Going by the past ratio of campaigns to wins, we should pick up at least 40 or 50 new elected Libertarians. But with more candidates running more professional campaigns, we could do much better than that. By running 2,000 candidates, we will be contesting majorities of legislative bodies all over the country, from Congress, to several state houses, to county boards. That sets up the potential for a massive redistribution of power in the election, and makes us an immediate threat to the establishment. And there is a definite synergy from running a lot of candidates.
More candidates creates a sense of momentum.
But before touting the benefits of such a large slate, the national Libertarian Party, every affiliate state party, and individual Libertarians must first pitch in to help recruit candidates and get them on the ballot, said Crickenberger. The national Libertarian Party is also supplying candidate recruitment manuals to hundreds of local recruiters, giving hands-on candidate recruitment training at Success '99, and will be directly recruiting candidates in some states, he said. The LP exists to effect change in social policy through the electoral process. A political party without candidates is not a political party. And, finally, individual Libertarians must step forward and volunteer to run, he said.