Comments on: LDP and the media.

By: Jim Fryar

Jim Fryar — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 03:43:47 +0000

John; I guess being up I wasn’t aware of the L4F, until the initial challenges to our name came up, just short of the election. I generally don’t pay much attention to small fringe groups like the Democrats, Greens, Christian Democrats, and such like, preferring to give serious dudes like the LDP my full attention.

My opinion is based on what I have read since the event, so perhaps you have a better recollection on this issue. I really have to disagree however with these parties objecting to our use of what is essentially a generic political name worldwide, on the grounds that it combines two other worldwide generic political name-brands, that they happen to be using.

By: John Humphreys

John Humphreys — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:10:28 +0000

Jim — I disagree that l4f were trying to confuse people. I think they were trying to say “if you’re a liberal-type who likes the environment more than the Liberals, then vote for us”.

Sam — I was the person who first chose the name “Liberal Democratic Party” and it wasn’t about trying to confuse people. Similar with l4f, the idea was to say “if you believe in liberal-like economic policy and democrat-like social policy, or if you believe in something that was once called liberal-democracy, then vote for us”. A secondary reason was that I simply wanted to pick a name that sounded professional, and not like a student politics name or a weird group.

By: Jim Fryar

Jim Fryar — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:35:44 +0000

I hadn’t thought of that Cameron.

By: Cameron Larkin (aka Petierla)

Cameron Larkin (aka Petierla) — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 22:29:55 +0000

Liberty & Democracy really says it all, No offense Jim but in the late ’80′s I went to a party (Oh dear this is embarrassing) themed the Enterprise Party and it turned out to be a Star Trek convention…please, anything but that.

By: Jim Fryar

Jim Fryar — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 16:51:41 +0000

Bloody Hell; I’m back. some glitch has locked me out for a couple of days. Sorry about that.

I tend to agree with Greego, I really did prefer LIberty and Democracy Party but on reflection I am happy with the LDP. I feel we should fight for our name, especially if Andrew has his eye on it.

Failing this we should probably look at something like the Enterprise Party. Its short and sweet, positive, and says what we are about.

By: nicholas gray

nicholas gray — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 02:03:12 +0000

Greego, people still want to endure hard labour with the Labor Party! Turn a spelling mistake into a branding exercise! And what do you mean, mistake? the way words are spelled in the dictionary is just a group average, with no legal force behind them. I’m being libertarianly creative!
And I agree that Democracy is not really a libertarian priority. As a minarchist, I would limit democracies to making rules only for public spaces, and would prefer town-hall style democracy to the Federal giant that we have right now.

By: Jono

Jono — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:59:51 +0000

“Liberty Party” is much better than any other proposal.

By: Greego

Greego — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:37:25 +0000

Nicholas, I don’t think people would take the party very seriously with a spelling mistake in the title.

Personally I prefer ‘Liberty and Democracy Party’ to ‘Liberal Democratic Party’ – the latter doesn’t really differentiate yourselves much from those two other parties. Kind of sounds like you’re somewhere in between which is clearly not the case. Just the Liberty Party (or Libertarian Party, or Freedom party, etc) would be better and simpler IMO; the Democracy part’s a bit of a distraction.

By: nicholas gray

nicholas gray — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:51:19 +0000

If the AEC decides that the name must be changed, why not the Free Enterprize Party?

By: Jim Fryar

Jim Fryar — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:51:12 +0000

Sorry Sam, I answered Andrew without noticing your comment, I wasn't being rude. I really think my statement is accurate, especially in the present context of this discussion. Seriously, with libertarian being the number one swearword in the lexicon of both the left and the right, (Laissez- faire is a close second) the name Libertarian Party would set us back. The civil libertarian aspect you mention is valid, but the same thing applies in the public perception and the term libertarian is really not well understood other than by us. Mention libertarian and people will switch off, I have taken part in discussions in the Libertarian Reform Caucus where serious arguments are made for changing the party name, and for forming another party separate to the LP.