Congratulations

Congratulations to all who won their races!

As promised, I ran a vigorous campaign for Chairman, and I'm happy with the results. Thank you very much, those who supported me and those who voted, no matter how you cast that vote.

I am a little disappointed though that less than half of the number of total voters took the time to evaluate my candidacy by visiting my campaign website. If we can't count on smart libertarians to thoroughly evaluate the options before voting, I'm not sure where that leaves us.

I'm concerned about voter turnout, too. I know Jim contacted all BTP members to let them know about the election. I contacted at least 320 LP and BTP members, friends and acquaintances, inviting them to join the BTP and vote. At the close of voting there were 578 registered voters.

Yet turnout was only 57 for the Chairman election (and decreased from there for the other elections and proposals). That's less than 10% of registered voters.

This could mean one of a number of things, including:

- People believe the BTP is not an overly hierarchical organization, and so the results of the elections don't much matter. If true, this is good. People feel they don't have to fight tooth and nail in a popularity contest and that, no matter who is in office, they feel confident that the party will proceed correctly.

- People don't think the BTP is important or credible enough to warrant the short time it would take to vote. I hope this is not the reason. But if there is any truth to this possibility, our first job now must be to build our party's credibility by demonstrating our effectiveness at: (1) building (2) communicating constructively and (3) opposing the growth of the state.

Thanks again to all who supported me. I am very grateful. Thanks especially to those who took the time to evaluate my candidacy. I never expected to win, much less earn everyone's vote. I only hoped to constructively influence the future direction of this very special party.

I (still) look forward to working with you. :)

P.S. There's a silver lining to my not winning because I'm planing to do Nanowrimo in November and being your chairman wouldn't have left me time for this most likely. Anyone else doing Nanowrimo?

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." -- Thomas Paine

Submitted by georgedonnelly on Sat, 10/25/2008 - 20:06
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Comments

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planetaryjim:

Since Jason seems to be enjoying his Ultimate Fighting Championship, or whatever, let me take a moment to thank you for running. I think very highly of you, and really appreciate your sincerity, enthusiasm, wit, and wisdom. It is great to see someone with so much knowledge of Colombia get involved here. I note with considerable chagrin that the presidential nominee of the LP has called for invasion of Colombia to fight the drug war. What a maroon he is!

Let me deny that I informed all the BTP members. I did not do so. If there is a tool for e-mailing all members, I have not been shown it. What I did do, several times, was message all members of our Facebook group. I continue to recruit members there, and encourage others to do so as well. It is working out to be our most effective recruiting tool. A little later, I plan to update that Facebook group with the new officers.

Let me please stipulate that I know of 560 members on this site. I don't know of the other 18 you mention.

Let me note that the convention started on a Friday evening, and several people mentioned that they have lives. Socializing and having fun may have seemed like better things to do on a Friday night. I did my best to explain to those who contacted me that they didn't have to be there on Friday, and that the convention continues.

Not everyone is dedicated to party politics. Not everyone cares deeply who gets to run things. I voted for NOTA in all races, and did not find a way to do that for at large seats. I think it is important to let those who care take the choices. And I really didn't have a position on whether you get to lead or Jason gets to lead, so I took NOTA.

Think of the non-voters as enthusiasts. They are expressing their interest in our success. When we have something vital to do, perhaps they'll show up to do it. Until then, trust their judgement that by voting this weekend they might mess things up more than help.

Could you say more on Nanowrimo? Ya lost me. And I suspect a few others are wearing befuddled smiles.

10/25/2008 - 20:21
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georgedonnelly:

Nanowrimo is short for National Novel Writing Month:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

10/25/2008 - 20:51