Quick Election Return Notes

It was interesting to scan the returns this morning. All of my Republican friends lost their bids in the primaries. This surprised me initially, but then I started thinking about what they all had in common:

Good people, not running terribly active campaigns, and spending little or no money.

See, it doesn't matter much if you are a Libertarian, a Republicans, or a Democrat- if you don't have volunteers at polling places, go door-to-door, put up signs, or advertise, you don't win.

Conversely, our Libertarian success rate has been proportional to our activity. Where we have won, we have combined a well-known name with solid door-to-door, and hit a key issue. Where we have had near misses, we have had solid door-to-door. Where we have done moderately well, we might have had good press, or bought some advertising, or hit a key issue, but had no combination of these.

Lessons: There is no substitute for door-to-door. Combine that with two or more strong factors, and you will show well.

The strongest candidate who does the least is defeated by the weakest candidate who does the most.

Let's make sure to take our strong messages and combine them with solid activity and support, financial and otherwise. Then, we'll win.