THE CEPIA CLUB

2nd Annual Candidates & Campaigns Conference

Hosted by the Libertarian Party of Polk County Members (LPPCM—Wisconsin)

Facilitated by The Cepia Club LLC

July 15, 2023

Meeting Notes & Minutes

 

Opening: brief introductions, discussed Cepia Club, and Phil Anderson’s history. Meeting goal – discuss strategy over a platform and develop ideas we can use going forward.

 

Libertarian Party of Polk County Members

 

Second Annual Candidates & Campaigns Conference Saturday, July 15, 2023, 11:00 AM to 2:30 PM Village Pizzeria, Dresser, WI 54009

 

Key Topic to Address:

 

"How can Libertarians build for successful politics and campaign to WIN elections!"

 

Working discussion subjects:

 

1) How do Libertarians define successful politics?

 

Ross – let's Define Success: successful points success is a case that leads to a win in politics.

 

Notes – at the national level, the Libertarian party there is an issue that some of the party won't move from their ideas( there were a few stories and anecdotes during this point ) Ross further noted that is important to read the room and know who you're speaking.

 

The libertarian party should be open to ideas and principles and it's important to compromise without moving away from the core values of the Libertarian ideology.

 

Tim – Being a libertarian outside of just elections, showing those ideas

 

Turning a person's experience into a strategy. Create a narrative – that can be used to tell a story that clicks emotionally this should lead to a Eureka moment.

 

Ross – recommends “the man nobody knows” by Bruce Barton This book brings together logic and emotion and went to use them The book uses an allegory to describe Modern Advertising.

 

Tim and Phil – People are in a type of codependent relationship with the government we need to be there to show them that there's a better option. It's the choose the lesser of two evils mentality we need to be a better option.

 

Tim – Culture is key and critical

 

Phil – Some current strategies that didn't work Ron Paul's ending of the Fed was not a winning one ending the FED goes over the head of most of the electorate, largely because it doesn't directly affect them however Paul’s argument for peace was a winning argument That caught people's attention.

 

Note: How do we bring ending the Fed to people'sattention? This was never covered but brought up.

 

points summarized

 

1. Middle verses division or finding common ground

2. Educating people this can mean many things from what the libertarian party is about to what we as indevdiuals can do to change the political landscape.

3. Message and image

4. Creating an emotional appeal

5. ​

 

2) What goal(s) concretely represent success?

 

Local level –

1) Find someone to run and have an aligned mesage

2) In an area find a good candidate with high numbers higher population means more potential members – its math.

3) Double members both recurrent and new – we fail to retain members and are slow to breing in new members,

3.2) really just double membership, money, and anything else that can be doubled.

4) comradery is key

5) “Get with the Times” – update our media presence – Media has shifted away from the “Big 5” to Youtube, tiktok, twitter etc.

6) 30 second clips on Social media is the “New media” . only showing examples of what happening avoiding any fluff and opinion.

 

 

3) As a matter of the practical, identifiable political objective(s) for the Libertarian

Party, how do we match the goal(s) to obtain both?

 

Tim – Have a libertarian candidate win a race by 2024. Example would be sheriff or distract attorney.

Arin – Media monetization.

Phil – to have a canidate represented on the polls.

Bill – Educate the populace on the mesage of the Libertarian party.

Kay – Strengthen female numbers, participation, and representation (double it).

Lynn – Work to find common ground with those who are interested in the party.

Paul – Do more Salons that can help show the common ground.

Ross – Create oppritunities to discover common ground.

 

4) As measures, or strategies, to achieve the objective, to fulfill the policy goal(s), where does the Libertarian Party start and how does it end?

 

Where it ends – the world is free and there is no goverment.

 

To get there:

 

Lynn – Government is broken down in a narrow sense: schools are governed at a local level, Universities and medical at the state level Fed at the infurstructure level roads etc.

 

Paul – finding an image that resonates with the people.

 

The rest of the group – Non-currupt goverment and reduce goverment size.

 

 

5) What actions at the "tip of the spear," i.e. activism, will most effectively maintain the focus on the objectives and achieve the political objective?

 

Tim – Hand shakes and coffee. Getting out on the ground and meeting with people one on one or in small gatherings as much as possible.

 

Phil and Ross – persuasive media, hitting the main point(s) efficiently, three times daily. Control the message and always bring it back to you.

 

Arin and Paul – offer a civil space

 

 

 

6) What format(s) or structure(s) of organization and leadership does the Libertarian Party need to adapt or reject to achieve the objective?

 

Tim – personal connections, meetings in person over online as much as possible. The structure should be on the work, not the

 

Phil – Organization should be from the ground up. In-person meetups building from local to the state, not the post above to the ground.

 

Lynn – the members should do the work – living by example

Paul – The party should be working through civility and common ground. We should be helping people understand its not a wasted vote when voting for any party.

 

Arin – get across the central mesage

 

Ross – helped to get to these messages

 

 

7) Finally, how can Libertarian Party members, activists, and supporters best carry the example and message of the Libertarian Way, to succeed?

 

Phil – Cares about how people live their lives – people being allowed to live life to its fullest and toward their full potential. You have to care and it has to show.