It's very pleasing for me to see libertarianism and the Libertarian Party discussed on Blogcritics with such earnestness. Yes, even the pointed criticisms and outright attacks are welcomed by me, as it points to areas where the LP has been weak- or worse- in communicating its message.

The dynamic that readers here might not be aware of is that the Libertarian Party of Indiana is often looked at with as much suspicion by other state affiliates as libertarians as a whole are looked upon by non-libertarians. The LPIN takes being a political party seriously. It is not a debate society. Nor is it a supper club. The purpose of a political party is to elect candidates to office and to move policy in the party's direction.

What other LP affiliates often dislike is that we are not dogmatists. We're strategists. We emphasize parts of our philosophy where we believe it will serve us, and de-emphasize it situationally, where we believe it could be detrimental. To the dogmatics, this makes us like the John Kerry campaign, hiding as much of the Massachusetts senator's 19-year Senate career as possible. We look at it differently: If you have one obvious agreement with someone, and one obvious disagreement with that person, how do you go about building a bridge with them? By emphasizing the agreement or disagreement? We emphasize the agreement first and then try to educate on the disagreement later. I don't fault Kerry for his approach. That's strategy.

Strategy is working here in Indiana. Well, our LP friends don't get it in Nevada. Let's just say that to tell someone, "you're wrong, you're wrong, you're stupid, you're evil, you're vile... vote for me!" just doesn't work.

We work at the grass-roots, local level. We know the people in our communities, and are respected by our neighbors. We work from the bottom-up. Contrast that with the top-down approach the Greens took in 2000. Nader had a huge impact on his one race, but without any solid structure below, the void left by Nader's disappearance this year is more like a canyon. The Greens aren't even on the ballot on most states. If you aren't on the ballot, you don't exist.

Today's Indianapolis Star acknowledges the success of the strategic approach of the LPIN, in an article by John Strauss.

In a year of prickly divisions between Democrats and Republicans over everything from Iraq to the economy, Indiana Libertarians see an opening.

But this year Libertarians are determined to make a difference. They're thinking big by thinking small.

Bill Blomquist is the Star's ace political consultant. His insight is uncanny, so when he says something like this, I am flattered:

Bill Blomquist, associate professor of political science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, gives them credit for being realistic.

"They're smart, and they're thinking about things that are do-able, like looking at local offices and thinking strategically," he said. "That's a level of sophistication that's different from a third party just trying to make a big splash at the top of the ticket by running somebody for governor."

Of course, we are running a good candidate for governor, but it's kind of ridiculous competing with the kind of money the Democrats and Republicans pour into those races. We find it slightly harder to get million dollar checks than they do... at least for now.