Travis Pahl <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in part: >> >> BTW, for the record, I'm not a Republican either. I'm enrolled >> >> Conservative. >> >Which is basically a third party that promotes republican ideas in NY >> >since the NY republicans promote democrat ideas. If you are going to >> >support a third party why not chose one that supports the same things >> >you do? >> Because I'd rather be active in one that supports MUCH of the same stuff I >> do and has SOME influence than one that supports practically ALL the same >> stuff I do but has NO influence! .
>They have no influence. Then why do political analysts in NY consistently cite the Conservative Party as having influence disproportionate to our numbers? > They just chose candidates that the major >parties will or have chosen to ensure they are recognized by the state >for another couple years. You're referring there to candidates for governor & lt. governor only -- as if those were the only elected offices in NY! But I guess you don't remember a few elections back that the Conservative nominee for governor, Herb London, almost beat the Republican nominee for 2nd place. Nor do you realize that the Conservative nomination has a strong influence on who the Republicans nominate for governor. It also has considerable influence on who the Republicans (and in some cases the Democrats) nominate for many other offices around the state. >> And besides, my influence on LP is of >> little consequence, because of that very agreement, while within the >> Conservative Party my influence means something because they DON'T agree >> with me about everything. >So why not join the republicans who agree with you even less and have >even more power? Or better yet the democrats!!! Depends on several factors, often local and individual. I was an enrolled Democrat before I changed enrollment to Conservative. I changed enrollment briefly to the short-lived Freedom Party (to encourage libertarians to take over a ballot line), then back to Conservative. I considered changing enrollment to Republican a few years ago. The major consideration was what would put me in best position to determine Velella's successor in the state senate. I think I made the right decision staying Conservative and helping Kaufman beat Fleming this year for the nomination, but maybe I was wrong and could've helped with the Republican primary instead. >> How much more can I try to turn the "knob" of LP's ideology toward liberty? >> Practically none. However, I can try to influence the Conservative Party >> in a more libertarian direction, because their "knob" isn't already up >> against the end post. And, as I've written in LPNY_discuss, I believe I >> have influenced the Conservative Party. >Yeah, you may have influenced them. What good has it done? Well, it seems to have helped in getting them to take the lead on medical marijuana, though the state party is still opposed. John Wilson (a colleague on the Bronx Conservative Party executive committee) came out with a press release for medical marijuana, and he won the Democratic primary for civil court judge against the regular organization candidate and is a shoo-in to be elected. >> >After taking many different groups perspectives on the Republican >> >party and Libertarian Party, I have come to the conclusion the >> >Republicans are actively working against what I beleive the majority >> >of the time and the Libertarians are actively working torwards what I >> >beleive. But compare the average Republican to the average politically active person, and I think you'll find the Republican to be working against you less and for you more. You have to accept that as an extremist (in this case a radical libertarian), you may perceive almost every politically active person to be working against you. >You may be correct. But if that is the case, then I will not change >to your side for another 20 years or so, so it would probably be best >in the meantime not try and make your arguements by trying to set >yourself up in some superior position based on age but rather by using >logic. You think this is just an exchange of e-mails between the 2 of us, and nobody else will read any of it? If it were just between us 2, I'd've stopped writing long ago! One of the problems with LP is going out of one's way playing to an insignificant audience. >> Part of the problem is that many people with less experience with LP think, >> "But we've never tried THIS. Maybe it will make for a big improvement." >> But the more experienced remember that they HAVE tried "THIS". >Yet you seem to be saying to me that we should try to work within the >parties. Yet even in my 'naive' mind, I know that this has been >tried. It is not successful. Uh, hello? The overwhelming majority of people with axes to grind politically do it within larger parties, because they know it IS successful. Look around you. How many interest groups and activists form their own political parties? In Your Sly Tribe, Robert _______________________________________________ Libnw mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://immosys.com/mailman/listinfo/libnw http://immosys.com/mailman//pipermail/libnw
