the LP were to moderate and pick up some of these ideas we could be the new 'cool' party, the party that's hot on campus and amongst 'progressive-thinking' people. This is why I am so excited about the Libertarian Reform Caucus."

—Carl Milsted, Jr., Ph.D.
Chairman, LP-Buncombe
Former LNC Alternate
SPT member
www.quiz2d.com
www.holisticpolitics.org

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