My Plans to Date

So, am I starting a new party now? Is this business plan an invitation to you the reader to get on board early?

Mmmmm, not quite. I’m rather burned out on politics at the moment and am going to take a break and focus on family and finances. So don't expect much until at least 2009.

After recharging, I am going to mock up a party web site and see how well it draws.

Those are my plans, that is, unless a few heavy hitters come forward with serious financing; or a very large number of people say they would support such a startup effort with a substantial monthly pledge; or some skilled volunteers come forth willing to put in quite a few hours a week. If some of these things happen, I’ll accelerate the timetable.

Once the party gets launched, it is worthwhile to set reasonable goals and attain them. All too often, third parties set impossible immediate goals and create a culture of failure. Some reasonable milestones:

1. Effective voter education tools.
2. Some strong local affiliates. Let’s have the strongest local affiliates of any third party, even if we are active in only a couple of states.
3. Some local victories.
4. Some state house victories.
5. Hold the balance of power in a state legislature.
6. Elect someone to the U.S. House.
7. Hold the balance of power in the U.S. House.

Note what is missing here: participation in the presidential debates, holding the margin of victory in statewide races, retaining state ballot access via statewide race totals, being active in every state, getting covered in the mainstream national media, or getting big celebrity endorsements. Some of these may happen, but they are not in the critical path.

I also did not include total national membership numbers, registered party members, or fundraising goals. Dues paying members, registered members, and funds are all useful, but they do not relate to the purpose of having a political party. The primary milestones should stay focused on the purpose. How we get there is uncertain.

For example, it could prove that our new party is very successful in raising funds and getting national members. If so, great! But it is also theoretically possible for a party that is much smaller than the LP and has received very little attention from the mainstream media to achieve the first 5 milestones.

In fact, there is something to be said for avoiding attention from the national mainstream media until after the first 5 or 6 milestones have been achieved. Let the mainstream press ask “Where did these people come from??” instead of saying, “In other news, the Bogus Party candidate was also in the debate.”

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Copyright 2007, Carl S. Milsted, Jr. All rights reserved.