Upsets are based on the power of personality.
Boris Johnson has just recently been elected the Mayor of London, one of the world’s biggest cities. He took office of this metropolis of 14 million (metropolitan area) on May 4, 2008. He is described in the media as a “Libertarian conservative.â€� He is also a New York-born TV personality, host, guest, author and comedian. Oxford-educated, he is colorful, and charismatic. He is a media darling- always ready with a colorful or controversial comment. He is the quintessential UK “political outsiderâ€� who has just pulled off a huge upset to shock the UK political establishment. Sound familiar?
Wayne Allyn Root is a New York-born son of a butcher; small businessman; home-school father of 4 young children; Ivy League-educated college classmate of Barack Obama; dynamic and colorful television personality, host and guest; author; Las Vegas oddsmaker; and citizen politician. Wayne is the quintessential D.C. “political outsider.â€� This may be an unusual resume for the President of the United States; but in this case it’s tailor-made to build “America’s Third Party.â€� The Libertarian Party is known for being anti-establishment, anti-government, anti-tax, and anti-status quo. We are a party of rebels with pitchforks. A party dedicated to liberty. Wayne is our Boris Johnson.
Imagine.
The blizzard of media attention after the LP convention is over. Thank you Congressman Bob Barr and Jesse “The Body� Ventura. Media from across the country came to Denver because of you. But what they witnessed was Wayne Allyn Root pulling off the political upset (at least as far as the Washington D.C. press corp. is concerned). A star is born. Now the media will be more interested in the new face of the LP because of who he is…not who he was.
The important thing about media isn’t getting it- it’s what you do with it after you get it. Wayne is a dynamic media personality. He has proven he knows how to get media, and how to use it. He wins over even skeptical and cynical hosts. He gets them to say, “Wow, I could actually vote for you.â€� If Wayne Allyn Root gets the LP Presidential nomination, we’ll have a future. With Wayne there is a huge (and long-term) upside.
As the Root campaign begins the first four-year phase of the journey to the White House, phase one is to build the infrastructure of our party. This is a story to illustrate how that grassroots work can be done.
On the campaign trail building constituencies.
The Root advance team meets with the local LP days prior to Wayne’s arrival. Preceding the team’s arrival a brief paid advertising campaign is launched. A meeting with Wayne the night before gets the local volunteers fired up.
Imagine the next morning a ROOT for America bus pulling up to the town square. A group of local candidates and/or activists are waiting. As Root emerges, the advance team and local activists swing into action. There are 27 million small business owners who need us. Wayne is one of them.
As they visit each small business in the area, the county chair introduces the business owner to Wayne. Wayne then warmly introduces the local LP candidate or activist. They listen to the shop owner’s concerns. Something Root will hear a thousand times.
As they leave, a photo is taken with the shop owner, candidate, county chair, and Root. The photo is given to the local paper along with a press release. An enlarged autographed photo will be hand delivered to the shop-keeper later by the candidate or LP State Chair as a reason to meet them again. Root pitches the owner to join the LP. Just prior to leaving, a small crowd is gathered to hear a brief stump speech on the value of small businesses in America and how libertarian ideas are good for the local economy. It is a successful campaign stop.
The town square event is repeated in towns encircling a larger media market. After a day or two of walking the town squares, speaking at business events, and interviews with local papers, Root moves into the major market and is interviewed by television and radio stations and major urban newspapers. The topic of the day is the state of small business- what Root calls “the economic engine of America.” Newspapers love it- they call small business owners their advertisers.
As Wayne travels, he drops in on a group of parents in each city who like Wayne choose to home-school their children. He delivers a stump speech on the inadequacies of government schools and how he will impound the funds of the federal Department of Education. He talks about moving all education funding and decisions to the state level. He enthusiastically talks about the value of vouchers and choice as needed steps toward achieving educational freedom. The local media are taking notes and filming. It gets picked up in home-school magazines and newsletters to the delight of millions of home-school parents.
Next Wayne stops the bus to buy a Lotto ticket. Wayne quotes the New York Times, who recently reported that more money is spent on gambling by Americans than movies, music, books, videos and DVD’s COMBINED! He explains the positive impact of the gaming industry, noting that there are 14,000 McDonalds locations in America, versus 185,000 lottery locations. He points out that government needs the small businesses to sell their lottery tickets and collect their sales taxes. A free market doesn’t need much government.
Wayne speaks with authority on the millions of poker enthusiasts denied the freedom to choose their own form of entertainment online. The story hits the AP wire and goes out all over the country-
serving to excite and motivate 10 to 12 million online poker players, as well as 50 million poker enthusiasts across the country. Las Vegas is the tourist capital of America for a reason- 40 million people a year visit Las Vegas because they like to play. Those 40 million potential voters want the freedom to choose their own form of entertainment.
Attracting younger voters through popular media.
That night Wayne hits a local college night-spot and dances with the younger set. The video makes U Tube and starts a youth movement for Root around the country. It becomes a popular “spontaneousâ€� event. Wayne is invited to be a guest on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,â€� “The Colbert Report,â€� “Bill Maher’s Real Time,â€� ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Liveâ€� (Jimmy is a fellow Las Vegan), and MTV. The younger set loves Wayne’s passion, high energy, enthusiasm and sense of humor. He goes to New York for his “media tour.â€�
In Grand Central station, Wayne approaches a small crowd of soldiers waiting in the terminal. He asked them how things are going. They ask him to get us out of Iraq and he reassures them that if elected he will. He tells the reporters on the scene that the libertarian non-interventionist foreign policy is the only way to avoid further wars of aggression. Making war only in defense of the country is the American way.
While in New York, Wayne scores more national media on Fox News, Fox Business, MSNBC, and CNBC (where Wayne started his career as a host and anchorman). He visits dozens of trade publications and pushes his campaign’s small business message through the national print media that serves industries across America. He scores a number of articles and even a few covers. The phones at national and state LP offices begin to ring from small business owners wanting to know more about the LP- and CONTRIBUTE.
As the trade media stories begin to break, a direct mail campaign is launched using each trade publication’s mailing list. A coordinated campaign with the state organizations will invite local business owners and executives (subscribers) to an exclusive meeting with Wayne.
The meetings take place weeks after the stories are published, so there is time to coordinate invitations with the campaign. This phase is designed to get people to join the LP, to become our future candidates and supporters. This is the point of sale. This effort will continue as an ongoing strategy even after the election to ensure we continue to build the party’s membership and infrastructure for 2012. Wayne Root will represent the LP for the next 4 years.
Home-field advantage.
On election night 2008, Wayne Allyn Root outperforms the expectations of the political pundits and Beltway insiders, including a very close third place finish in his home state of Nevada. He is already well-known in Nevada. He has his own star on the Las Vegas Strip. Nevada is the most Libertarian state in America. No personal income tax. No business income tax. No inheritance tax. Property tax increases are limited by law. Gambling and prostitution are legal. Ron Paul finished second in Nevada- tied for his best showing in the nation. Wayne will build on his close third place finish in Nevada in 2008 to win Nevada as a Libertarian Presidential candidate in 2012.
Post Election.
Root attracts numerous new members, contributors and potential candidates to the LP. The media pundits speculate on the bright future of the LP. The talk centers on Root’s youthful enthusiasm, along with his colorful, dynamic and passionate personality. They predict that he’ll be a major player on the political scene for a long time to come. Wayne becomes a frequent guest on shows like “Real Time with Bill Maherâ€� (an outspoken Libertarian who featured Wayne often as a guest on ABC’s “Politically Incorrectâ€�), “Hardball with Chris Matthews,â€� “This Week with George Stephanopoulosâ€� (Wayne’s Columbia University classmate), and many other national TV and radio shows, keeping the Libertarian Party in the public eye for a long time to come.
No one is betting against Wayne Allyn Root and the Libertarian Party anymore.
This isn’t the end …it’s just the beginning.
ROOT for Liberty!
ROOT for Freedom!
ROOT for America!
ROOT- the ideal image and candidate for the Libertarian Party!
