Last Friday night I had dinner with two prominent businessmen who have Libertarian leanings. All of us were bemoaning the fact that neither of the two major political parties would be fielding a presidential candidate worthy of our vote. The discussion turned to what should the Libertarian party do.
A little background. You might call me a political junkie. I've been on staff for seven presidential campaigns and served as Political Director for Ronald Reagan's PAC, Citizens for the Republic. Hopefully, I've learned a bit from those experiences.
I told my friends that the Libertarian party should nominate someone who people know–a famous sports figure, or a singer or other type of entertainer. Someone with name identification. Ronald Reagan, George Murphy, Sonny Bono were all elected to public office because people knew who they were. They didn't have to spend three-fourths of their campaign budget getting known. They were able to spend a large portion of their campaign budget telling people what they believed. They weren't successful because they were celebrities, they were successful because people agreed with their message.
I suggested to my friends that the Libertarian party should nominate Larry the Cable Guy, or someone like him. Someone well known, well liked, and expresses himself using words ordinary people can understand. Someone without ego, pretense or with a concealed motive for running.
Larry, or a celebrity like him can get media coverage, a crowd at campaign events and a lot of word of mouth buzz. Someone who can put the Libertarian party on the map.
America needs an alternative political party. With the right strategy the Libertarian party can fill that void.
April 1, 2008
