The LP Mission Statement

http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2008/12/angela-keaton-resigning-from-lnc

Susan, this discussion of the LP's mission is an instantiation of Holtz's Law of Libertarian Polemics: "Every statement purporting to express a dispute among libertarians embeds a strawman or a fallacy of the excluded middle — and this statement is no exception."  :-)

It's easy to argue against the idea that the LP should be focused exclusively on winning elections, just as it's easy to argue against the idea that the LP should be focused exclusively on ideological outreach.  Both ideas are obviously wrong.  A proper analysis of the multiple overlapping/concentric purposes of a pro-freedom party doesn't fit on a bumper sticker.  My analysis is at http://libertarianmajority.net/lp-mission.  I've never been able to coax any cogent disagreement with it from either focus-on-winning types or from focus-on-ideological-outreach types.  My attempt to boil this analysis down to a mission statement is this: "to unite voters who want more personal liberty and more economic liberty behind the electoral choices that will most effectively move public policy in a libertarian direction."  On Sunday Mark Hinkle moved this as a substitute for David Nolan's proposed mission "to build a network of pro-freedom activists ...". The only cogent criticism of it came when Stewart Flood pointed out that my mission statement could conceivably having us endorse a candidate from another party if no Libertarian is running.  Nobody thought to ask Stewart: when the choice in an election that would most effectively move public policy in a libertarian direction happens not to be labeled "Libertarian", why is that a good reason not to unite pro-freedom voters behind it?

Marc, thank you for not repudiating your apparent implication that all states that endorsed Munger or Barr should be disaffiliated. 

Use of "triumvir" is not name-calling.

n. one of three officers or magistrates mutually exercising the same public function
n. one of three persons associated in any office or position of authority
n. one of a commission or ruling body of three
n. one of three men sharing public administration or civil authority in ancient Rome
n. one of three people sharing public administration or civil authority