Advice to Libertarians who wish to run for City Council:

You may or may not follow my path.  It’s a change of life and a lot of work.

Find a leadership area in your community that’s of interest to you.  Seek a volunteer or appointed position in a community organization such as PTA, charity, local committee, city board or commission.  Attend City Council and commission meetings regularly.  Know the agenda topics. Write and speak to the City Council. Write letters to the editor.  Establish name recognition.

After you have a community resume and some name recognition, start a city council campaign 6-12 months before the election.  Know approximately how many votes it takes to be elected and focus on getting those votes.  Votes are all that matter.

Form an organizing committee.  Recruit campaign committee members to coordinate volunteers, manage a bank account, file state forms, and prepare your printed material (brochure/door hanger, signs, newspaper ads, campaign mailer).  You the candidate must do fund raising (about $15,000 for my successful re-election campaign for the Nov 2012 election).  You also must develop your campaign priorities and platform to reach voters, answer questionnaires, attend press interviews, attend candidate forums and walk precincts to meet voters.

Those are the essentials.  As an elected official you do not need to preach everything that is contained in the Libertarian Party Platform. There are enough bad policies and squandered taxpayer dollars to reasonably argue against.   You must have complete command of the facts involving a wide range of Council agenda topics and just use common sense in policy making.

They had expected to be flush with cash pumped in by the online fundraising machine that helped Obama shatter fundraising records in 2008.

They had expected Mitt Romney to emerge from the Republican primaries irreparably damaged — defined in the minds of voters as an out-of-touch “vulture capitalist” who couldn’t relate to average voters.

Instead the Obama campaign was nearly broke, and most voters still hadn’t made up their mind just who Mitt Romney was.

Rather than wait, Obama and adviser David Axelrod went all in, gambling the campaign’s money on an early onslaught of attack ads that caught the Romney campaign by surprise.

Romney failed to react, eventually costing him the election as he was unable to shake the caricature the Obama campaign had painted of him.

You should do the same.

Don’t hesitate to attack your opponent.

In fact, relish it.

Voters may say they hate “negative advertising” but consultants keep doing it for one reason — it works.

And if your opponent has voted to raise taxes, explode spending, waste public funds, engage in unethical official behavior or other things that disqualify him in your mind, voters have a right it know that.

The earlier you bring it up, the better your odds will be of knocking him back on his heels.

That’s not to say you should call your opponent names, mock his or her physical appearance or bring up issues about his or her marriage or family.

Those are personal attacks.  And they often end up damaging you and helping your opponent.

Voters have a right to know why you are the best candidate, as well as why your opponent does not deserve to be in public office.

Attack your opponent early.

Attack your opponent often.

Attack your opponent with enthusiasm.

Most importantly, stick to the issues and make your attacks credible, believable and fully researched and documented.

My rule is “if Grandma would hate what I said more than what he did, don’t do it.”

Our freedom wasn’t won by people playing nice and sitting around a table “debating” each other.

Freedom must be fought for, and that’s how we will win it back.

Thirty-one percent (31%) say “the economy” is “the most important problem facing this country today.”  The second most pressing issue is “jobs,” coming in at 26 percent.

Combined, 57 percent of Americans cite jobs or the economy as the issue most in need of attention.  Immigration garnered only three percent.  Drugs, war and climate change did not even register on voter’s list of concerns.

The poll also found:

* “Seniors as well as Americans in households earning less than $30,000 annually join blacks in putting the greatest emphasis on unemployment and jobs as the nation’s top problem. By contrast, middle- and high-income Americans and those aged 18 through 64 are more likely to name ‘the economy.’”

* “Blacks focus more than either whites or Hispanics on unemployment as the nation’s top problem. However, whites worry more than blacks or Hispanics about the federal budget deficit…”

* “About 10% of adults in every major age group mention the federal budget deficit as the top problem, but it is of particular concern to Republicans (16%), adults earning $75,000 or more (12%), whites (11%), and men (11%). Relatively few blacks, Hispanics, low-income Americans, or Democrats mention the issue.”

But an overwhelming majority of those voters say neither Barack Obama or Mitt Romney can do it.

A new Fox News poll released yesterday shows 61 percent of registered voters say Obama does not have “a clear plan for fixing the economy.”  That number rises to 68 percent among the independent voters who will decide the election and is 58 percent among women.  Only 36 percent of registered voters expressed confidence in Obama’s economic policies.

The numbers are just as bad for Romney.  58 percent of registered voters say Romney does not have “clear plan for fixing the economy,” with only 31 percent expressing confidence in his economic policies.  54 percent of women polled say Romney has no plan to fix the economy.

That means voters are desperately looking for a candidate with a clear, practical, proven and believable plan to fix the economy, and they’re not getting it from Republicans or Democrats.  Creating jobs is far and away the most important issue in this election year, especially to the growing number of independent voters not wedded to either party.

Which means Libertarians need to talk about one issue and one issue only — the economy.

If a Libertarian candidate is running on any issue other than creating jobs, he or she is generally wasting their time.

And they need to present a plan to create jobs that voters will see as credible and effective.

Voters are looking for a change. The door is wide open.  It’s up to Libertarians to present themselves as credible, practical and worthy of trust on the important issue of creating jobs.

The Fox News poll was conducted from April 22 to 24 and has a 3 percent margin of error.

• 36 percent say President Obama’s policies “helped” the economy; 33 percent say they “hurt” it, 30 percent say his policies have not made much difference on the economy.

• 32 percent say that if Mitt Romney wins the presidential election, economic conditions will be “helped.”

• 24 percent say economic conditions will be hurt, 39 percent say his election will not make much difference.

• 31 percent say that if Mr. Obama wins re-election this year, economic conditions will be “helped.”

• 30 percent say economic conditions will be “hurt,” 37 percent say his re-election will not make much difference.

Source: An NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted April 13 to 17, reported by The Washington Times’ Jennifer Harper.

Keep in mind this is just a poll of adults, not likely voters, so it’s essentially meaningless.  But it shows a larger skepticism of the ability of Republicans and Democrats to fix the economy.

• 65 percent overall worry a great deal about gas prices; 63 percent of Republicans and 69 percent of Democrats agree.

• 60 percent overall worry a great deal about the budget deficit; 84 percent of Republicans and 42 percent of Democrats agree.

• 60 percent overall worry a great deal about the affordability of health care; 46 percent of Republicans and 69 percent of Democrats agree.

• 55 percent overall worry a great deal about unemployment; 61 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of Democrats agree.

• 46 percent of Americans overall worry a great deal about the size and power of the federal government; 71 percent of Republicans and 31 percent of Democrats agree.

Source: A Gallup poll of 1,024 U.S. adults conducted March 8 to 11, reported by The Washington Times Jennifer Harper.

Here’s what voters want to hear from you on.  So what is your campaign talking about?

Matt Welch looks at the growing phenomenon of independent voters backing libertarian candidates in this month’s issue of Reason.

He writes, in part:

But even after the initial Iowa caucuses, exit polls showed something extraordinary: Independents are making up for the enthusiasm gap created by the declining rolls of Republicans, and they are breaking hard for the only libertarian in the race, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).

The Iowa Republican caucuses had virtually the same voter turnout this year (122,000) as in 2008 (119,000), leading to many headlines like “Why the GOP Still Has an Enthusiasm Problem” (as Talking Points Memo put it). If anything, the problem for Republicans is worse than those numbers suggest.

In 2008 exit polls showed that 86 percent of Iowa caucusers self-identified as Republicans. In 2012 that share was down to 75 percent. The difference? Again, independents, whose ranks grew from 13 percent to 23 percent. And who did they favor? By more than 2 to 1, Ron Paul.

Paul received 43 percent of the independent vote, compared to 19 percent for runner-up Mitt Romney. He also led the field among those who had never previously voted in an Iowa Republican caucus (33 percent, compared to Rick Santorum’s 23 percent) and dominated among voters under 30 (48 percent to Santorum’s 23 percent)…

…The bad news for this legacy GOP is that voters have fresh memories of what big-government conservatism looks like, and they disdain it. The good news for those of us who share that disdain is that our numbers are growing.

Gallup asked Americans “where would you rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 means you think the government should do only those things necessary to provide the most basic government functions, and 5 means you think the government should take active steps in every area it can to try and improve the lives of its citizens?”

37 percent responded with “one” or “two,” and increase of four percent who responded so in 2010.

35 percent responded with “four” or “five,” “prefer(ing) an activist government that tries in every way to improve the lives of its citizens,” a drop of one percent since 2010.  The remaining 27 percent lie in the middle, responding with “three”.

Overall, “a majority of Americans (56%) believe that government is trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses, while 39% hold the view that government should do more to solve the nation’s problems.”  Gallup found “independents tilt toward the ‘too much’ view.”

A deeper look at the polling numbers reveals more good news for Libertarians.

When asked to describe their own political views, 18 percent called themselves “pure liberal,” 19 percent said “populist” and 10 percent were “undesignated.”

Leading the pack, 26 percent said “libertarian” and 27 percent said “pure conservative.”

“Libertarian” and “populist” were the only two labels to increase in popularity since last year.  “Libertarian” is at its most popular since Gallup began asking the question in 1993, and it the only label to reach its highest level of popularity in the current poll.

Additionally, the 50 percent of Americans who say there is “too much” “government regulation of business and industry” is the highest share recorded since Gallup began asking the question in 1993 — a stunning rejection of the conventional wisdom.  The 57 percent who say government has “too much” power is the second-highest recorded and topped only by the 59 percent who said so in 2010.

The poll’s final question asked “would you rather have more government services if that meant more taxes, less government services in order to reduce taxes, or services and taxes about as we have them now?”  56 percent preferred less government and taxes, a vast increase of 16 percent since the initial 1993 poll recorded a response of 40 percent.

The 20 percent who preferred “more services/more taxes” in 1993 has dropped to 16 percent in 2011.  The 35 percent who wanted “services and taxes as now” has dropped to 26 percent this year.

Shouldn’t Libertarian candidates have the tools and training to reach out to these millions of libertarian voters?

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Forty-eight percent (48%) of Americans would consider voting for a third-party candidate who is economically conservative and socially liberal.  In a tightly, contested three-way race a candidate would only need between 35 and 40 percent to win.

The poll also finds:

* 57 percent say reducing government spending would help the economy.  Only 20 percent say it would hurt.

* 77 percent support a cap on federal government spending, 62 percent “strongly” support one.

* 62 percent support a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

* 57 percent say national debt reduction measures should focus mainly on spending cuts.

* 61 percent are willing to see reductions to their own current or future Social Security benefits if it means reforms guaranteeing they would be paid back what they paid into the system.

* 59 percent are willing to see reductions to their own current or future Medicare benefits if it means reforms guaranteeing they would be paid back what they paid into the system.

* 54 percent support allowing workers to opt out of Social Security.

* 56 percent support allowing workers to opt out of Medicare

Reason-Rupe also finds the poll suggest most American misunderstand how Medicare and Social Security work, thinking it is a secure, personal account with paid funds reserved for them, instead of the giant pot into which current payments are given to current payees, with no guarantee of benefits for payment made.

The poll can be found in the December 2011 issue of Reason magazine.

The poll, conducted Aug. 9-18 polled a sample of 1,200 adults and has a margin of plus or minus three percent.

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