March 7, 2010 09:00 PM
Walsh: Libertarians Make Pitch for Less Government, More Liberty
There is no doubt 2010 is an election year in which the electorate is angry and crying out for change. We heard that call for “change” in 2008 but, early in 2010, a good many Americans aren’t convinced the “change” the country got is quite what it bargained for.
That anger and frustration formed the backdrop for the 2010 Missouri Libertarian Party State Convention on Saturday in Jefferson City. Embracing the theme, “Seize the Libertarian Moment in 2010,” the party faithful heard from a wide array of speakers from political candidates to experts on business and policy. While each speaker had a different presentation, the core message was the same: America works best when government gets out of the way and allows the American people to thrive.
While a good amount of the talk was aimed at hammering home the Libertarian ideals, attendees were also given some tips on how to best get out the message to those who have not embraced Libertarian Party philosophy. Cisse Spragins, Vice Chair of the Missourian Libertarian Party and an MLP candidate for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Senator Kit Bond, hosted a seminar on communications and the media.
Spragins spoke of the need to tailor the message to the media outlet being pitched. The needs of television are often different from those of radio and certainly dissimilar in many ways to the needs of newspapers. She highlighted the need to provide what she calls “eye candy” for television video while providing brief and succinct talking points for radio and positive ideas for newspapers. She added it is essential to stick to the message while being polite to people in a crowd - to look for untapped potential by finding potential Libertarians in that crowd.
Libertarian principles were highlighted in a lunchtime presentation by Catherine Bleish, Executive Director of the Liberty Restoration Project. Bleish’s speech centered on three main subjects: Decentralization of the liberty movement, fighting fusion centers used by law enforcement for the collection of information for security purposes, and using social media to promote activism.
“When you sit down and you look inside of yourself and you realize that you have to be a leader, you can’t follow someone else, you can’t look to someone else for direction, you have to step up and do it yourself,“ said Bleish on the concept of decentralization of the movement. “You’re going to get more done than if you’re sitting around waiting for someone to give you directions.”
Bleish lashed out at fusion centers, including the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC), whose controversial 2008 report on groups and individuals it claimed need to be watched created quite a stir among civil libertarians and others.
“When you blur the jurisdictional lines between your city and your state and your federal law enforcement and you consider things like the Council of Governors and you realize that there is one organization, Department of Homeland Security, who is now dictating everything from the privacy policy to the behavior of these fusion centers and you realize that concept of decentralization, which our founders wanted in government, and which we want in activism doesn’t exist in law enforcement anymore and that’s really concerning,” said Bleish.
Bleish is passionate about the use of social media to spread ideas and happenings. She told the audience of her arrest at a recent event and how social networking got out the word about what was happening. She says social media will do the work that the mainstream media used to do.
“You cannot depend in the mainstream media to dictate the terms of your message because they are going to smear it,” said Bleish to a crowd of dozens of listeners. “They are going to represent you and your voice however they want to represent you and your voice. The only person who has control of your message is you. If you are not using the tools and technology we have at our hands to disseminate that message I don’t think that your message is going to get very far.”
The luncheon speech was followed by a panel discussion involving past candidates for office. A banquet dinner ended the day, but not before those in attendance had a chance to listen in on a candidate forum involving three of the individuals vying to be chair of the Libertarian National Committee. The chair will be chosen at the Libertarian Party National Convention which is scheduled for Memorial Day weekend in St. Louis.
