Post-Convention Note #4

A tweet from the Montana Libertarian Party:

The Montana Libertarian Party has officially rejected Chase Oliver as our presidential candidate.

We have maintained that we will always prioritize Montana first, and we do not believe his campaign advances our goals in this state.

Similarly situated states should follow our…

— Montana Libertarian Party (@Montana_LP) June 4, 2024

The Montana LP entered into an affiliate agreement with the Libertarian National Committee.

Per that affiliate agreement, the Montana LP received representation -- in the form of delegates of its choosing -- at the 2024 Libertarian National Convention.

Per that affiliate agreement, it is the obligation of the Montana LP to support the presidential ticket nominated at that convention.

If the Montana LP didn't want to abide by the results of the convention, it should have disaffiliated itself from the Libertarian National Committee instead of exercising its right to send voting delegates to the convention.

Since the Montana LP has decided to default on its obligations under the affiliate agreement, the LNC should rescind the mutual affiliation. In November. For now, it should go to court to enforce those obligations.

Post-Convention Note #3

I've never been to a Libertarian National Convention where there weren't "winners" and "losers." And at most Libertarian National Conventions, the results are very mixed such that most "winners" are also "losers" and vice versa.

This convention was no exception.

For example, the Mises Caucus slate saw its endorsed chair and secretary candidates re-elected, but lost in the races for vice-chair and treasurer; it did well in regional LNC representative races and, I'm pretty sure, swept the at-large seats; and its chosen presidential candidate lost in a nail-biter after the guy it thought it had a deal with endorsed his opponent and took the VP slot.

Delegates who were generally "anti-Mises" managed to get a couple of officers and maybe a couple of regional reps elected, and got a non-Mises presidential ticket.

Naturally, some people on both those putative sides are bitter for various reasons. I feel their pain. But, as the man said, politics ain't beanbag. So, Public Service Announcement:

Post-Convention Note #2

I was wrong. Which I find surprising -- usually when I think I was wrong, it turns out I was mistaken.

I was probably wrong about several things (and was certainly wrong in certain predictions I made), but I want to focus here on what may be the biggest thing I was wrong about: Donald Trump's speech at the national convention.

My calculation was that there was a 90% chance he would cancel and mock us for really thinking he'd bother with us. He didn't cancel. He showed up.

Of the remaining 10%, I thought at least half of the possible outcomes were bad for the Libertarian Party, the main one being that media coverage would make it look like "Libertarians are MAGA Trumptards." That didn't happen either.

So I was 95% wrong, and we got the 5% good outcomes. The media coverage was of Libertarians booing Trump, and of him bending the knee in an attempt to court Libertarian votes, and of him getting a tiny handful of write-in votes for our presidential nomination (which he was ineligible for anyway, both per our party rules and the GOP's prohibition on him accepting).

I'm starting to think that Angela McArdle may be smarter than me.

Note: I did not attend the Trump speech, but GregL did. If he'd like to share his thoughts on it in comments, that would be really cool.

Post-Convention Note #1

Hey, everyone ...

I'm home.

I'm also tired.

And the closest I got to any "sight-seeing" in Washington, DC was a glimpse of the top of the Washington Monument as reader GregL and I passed by on the train from Reagan National airport to the Washington Hilton as we came into town.

In a fit of insanity, I figured I should be willing to serve as a delegate to the Libertarian National Convention since I was going to be at the Libertarian National Convention.

Thanks to the heroic efforts of many friends, I was seated as a delegate and faithfully attended the business sessions from opening gavel until early this morning, when, after casting a first-ballot vote for the party's vice-presidential nomination, I was simply too tired to go on any more (the convention had been, with the exception of lunch recesses, etc. been in session for about 16 hours of the day at that point), and needed to catch three hours of sleep before leaving for the airport. So I did my duty to the party as best I could.

Won some, lost some. I'll have more thoughts for you later on the results of the convention.

If you were there and I didn't get a chance to run into you and say hello, I apologize. I tried.

Lots of work, very little play (but fun play as it went).

Among opponents, only one out of several hundred insisted on being an enemy too. And some opponents became friends.

As far as my own attitudes go, I came away from the convention less "anti-Mises" than I was when I went in.

A particular note regarding Angela McArdle, who was elected to a second term as chair:

I did not support Ms. McArdle's first election as chair. I did not like the job she did as chair and vote against her re-election.

BUT!

She did one thing I've never noticed a chair doing before, a thing I appreciate.

As the Sunday session wore on and the fundraising gala approached, instead of stomping a foot and demanding that we adjourn for it, she encouraged the delegates to stay in the hall and get the party's business done. That was the right thing to do, and it also took considerable guts. If she'd not shown real leadership on that, the party might not have ended up with a presidential slate and a full new Libertarian National Committee by election rather than appointment. THANK YOU, Madam Chair.

For years, I've been yelling about -- and at -- convention delegates who think the whole weekend should be mostly partying rather than party work. This year, both the chair and the convention body buckled down and got the important things done rather than blowing those important things off. THANK YOU, delegates.

Again: Tired. But kind of stoked about how this convention turned out, even where I "lost."

More later.

A Libertarian Party Bylaws Amendment Proposal (for 2026, Perhaps?)

As of the last time I checked, more than 1,400 names had been submitted by state Libertarian Party affiliates as delegates or alternates to the 2024 Libertarian National Convention -- and there will be more.

As of its April 2024 Membership Report, the Libertarian National Committee reported 12,211 "sustaining members" and 3,244 "life members."

Delegates have to be either national "sustaining members" or members of the affiliate they represent, but there are usually very few who are only the latter. And there are way fewer actually active party members than there are of either group.

With the possibility of more than 1,000 delegate seats plus alternates, arise problems.

Problem #1: A whole lot of people selected as delegates or alternates really only engage with the party for the national convention. They don't follow what's going on in between, they haven't spent time looking at the issues the party faces, etc. Many of them end up not showing -- they just get a dopamine hit from being selected and feel no need to actually attend. Or they do show up, but are mostly absent from the business sessions where the party's work gets done. They're on a libertarian vacation instead of doing the job they asked for.

Problem #2: Only so many places in the country are equipped to accommodate a business meeting with more than 1,000 participants. That limits the cities and hotels from which to pick convention venues.

Solution:

Article 10, section 3 of the party's bylaws reads:

Each affiliate party shall be entitled to send delegates to each regular convention on the following  basis:

a. One delegate for each 0.14 percent, or fraction thereof, of the total Party sustaining membership in that affiliate; provided that at least one such delegate must be a resident of that State or District.

b. One delegate for each 0.35 percent, or fraction thereof, of the votes cast nationwide for the Libertarian Party candidate in the most recent presidential election, cast in that affiliate's state. If a state conducts its presidential election via Ranked-Choice or Instant Runoff Voting, the ballots for the Libertarian candidate as tabulated in the first round of ballot counting will be used for this purpose.

That section should be amended to read:

Each affiliate party shall be entitled to send two delegates, and one additional delegate per US House district in the affiliate's state, to each regular convention.

That would provide for a maximum of 538 delegates -- about half the current maximum -- plus alternates. It happens to be the same formula used for the Electoral College.

Fewer delegates would likely mean more engaged delegates -- people who will actually be there, actually do the work, and perhaps take some time ahead of convention to familiarize themselves with that work.

It would also dramatically expand the number of cities/venues that could host the convention.

Are there down sides? Yes.

A smaller delegate body might mean lower convention revenues, not as good a group room rate at the hotel, etc.

Might.

There would be nothing to stop the LNC from selling non-delegate "packages" (it already does) for people who just want to come and do things with other Libertarians. The only difference would be that those people wouldn't be wearing a "delegate" badge and voting (or failing to show up to vote) on party business, meaning the meeting hall could be smaller. But it's conceivable that there would be fewer attendees.

This proposal is not on the bylaws committee's report and IIRC bylaws proposals can't be moved from the floor. But it's something to consider for the 2026 bylaws committee.

Yet Another Libertarian National Convention Update

I've been asked by a couple of friends why I think the LNC secretary has a bone to pick with me in particular as a delegate (she behind a credentials committee objection to my seating with Missouri on the basis of bylaws which she selectively quotes and -- seemingly intentionally -- misinterprets).

My answer: I don't think she does have a bone to pick with me in particular.

Ms. Harlos is not an idiot. She knows that "voting delegate" is the LEAST dangerous role I can fill. If I'm a voting delegate, I'm just one vote out of ~1000. If I'm not a delegate, I'll be out there doing the worker bee thing to support numerous delegates in taking back the party. And the seat I won't be in will almost certainly be taken by someone who votes similarly to the way I would (not identically, but an overall resemblance).

I just HAPPEN to be a convenient target for her attempts to set herself and the credentials committee up to replace the judicial committees of the state affiliates (and avenues of recourse available to those state affiliates for settling internal bylaws disputes) with their own preferences, in violation of the national bylaws.

Here's the thing: I'm going to be there.

I can be there doing the party's work directly as a voting delegate, or I can be there doing the party's work indirectly by helping one or more of the several groups that are trying to save the party from further centralization under the control of a hostile takeover cabal.

The latter would actually be more fun, as it would leave more time and opportunity to catch up with old friends, see sights, etc.

I Am An Early Packer

I've already got my suit on the way to be dry-cleaned (I decided to go with my vintage linen suit rather than the more conventional light summer suit -- both of them were less than ten bucks at thrift stores).

I've also measured the suitcase I plan to take to make sure it meets the particular airline's size specifications. It does.

I've got most of the other clothing selected, and will make sure it all gets washed, etc. before I start packing, which will probably be next weekend. I've got a cheap pair of day-glo orange trunks on the way, as I hear the hotel has two pools. Jeans, old dad cargo shorts, t-shirts, red paisley blazer, etc. Beatle boots and my zero-drop barefoot shoes will be going. Other than my red NO PARTICULAR ORDER cap,  I'm still mulling the hat situation.*

I need to pick up a 1.5 liter bottle of Old Crow for a joyous resumption of the Biennial Attempted Alcohol Poisoning of the Hogarth event.

I'll probably start packing no later than next weekend. And, inevitably, I will remember something I missed at the last minute. Or forget that thing.

There's talk of a tattoo party, with everyone who wants one getting a commemorative design, and then maybe doing that for EVERY convention. Here's my first draft offering, designed using Free Tattoo Generator (not an affiliate link):

I like going places. But I tend to over-prepare.

* If you want to see six Libertarians wearing red fezzes on C-SPAN, I am willing to be one of those Libertarians and to give away five more, if anyone wants to buy the package of six on my Amazon Wish List. No biggie either way, but that will need to be soon if at all, so that when I pack I leave room for them.

Teh Krazy Just Isn't Stopping ...

... not even for a water break or to watch a nice sunset.

Now we've got an also-ran snake oil salesman whose 15 minutes expired months ago invited to the Libertarian National Convention.

I ... can't ... even.

Maybe we'll also get Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney and Tulsi Gabbard and Rosie O'Donnell and Whoopie Goldberg and one of those guys with a squeegee who wants to talk about Jesus and aliens while he cleans your windshield at a stoplight.

This, however, looks like fun. If you're going to be in DC, I hope to run into you there.

Libertarian National Convention Rumor

A highly placed source in a political party other than the Libertarian Party tells me that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will be coming to the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, DC, to be nominated by acclamation for president and vice president.

Yes, the above actually happened. Take it as you will.

I Already Have Several Hats ...

... at least one or two of which will go with me to the Libertarian National Convention.

However, @OldSuperManCat thinks that fezzes are required attire for the Trump campaign rally portion of the at-the-convention events.

Wearing fez hats for Trump and RFK Jr. The fez hats are a must.

— OldSuperManDadWithACat (@OldSuperManCat) May 7, 2024

I'm still not sure why.

However, in the interest of contributing to party unity, I've agreed to wear one fez, and give five away to other attendees, if anyone cares to  pay for them (they're available for shipment directly to me from my Amazon Wish List).

I'm holding space in my luggage for them, but only for a limited time.

Here's one of the hats I'll be rocking regardless:

Most of my Libertarian National Convention Updates Will Be Mostly Personal In Nature ...

At least until the convention opens and there is real news to share.

The latest personal:

The Libertarians of the Great State of Oklahoma have added me as an alternate to their delegation.

That's in addition to the Libertarians of the Great State of Missouri me selecting me as an alternate to their delegation.

The LNC secretary's tendentious misreading of Missouri's bylaws notwithstanding, I am clearly eligible to be an alternate under those bylaws for now, and to be a delegate if the Missouri delegation votes to seat me.

But Oklahoma's bylaws are even less susceptible to tendentious misreadings on that matter.

And really, my toes are tapping regardless of outcomes. In fact, if I'm not seated as a delegate, I'll have a lot more time to work for positive change in the party. That's probably worth far more than my one delegate vote would be.

I'm mostly just looking forward to seeing hundreds of old friends and making whatever positive contributions I can.

The latest party:

LNC member Beth Vest is suing for the removal of LNC chair Angela McArdle on facially true charges of various types of malfeasance, breach of fiduciary duty, self-dealing, etc. in violation of DC non-profit laws.

This suit is a chance for various LNC members to try to save themselves. If they throw Ms. McArdle under the bus now, they might have a chance of getting re-elected instead of going down with her sinking ship (yes, I realize that's a very mixed metaphor).

Libertarian National Convention Note (with "LNC Secretary Has Poor Reading Comprehension and Doxxing Skillz" Goodness)

This is just a straight copy/paste of a Facebook post I put up after seeing some interesting news.

A note regarding the coming Libertarian National Convention:

The LNC's credentials committee has two jobs:

1. Receiving delegate lists from the state affiliates; and

2. Credentialing the names on those lists.

It is not a judicial body empowered to adjudicate claims regarding those state affiliates' bylaws (that's an internal matter for the affiliates). Nor does it possess any authority to reject or contest those delegate lists (that's the convention body's prerogative).

It has come to my attention that the LNC secretary believes otherwise. And that she apparently can't read Missouri's bylaws. And that she apparently thinks she knows where my wife lives and is registered to vote (she's incorrect on both) and that that's relevant (it isn't).

In fact, she's incorrect in believing I even have a "wife," at least with respect to gummint licensing. Tamara and I have been together for 24 years (we got together at the 2000 Libertarian National Convention), but never bothered with a marriage license, just a domestic partnership affidavit when that became necessary for things like job-related insurance benefits.

When the Going Gets Weird, Libertarian National Convention Thread #6,312,971

A little while back, I suggested somewhere (maybe even right here on the blog) that seeing as how the Libertarian National Convention is taking place not far from the White House, it wouldn't be a bad idea to invite the President of the United States to drop by and say hello.

A few days ago, the chair of the Libertarian National Committee issued a public invitation to both the POTUS and the former POTUS to do so.

No, I'm not claiming credit for that -- the chair of the LNC has me blocked on social media and I have no reason to believe that she cares what I think about anything.

So anyway ...

Some people are pretty upset about this. I'm not, for various reasons.

One of those reasons is that if Trump is busy talking to a bunch of people who don't like him, don't support him, won't donate to him, and won't vote for him, he won't be busy talking to a bunch of people who MIGHT like him, MIGHT support him, MIGHT donate to him, and MIGHT vote for him.

Another is that if it turns out that a substantial portion of delegates fall into that latter category, that will out them and I'll know the Libertarian Party won't, for the foreseeable future, serve any useful purpose.

Brief Libertarian National Convention Updates

• RFK Jr. has apparently given up on the idea that he can just waltz into the Washington Hilton and jitterbug out with the Libertarian Party's 2024 presidential nomination.
• While I have not seen the emergence of any "unified slate" of candidates to replace the current Libertarian National Committee regime, several good individual candidates are starting to come forward. More information coming on that as things develop.
• I've been notified of my acceptance as an alternate for the delegation from the great state of Missouri (where I lived most of my life prior to moving to Florida, and where I participated in the party as a member, county party official, state executive committee member, and candidate for / appointee to public office). Yay!
• I'm considering starting a No Particular Order Caucus in time to get literature, stickers, etc. printed up for distribution at the convention. Anyone who's interested in possibly financially supporting said printing (or in what the hell all that means), talk to me privately or in the comments.

My First (And Possibly Only) Public Endorsement for Libertarian National Committee ...

... is Shawn Levasseur for Secretary.

Why maybe my only public endorsement?

Because I'm well aware that my endorsement, to the extent it's noticed at all, could be a negative as well as a positive. I don't endorse without letting the endorsee know that first so that I can be asked not to endorse, if that seems like the better way to go. I asked Shawn, and he said to go for it, so here it is.

Why the endorsement?

1. It is my opinion that the entire current LNC owns the consequences of its current term. They should all be strongly considered for replacement, because the current term has been a financial, membership level, and "messaging" disaster. If I'm a Coca-Cola stockholder and the company loses money, loses market share, and runs commercials saying "our beverages taste like ass," my default position will be against re-election of the board running the show. Which is not to say that I won't listen to arguments from incumbents as to why they should be re-elected ("I personally raised this much money, I personally recruited this many members, and I vehemently objected to and voted against the 'tastes like ass' commercials"), but that would be a request for an exception -- as a body this LNC has been a failure of epic proportions.
2. While I supported the current secretary for election in 2018 and re-election in 2020, I believe that position in particular is up for a change after three terms, and would be even if the current secretary hadn't become a damaging chaos agent in her second and third terms. I'm just generally a "two terms at most, then out" type, although I've made exceptions.
3. Shawn has the record (see the link above for his resume) and he's someone I trust to do the job because he says he's willing and able to do that job. I strongly prefer a long record of party work and demonstrated competence when looking at candidates. When it comes to LNC, I tend to emphasize those factors over ideological agreement.
4. But, speaking of ideological agreement, Shawn's long-time support for this blog and other projects of mine indicates to me that while we may not agree on everything, we're at least somewhat on the same general page.

That's it for the endorsement, but let me add a note.

As you may have noticed, I am an "anti-Mises-Caucus" type by inclination and have belabored both that  orientation and my reasons for it. That does not mean I will never support a Mises-affiliated or Mises-endorsed candidate for LNC. In point of fact, I supported Joshua Smith for LNC in 2018, though in retrospect I think that was a bad call. I will listen to (and probably have questions for) any and every candidate I come across, regardless of affiliation.

Endorsement: Re-Elect Nick Sarwark as Chair of the Libertarian National Committee

The 2016 Libertarian National Convention is less than three months away. Among items on the agenda will be election of new (or re-election of old) Libertarian National Committee members and officers.

I'm aware of three candidates for the position of chair: Current chair Nick Sarwark, Brett Pojunis of Nevada and Mark Rutherford of Indiana. I support re-electing Sarwark to the position. Here's why:

• With the LP, more so than the "major" parties, the chair is often called upon to be the party's public face, especially when we're not in the middle of a presidential campaign. The quality and quantity of the Libertarian Party's public communications has improved dramatically over the last two years with Nick as that face. More statements on burning public policy issues. Better and more interesting statements on burning public policy issues. More and better media interviews. He makes the LP look good.
• Since I first became involved with the Libertarian Party, I've noticed a lot of emphasis on the LNC, often manifesting more in the breach than in the observance, concerning something called "collegiality." That is, per Merriam-Webster, "the cooperative relationship of colleagues." My continuing impression of Nick (going back to long before his chairmanship) is that this is something he works very hard to cultivate and personify. When he disagrees with others (definitely including me sometimes), he goes out of his way to not be disagreeable about it, and to give all sides a fair hearing.
• On the other hand, he's no pushover. He stands up for what he believes without, so far as I can tell, attempting to subvert the rules or the process to get his way, unlike some other players in the Libertarian Party's internal dramas.

I consider Nick a friend, but that's not why I'm endorsing him for re-election. I'm endorsing him for re-election because his first election to the chairmanship was one of a couple of major factors that motivated me to get involved in the party again ... and because he has subsequently done the job in such a way as to convince me that that decision was not a mistake.

I'm not going to try to convince you that Nick has solved all of the Libertarian Party's problems. He hasn't, nor could he have been expected to. But he's definitely tried to be an active participant in finding those solutions, and I think he's succeeded.

Nor am I going to spill any ink in this letter of endorsement on what I perceive as deficiencies in the other candidates' cases for their election to the post. If that discussion has to take place, it can happen in blog or Facebook comments or whatever. I prefer to keep the endorsement itself entirely positive and entirely about the endorsed candidate.

Nick Sarwark deserves a second term as chair. Let's re-elect him.

Libertarian National Convention coverage

Not saying I won't blog here at KN@PPSTER this weekend, but my main plan is to concentrate on "raw coverage" -- photography, microblogging, etc. -- and let others (this means you) grab/adapt/use what I originate.

Tumblr is set up nicely for quick posting of photos, video and audio, so look for that kind of thing at The National Desk. Its associated Twitter feed and my personal Facebook profile are the places to find quick microblog updates.

If I do any long form stuff of my own, it will appear here or, more likely, at Independent Political Report (where you should consider yourself pointed for the best coverage by others as well).