The following post is part one of a part three series covering the Libertarian Party of Washington’s 2009 Convention, at which I volunteered and attended.

I knew we were in trouble when the woman sitting next to me had an obviously well-used Robert’s Rules book. For those of you who aren’t familiar, Robert’s Rules is that procedure that utilizes “I move,” “I second the motion,” and so on.

Admittedly, as a libertarian, I have nothing but the utmost respect for the rule of law, and Robert’s Rules does ensure fairness in meetings. But in a convention of about thirty people, I have my doubts.

Let’s take, for example, the nomination and election of officers:

Chair: “Alright… um, so now we need someone for the position of Secretary. Secretary is a two-year position. Do we have any takers?”

[Awkward silence]

Chair: “Come on people…. or I might have to go out and get the crowbar and start twisting some arms.”

[More awkward silence]

Chair: “I hear college students take great notes [looks at me]” (I’m not a member of the LP and won’t be in WA in the near future anyways).

[Even more awkward silence]

Member: “Oh, oh! I nominate [other member]. He’d be great!” [Murmurs of agreement].

Nominated Member: Umm… OK, I’ll take it.

Chair: Alright then, all in fav–

Another member: No, no, you can’t take a vote on it yet.

Chair: Right, right, sorry. I have to ask again. OK, do we have anymore nominations for Secretary? [Silence] Alright then, all in fav– oh wait, I have to ask three times, don’t I? Have I asked three times?

Member: No, no one more time.

Chair: Right. Alright, any more nominations? No? Alright all in favor, say aye.

Everyone: Aye

Chair: All opposed, say nay.

[Silence].

Chair: Alright, [member] is our new Secretary!

Everyone: [clap, clap].

So you can see why the business meeting went over time. But that’s nothing compared to editting the party platform. This is the change we were discussing for forty minutes.

3. Government Finance

We Promote:

• Fiscal Responsibility
• Governments should not incur debt, which burdens future generations without their consent.

The problem the LP was trying to tackle was the fact that each bullet point should be able to stand alone with “We Promote” in front of it. That’s right, it was literally an argument over semantics.

“I move that we adopt the amendment as proposed.”

“I would like to stand against the amendment as proposed. If you read each bullet point with “we promote” in front of it, the second bullet point, “Governments should not incur debt, which burdens future generations without their consent’ doesn’t make sense.

“I move that we change the proposed change to “Since we promote fiscal responsibility, governments should not incur debt.”

“But that doesn’t fit with “we promote”!”

“Oh, you’re right — can I withdraw my amendment?”

“Yes, yes you can”

“Wait, no I can’t. I can’t withdraw my amendment, but I can vote against it!”

“OK, all in favor of this proposal, say aye.”

“Wait, may I request that the proposal be reiterated?”

“Which proposal is this again?”

“The motion on the floor is [member]’s proposal to change the amendment.”

“Oh, could I have that again?”

And so on, and so on;

“I propose that the second bullet be changed to “We promote… deep tax cuts and even deeper spending cuts so that government not incur debt.”

“I would like to stand against this proposal. If we use the word ‘deeper,’ then people may fear radical decreases in government. What that word means to us means different things to others.”

And eventually,

“All in favor, say–”

“Wait, which proposal is this again?”

“‘We have successfully removed the word deep, and we’re discussing removing ‘deeper’ right now”

At which Mikayla Hall from the UW chapter of Young Americans for Liberty and I remarked to each other,

“Does anyone actually read party platforms?”

“…no.”

Part two of the LPWA Convention series will feature a presentation by Professor Jim Lark of the University of Virginia on “knee-jerk libertarianism.”

However, tomorrow I will be leaving to the east coast to visit family, Harvard, NYU, and Chicago until Friday. If I will not be able to post during the trip, I’ll write over the week and post everything next weekend.