I figure it's not common knowledge outside libertarian circles, but the Libertarian Troika is running Badnarik's campaign. They came in at the convention right after he won the nomination. He accepted their terms and they're doing it now.
They're very professional but work for free, have a great track record for any party but especially for Libertarians, and are very good at focusing on policies and PR more than abstract philosophy and ideology. All in all, they represent a potential resurgence for the best impulses of the libertarian movement that largely abandoned the party after the 1983 nomination fight.
Their strategy is to get a spoiler effect to throw the election. Being the margin of error is a muscle flex for the LP. This is an article pre-campaign explaining their record. I think it's from early this year or late last year.
http://www.lp.org/action/pagetools.php?function=print&page=%2Flpnews%2F0403%2Fthe-troika.htmlThe Troika: A winning political team
by J. Daniel Cloud
LP News Editor
Troika is the Russian word for three. It also refers to a vehicle drawn by three horses or a group of three closely related objects or people.
In the Libertarian lexicon, the Troika is a trio of political consultants with a habit of winning. They are Greg Dirasian and husband and wife Fred Collins and Barbara Goushaw-Collins.
Pundits credit Jon Coon's 1994 campaign for U.S. Senate --managed by Goushaw-Collins -- with putting the LP on Michigan's political map: The campaign garmered more than 100,000 votes, more than any previous LP campaign in Michigan history.
In 1997, Goushaw-Collins managed Collins's race for Berkley [Mich.] City Council and won. He was the first Libertarian in office in the town of 15,500, near Detroit.
Then in April, 2000, she was a consultant for Martin Howrylak's run for city council in Troy, Mich., an 85,000-resident suburb of Detroit. Collins and Dirasian were Howlyrak's managers, making this race the beginning (unofficially) of "The Troika" as a campaign team.
The Howrylak campaign was a great debut for the Troika: He won 68 percent of the vote in the non-partisan race, booting an incumbent out of office. The city council had just weeks earlier voted itself a massive pension increase. The increase served as ammunition against the incumbent, and shortly after Howrylak was elected, the increase was reversed.
LP National Chair Geoff Neale said the Troika's secret to success is simple: "Barbara and Fred are both very straightforward and realistic, and they realize that more elections are won by hard work and perseverance than by tricks.
"And Greg is the behind-the-scenes guy who provides a lot of the support for the organization."
Or, as Goushaw-Collins said: "I do the training classes and public speaking and am a tactician, Fred is a master strategist, and Greg Dirasian does creative work and production, and he has a real gift for getting nasty when the situation calls for it."
When is it called for?
"Well, they don't believe in spreading lies, but they could be accused of spreading truths at times that are inopportune for their opponents," Neale said.
They don't apologize for that.
"We all agree that if special interests are backing the opposition, we have a moral obligation to disclose that to the voters," Goushaw-Collins said.
The Troika has a few hard-and-fast rules for the candidates they choose to stand behind.
"We are very selective about who we choose to run," Goushaw-Collins said, noting that potential candidates must be willing to learn public speaking, work on door-to-door campaigns, be active in the community, and be willing and able to raise money.
Perhaps the strongest limitation the Troika puts on their candidates is this: "They must agree up front that once the campaign begins, we make all of the decisions," she said. "We would never ask a candidate to violate their principles, nor would we ask them to say anything that was untrue. But candidates absolutely cannot make strategic or tactical decisions. If they can't agree with that, we won't run them."
"After talking to other political campaign managers, they found that most candidates sabotage their own campaigns," Neale said. "Fred, being an elected official, has learned the essential skill of winning not only election, but re-election. There are things you have to do if you want to get elected."
"Getting Libertarians elected to non-partisan office is actually easier than one might expect," Dirasian said. "But it does require a great deal of work. And for many Libertarians, it requires a shift in their way of presenting our ideas."
"For example, when Fred was asked to support a 'snow shoveling ordinance' he didn't launch a tirade about property rights," Goushaw-Collins said. "Instead, he said, 'I am concerned about our seniors feeling that they have to get out there and shovel or risk getting a ticket. And I am concerned that this ordinance would be ripe for selective enforcement. Therefore I oppose it.'
"He endeared himself to several constituencies, and this intrusive ordinance was defeated. It's all about how the Libertarian message is presented."
The Troika has high expectations of their candidates, who should plan to spend approximately $3.50 for every vote they hope to win; have brochures and other paperwork professionally designed and printed; maintain a professional look; campaign for two years before actually starting a candidacy; and be willing to work tirelessly on their campaigns.
A Troika-led campaign requires hard work. But given their record, election to the desired post is, though not a certainty, more likely than in candidate-run campaigns.
Success stories include:
* David Eisenbacher, who narrowly missed election to the Troy, Mich., city council in 2001, won the seat in 2002.
* Collins was re-elected to Berkley City Council in 2001, running unopposed.
* Andy LeCureaux in 2001 won a city council post in Hazel Park, Mich., population 30,000, with Goushaw-Collins consulting and David Collver managing. LeCureaux was re-elected in November, 2003, becoming mayor pro-tem.
* Martin Howrylak for Troy City Council, with wins in 2000 and 2003. In the latter campaign, he was attacked for his LP membership, counter-attacked and won 70 percent of the vote.
* Erin Stahl won a 2003 bid for city council in St. Clair Shores, Mich., with a population exceeding 60,000.
"Thus, the Troika is 5 for 6, with 2 'assists' in other winners, over the last 3 years," Goushaw-Collins said. And they're not in it for the money.
"We do what we do as volunteers, not receiving payment for our services," she said. "Most Libertarian candidates need to put every dime they can into the campaign, and cannot afford to hire consultants."
The Troika has set up a political action committee -- the Fully Informed Voter Effort, or FIVE-PAC -- which allows them to "build up a war chest of funds to use in an emergency and enables us to get more money to a candidate when we have a large donor," Dirasian said. "We have found the magic bullet. It's called hard work," he said. "I used to count the number of times I saw the word "Libertarian" in the paper, but not any more: It is too frequent. We are no longer ignored or irrelevant. And for as many as hate us, there are that many willing to form alliances with us -- understanding that at long last, there are serious people working to reduce the size of government."
For those who've run unsuccessful campaigns, or who wish to improve their next run, you can learn the Troika's techniques.
"Any of our candidates who want to learn from them can do so" at the LP National Convention in Atlanta, where the three will be part of a candidate training workshop on Thursday, May 27, Neale said.
"Most people could learn a lot from the Troika."
