This is the idea about LP activity
which I said I'd send separately:


BACKGROUND:
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In the past, we'd rarely run any candidates in NY, and when we tried 
we often failed to get on ballot.  Before the petition deadline, all 
effort was devoted to petitioning, and there was no visible political 
activity or publicity.  If we failed to get on ballot, or if we failed 
to try, that was it and we felt obliged to sit on the sidelines -- as 
if the LP had no right to enter the political arena regarding races 
(usually all of them) in which we had no candidate.

Unfortunately, the NYLP rarely did anything until it actually found 
an actual candidate -- a member who had been arm-twisted into running.
(Then, everybody left it to the sucker, and nothing much happened.)


ANALYSIS & SOLUTION
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I'd long felt that, as a political organization, we should always 
participate in electoral contests -- whether we have a candidate or not.
One problem was how to do so without being construed as "cross-endorsing"
the lesser evil, (which we should never do, because it would compromise 
our principles to support someone not wholly in accord)!  But why cannot 
we be heard throughout the entire campaign?  Must we be silent just 
because we don't expect to get on ballot?  What an awful waste of 
opportunity for a political party!

My answer was to assume the posture that the Libertarian Party definitely
intended to run candidates, but that candidate selection was in progress.

Furthermore, we should not a priori ASSUME a person was unworthy of being 
called a libertarian and being our candidate (even if e was presently 
affiliated with another party) UNTIL we had had a chance to interview m 
or at least research the positions e took on the issues.  Since most
parties have a SCREENING process to select their candidates, we could 
perform our evaluation of ALL candidates - under the guise of "screening".  

Therefore, let's evaluate ALL of them, based on their positions on 
selected issues.  Who knows?  Maybe that socialist or fascist will, 
as a result of our screening and persuasion, see the error of s ways,
become a true, principled libertarian, and join our party -- then, 
perhaps we could run m as our candidate.

Rate ALL potential candidates (including any of our members who wished
to be considered), then publicize our "ratings".  Sometimes, we might 
find that NONE of the potential candidates for this office was acceptable
BECAUSE of ....  OK, if that's the case, we should announce WHY we found
each of them unacceptable and that therefore we could not support any 
of them!  (A later press release might decry the fact that the big 
parties, with their rejected candidates, were now trying to keep 
opposition off the ballot with their unfair access laws!)


SUFFOLK COUNTY LEGISLATURE (18 members)
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We're starting out by defining two sets of Fritz-like questions,
pehaps 5 relating to economic liberty and five relating to personal
self-governance, but suitable for issues within the powers of the
county legislature (or whatever).  Knowing that survey forms would
likely wind up in the garbage, we'll research the positions of the 
incumbents and potential challengers from their record and published
statements, calling if necessary.  If possible, we'll invite them
for screening interviews, but we're not counting on their appearance.

In cases where there is no LP candidate on the ballot, I proposed
we rate each of the candidates or potential candidates on ISSUES 
and then publicize our ratings.  Make a Fritz/Nolan chart for each 
of them, and point out where they are wrong (making clear that we are 
not cross-endorsing non-libertarians, even if they agree on some points).

After making up a tentative set of answers, we'll mail each candidate a 
copy of (what we think are) their answers.  We'll allow time for them to 
make corrections, but we'll publish results (with or without cooperation).

After listing candidate answers, and for simplicity (particularly when 
local issues may not be clearly divided between economic and personal), 
I came up with a single number which I'd call their "Liberty Quotient".
(It's just the average of the two Nolan Chart percentages, but we could 
add a secondary figure to show a degree of "tilt" to the left or right.)


PUBLICTITY (But how?)
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With ratings in hand, the local LP can still participate even without 
ballot access!  Now, the problem becomes one of getting publicity for 
our ratings.  All suggestions on this phase are welcome, as it is not 
my field of expertise.