Four-Eight-Four [dot org]

My days of being largely inactive politically are over as of tonight. I’ve been voted chair of the Hamilton County Libertarian Party. In a few days (when I get a chance to catch my breath) the information there will be updated.

With the support of the Libertarian Party of Tennessee, we’ve set up a Meetup group to provide a point of contact with persons who are interested in Libertarian ideals. Meetup groups have worked well for the Ron Paul campaign, and we believe that we can effectively use them to grow the Libertarian Party as well.

My next goals as chair are to find persons willing to serve in the remaining open positions on the Executive Committee of the party, and to investigate ways we can promote the party locally.

It is my firm belief, as I have written before, that growing strong, viable parties to challenge the Democrats and Republicans is critical to effecting lasting change in our nation. The labels “Democrat” and “Republican” have become so generalized as to be ultimately useless in determining the overall political positions of any particular candidate. If you don’t believe me, think about the differences between Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, and Mike Gravel on the Democratic side and Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Alan Keyes, Sam Brownback, Duncan Hunter, and Ron Paul on the Republican side. Sure, there is a common thread that joins many of the candidates in both sides, but a detailed survey of their positions would reveal more differences than similarities in many cases.

For political parties to be useful, they must represent a relatively narrow portion of the political spectrum. Then and only then will elections be most able to demonstrate the direction the citizens wish the government to move in.

My desire as chair is to raise the visibility of the LP locally, grow its membership, and elect Libertarians to office locally without compromising the key principles which differentiate the LP from other parties. We cannot afford to broaden our tent at the expense of maintaining a clear, consistent platform, or we will have started down a path that will ultimately see us in the same position that the Republicans and Democrats find themselves today.

If you suspect that you may be Libertarian, I encourage you to take the Nolan Chart quiz. If you are Libertarian, I encourage you to join us in our quest to change the face of government in Hamilton County, TN. Our next location will be Tuesday, March 11 at 7:00 p.m. The location will be announced at a later date. When a location is chosen, it will be posted on our Meetup Group’s page.