Who’s Driving? Introduction | Why is Who’s Driving? needed? | How to play Who’s Driving? | Leader instructions for setting up and playing Who’s Driving? | When to raise the Big Government card versus when to raise the Liberty card | Scoring (optional) | Print materials needed to play Who’s Driving?
As few as three people can play the game Who’s Driving? There’s no upper limit.
The game is played by having a leader who picks two participants to play each round. One participant plays the role of a Big Government reporter or a host for a radio or TV show (“Interviewer”). The other plays a Libertarian candidate or spokesperson (“Libertarian”).
Everyone in the audience is given a set of two cards — one red and blue (“Big Government”), and one gold (“Liberty”).
The leader asks the Libertarian if they wish to role play a candidate or spokesperson. If a candidate, the Libertarian states what level of government (federal, state or local), the particular office he or she is running for, and what Libertarian Solution they wish to propose. It should be a solution that they would have the authority to implement if elected to that office.
Someone keeps time, allowing 2-3 minutes for each round. The leader says, “go” to start the round.
The Interviewer conducts a typical interview, which means his or her questions are loaded with Big Government bias. The Libertarian’s job is to use every moment to advance a Libertarian agenda by moving the conversation off Big Government as quickly as possible and talking instead about Libertarian solutions to shrink government. Then selling the benefits of that solution. The Libertarian’s goal is to keep the discussion on that Libertarian Solution as close to 100% of the time as possible.
If the Interviewer raises objections or tries to discredit the solution, the Libertarian should rebut them and quickly return to selling the benefits of the solution.
If the Interviewer changes the subject back to Big Government, the Libertarian should quickly redirect again back to the Libertarian Solution and its benefits.
If the Interviewer changes the subject to anything other than the Libertarian Solution, the Libertarian redirects again back to the Libertarian Solution and its benefits.
Whenever the Libertarian is articulating and making the case for shrinking Big Government, the audience members hold up the Liberty cards.
Whenever the Libertarian is neglecting to articulate and make the case for a specific proposal to shrink Big Government, the audience members hold up the Big Government cards.
This gives the Libertarian immediate visual feedback to see who’s driving? Whether he is allowing Big Government to remain in the driver’s seat, or putting liberty in the driver’s seat and advancing a Libertarian agenda.
After each round, the leader debriefs all participants (including the audience) to arrive at a consensus as to what percentage of the time the Libertarian was “driving” based on how much of the time the Liberty cards were raised versus the Big Government cards. In other words, how much of the time the conversation was focused on a Libertarian solution for less government, how it would be implemented, the benefits of the solution, or discussing and rebutting objections to the solution.
The game can be played in any space that is reasonably quiet and private such as a function room, hotel suite, auditorium or someone’s home. It can be played in a casual environment, such as a Libertarian Meetup group, social, or mixer; incorporated in training sessions or conventions; or added to a board meeting or campaign event as a productive and inspiring way to wind down the day.
Playing Who’s Driving? is challenging. With practice, participants improve their ability to drive the conversation – which is why it’s best to play Who’s Driving? often. To become skilled at driving a Libertarian agenda and to regularly “take the steering wheel,” it is recommended that players be in front of a group as the interviewee at least 5 times (this can be spread over several events). The more often they play, the better they’ll get and the more automatic it will become for libertarians to go on the offensive – and carve out a powerful agenda for liberty.
