Libertarianism is gaining some additional political clout with the creation of a new consulting firm to help elect limited government advocates to political office.
Seven of the most successful individuals who have variously worked on the Ron Paul, Rand Paul, and Gary Johnson campaigns (among many others) have combined to form Liberty Torch Political Consulting, LLC. The firm aims to change the outcome of elections around the country and get more freedom-loving candidates elected to office than ever before.
The team consists of:
- Josiah Schmidt – former press liaison and coordinator of social media, endorsements for Gary Johnson 2012.
- Laura Delhomme – experienced libertarian grassroots organizer, and the chair of the Libertarian Party and Gary Johnson 2012 campaign in Northern Virginia.
- Nick Fidel – web/graphic designer for Gary Johnson 2012, Earnware Corporation, and Grindhouse Releasing.
- Chris Hamilton – video editor and ad designer for such clients as Coca Cola, McDonalds, Allstate, Sprint, and Comcast, among others.
- David Adams – former campaign manager for Rand Paul for Senate 2010 and Phil Moffett for Governor 2011, and publisher of Kentucky Progress, as strategy advisor for the firm.
- Jonathan Bydlak – fundraising director for Ron Paul 2008 (who oversaw $35 million in contributions) and President of the Coalition to Reduce Spending, as fundraising advisor for the firm.
- Dave Nalle – national chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus, advisor to Ted Cruz for Senate 2012, and senior politics editor of Blogcritics, as policy/messaging advisor for the firm.
Liberty Torch believes with their experience, they can succeed where others have failed. Read the article regarding this new firm at the Examiner: Libertarian consulting firm out to change the face of politics
The website to Liberty Torch Political Consulting can be found here.
19 responses so far ↓
1 Jill Pyeatt // Jul 5, 2012 at 11:27 am
This is very exciting news, although I’m not sure about the inclusion of Dave Nalle. I had to delete him as a FB friend because he was such a warmonger. That was a couple years ago.
2 Austin Battenberg // Jul 5, 2012 at 11:43 am
The Republican Liberty Caucus is somewhat libertarian. Why would the RLC have a warmonger on its staff? And what sort of contributions could he bring?
And I’m wondering if they will help Libertarians and libertarian leaning Republicans.
3 Michael H. Wilson // Jul 5, 2012 at 11:46 am
So how many many office holders have been elected by these people?
4 Austin Battenberg // Jul 5, 2012 at 11:52 am
Well, if you mean the group, it was just formed. So no one. But many of the people who work for them worked for Ron Paul, Rand Paul, and Gary Johnson. So there is three right there.
5 John Jay Myers // Jul 5, 2012 at 11:57 am
Dave Nalle is definitely hit and miss.
I have had a lot of dealings with him, and sometimes he is right on the money, and sometimes you would like to choke him out.
There is something a little weird about him.
If memory serves he is kind of an Israel firster which is why he comes across as a war monger, because we can’t protect Israel at all cost, and not be in the Middle East.
6 Steven Wilson // Jul 5, 2012 at 12:07 pm
The RLC in Missouri is pick and choose your battles based on possibility of victory. They redefine liberty at their own peril.
Dave is a soldier for liberty, but it is “his” kind of liberty. He has tried to define America as a “small/Big world Power” in regards to foreign policy.
I can’t imagine he has given up the Republican part of the RLC. To my memory, Dave has never been on a winning campaign as a consultant.
When his tank is full, Bydlak will take it on home every time. Good team I think.
7 NewFederalist // Jul 5, 2012 at 12:17 pm
Perhaps I missed it… is this group going to help Libertarian nominees or libertarian candidates regardless of party?
8 Steven R Linnabary // Jul 5, 2012 at 12:50 pm
Perhaps I missed it… is this group going to help Libertarian nominees or libertarian candidates regardless of party?
I hope it’s only for LP candidates. The LP has (or used to have) a “Liberty Torch Club” for big contributors.
If money raised is for *any* candidate this group feels including republicans, it could cause some confusion. Didn’t the LP register the Liberty Torch Club as a trademark?
PEACE
9 Austin Battenberg // Jul 5, 2012 at 2:26 pm
Looking at the website it looks like they will help whoever will hire them, as long as they are small government advocates. Their site doesn’t specify that a candidate has to be a member of any particular political party.
But considering most Libertarian candidates don’t have much money, my guess is that they will mostly help libertarian leaning Republicans.
Regardless, I am somewhat optimistic. Gary Johnson had good things to say about the group afterall.
10 NewFederalist // Jul 5, 2012 at 3:39 pm
Austin- I believe you might consider changing the headline from “Libertarian” to “libertarian”. The former implies Libertarian Party affiliation while the latter implies being a libertarian philosophically. There is a significant difference.
11 PeterO // Jul 5, 2012 at 3:58 pm
Is it possible to make a living with such a consultancy? It seems the likely clients will have limited funding.
12 Thomas L. Knapp // Jul 5, 2012 at 4:04 pm
PeterO,
It’s probably possible to make a living with such a consultancy. But that would probably require your clients to actually pay their bills. IIRC, Bydlak recently had a problem on that end.
13 Josiah Schmidt // Jul 5, 2012 at 6:19 pm
Hi,
Thanks for the the post on our new consulting firm! We will help small government candidates regardless of their party affiliation. We have already signed on clients who are Republicans, independents, and Libertarians.
Josiah Schmidt
14 Trent Hill // Jul 5, 2012 at 8:16 pm
Tom,
Didnt a court rule on the Bydlak issue?
15 Donny Ferguson // Jul 7, 2012 at 6:04 pm
PeterO: “Is it possible to make a living with such a consultancy?”
If you’re good, yes.
As for Nalle, a consultant’s position on an issue has squat to do with his ability to craft a message or identify and turn out voters. There’s no libertarian/conservative/liberal way to set up automated phone calls, lay out a letter or buy radio spots.
16 paulie // Jul 7, 2012 at 6:06 pm
Yes. Just that it was the wrong jurisdiction. So there may be more to come on that.
17 Chuck Moulton // Jul 12, 2012 at 4:48 pm
Best of luck to this consulting firm!
Laura has been doing excellent work for the LP and Gary Johnson here in Virginia.
18 Rob Banks // Jul 19, 2012 at 11:41 pm
Too bad they are working with Ted Cruz rather than John Jay Myers, but it sounds good in principle. Hope they will help more LP candidates than Republicans.
19 Lavra // Aug 24, 2012 at 7:09 pm
@Rob: one of our advisors works on the Cruz campaign separately, but he’s not a client of Liberty Torch.
@Chuck: thanks!
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