Campaign News:
May 01, 2012
Statement to LP members & delegates:
Polls confirm that the average voter is more dissatisfied with the Democrats and Republicans than ever before. Yet, we Libertarians have failed to capture that discontent and turn it into exponential Party growth. The answer isn’t a new strategy, a new platform plank, or even more publicity.
The answer is to become an effective organization by creating a small set of aggressive, but realistic, goals, create plans to achieve those goals, and finally execute the plan and accomplish the goals. Over the last two years, the LNC failed to set goals and thus our membership numbers declined.
Set goals, create a plan, and execute. It’s a simple concept, but critical if we are to succeed. Fortunately, I’m no stranger to this concept or its execution. As LPC Chair, we more than tripled our dues-paying membership from below 2,000 to over 6,000. We tripled our income, hired an Executive Director and opened an office. We began a lobbying effort in Sacramento. We elected a record number of Libertarians to public office via Project Breakthrough. Each month we sent out fund-raising letters, a quality newsletter, and timely and topical press releases. And lastly, we achieved a record number of registered libertarian voters under my leadership.
Set goals, create a plan, and execute.
I am the most experienced candidate for re-election to LNC Chair and the most successful candidate in terms of membership growth, money raised for the Party, and Libertarian candidates elected to non-partisan office. I’ve served a total of 12 years on the LNC as a member or alternate and the last 2 years as LP Chair. Over the last 40 years, I’ve served in a wide variety of elected Party positions from the local level to the LNC. I can relate to our activists, because I’ve done just about every imaginable volunteer job within the LP. I can relate to our donors because I have a track record of achieving goals. Major donors want to invest in successful organizations and I bring a track record of achievement that assures them that their money won’t be wasted.
As LNC Chair, some of my goals are: create the David F. Nolan headquarters in the DC Metro Area, 50 state ballot access, return the Party to growth members with memberships coming from 2 key areas: the young and the rich, provide training to both candidates and their staff. I’d like to see the creation of a Liberty Sales Team to bring in new members and internal education teams to train activists in the nuts and bolts of political organizing.
Because of my experience and past successes, I’ve earned the endorsement of the past LP Chairs: Alicia Clark, David Bergland, Steve Dasbach, Jim Lark, and Geoff Neale. I’ve also been endorsed by past LP Vice-Chairs: Sharon Ayres and Chuck Moulton, presidential candidate Ed Clark and Vice-Presidential candidate Jo Jorgensen. Also activists Steve Kubby, Julie Fox, Less Antman, Vicki Kirkland and elected Libertarians Kate O’Brien and John Inks. Not to mention retired judge James Gray, likely VP candidate for the Libertarian Party in 2012.
Set goals, create a plan, and execute.
I’ve done it before. With your vote and support, I’ll do it again.
Yours in liberty…………..Mark Hinkle
www.mark4chair.com
Our government has been spending more than it collects for many years. This budget deficit has created the almost unimaginable national debt which last year broke the $14 Trillion level. But what is the Real U.S. National Debt and what is it made up of? Here’s an illustration that puts it into perspective showing the current debt of more than 12 trillion dollars plus the unfunded liabilities of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and retirement benefits for civilian and military personnel. This is the legacy we leave our children and grand children, a debt of 184 thousand dollars for every man, woman and child in America or 483 thousand dollars for every household in the United States. And it is rising faster than we can pay it off. The U. S. Government continues to spend more than it budgets year after year, adding to our National Debt.
Here are just some of the goals that the LNC should undertake during the 2010 to 2012 term:
- Ballot Access in all 50 states (to the extent our members are willing to fund it).
- Membership growth among at least 2 key demographics: 1). young adults (we need fresh blood; and 2). business professionals (we need rich blood).
- Create single-issue coalitions with any other liberty-oriented organizations. Power in numbers!
- An online Congressional lobbying effort, something akin to DownsizeDC.org.
- Candidate and affiliate support training akin to the LP.s nationwide .Success. seminars of the late 1990.s.
- Internal education. We need to remind our members of why we exist and what we stand for. Ideological drift will doom the LP to an early death. This must not happen!
- Creation of a Liberty Sales Team: pay Libertarians a finder.s fee to obtain LP memberships.
- Creation of a Libertarian Speakers Bureau to provide Libertarian experts to discuss issues of the day with the media.