Losing Libertarians

Washington Times ^ | 11/6/06 | David Boaz

[libertylovinactivist]

Take a look at independent voters. There are more of them than before, especially in the West. More than 25 percent of Arizona voters now register as independent or third-party voters. And according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll, they've shifted sharply toward the Democrats in this fall's elections.

[Terpin]

This Libertarian voted for Allen in Virginia because he's actually a pretty decent senator (a lousy campaigner, though). My rep is a republican and is running unopposed.

[gdani]

And yet despite all their bellicose angst and relentless self promotion, they STILL have yet to elect even ONE person to ANY office ANY where

Do your homework.

[LS]

Agree. I had dinner with a couple of prof-types in April, and these people were COMPLETELY open borders. They didn't even want us to have a border.

[Don Corleone]

IMHO, it will take a major uprising against existing politicians to bring a third party into strength to start winning things....but that day may come.

Keep your Glock oiled and ready

[rhombus]

Yawn. More of the same old, same old. Libertarians are disgruntled. Evangelicals are disgruntled. Yada, yada. If only we had a third party (snicker). I believe in SOME libertarian principles, I also understand the importance of building majorities to get things done. I voted for every Republican I could. Note: the Libertarian Party does NOT represent all libertarians.

[steve-b]

You have it backwards -- the religious right is demanding too much and thereby driving away the mass of anti-Big-Government voters on which the GOP depends.

[Moonman62]

I think they've gotten dog catcher and sewer inspector in a couple of out of the way places.

[Don Corleone]

Voting write-in or not voting at all is a way to send a message to the president that we're angry

And insure that the communists get into power once again. Not exactly a "Hobson's" choice as I see it.

[JamesP81]

You have it backwards -- the religious right is demanding too much and thereby driving away the mass of anti-Big-Government voters on which the GOP depends.

It ain't even nearly that simple. About half the religious right is of the small government stripe, but the other half isn't and, unfortunately, their voice is the one being heard. However, it's Libertarians, not conservative Christians, that I see voting third party. So no, I don't have it backwards.

[rhombus]

Agree. I had dinner with a couple of prof-types in April, and these people were COMPLETELY open borders. They didn't even want us to have a border.

One wonders if these idiots lock their doors at night.

[dogbyte12]

IANAL-I am not a libertarian.

I find doctrinaire libertarianism a bit whacky, but if I was a dedicated Libertarian, I would vote third party. If you really hold those beliefs, it's not a matter of picking the lesser of evils.

Same thing with a communist, no I am not comparing the two. But if you genuinely believe in communism, voting for democratic style socialism would be repulsive as well. I disagree with the philosophies, but I do get a bit annoyed when folks here try to suggest that Libertarians go and vote for Chris Shays or Lincoln Chafee and they are horrible human beings if they don't.

[Dick Holmes]

Lot's of people did the same thing when they voted for Ross Perot, and we got the democrat Clinton.

It wouldn't have happened if we had the instant runoff ballot in place. But that would be dangerous to our beloved 2-party system; if people could actually vote for the 3rd party candidate without throwing their vote away, he might eventually even win!

[coloradan]

Bill Masters, sheriff of Telluride County, Colorado.

[Dead Corpse]

There are differences among the part faithful. Once you get into the squishy "moderates", the differences vanish.

Big difference between Bush and Kerry as POTUS? Supreme Court picks. Fighting the War on Terror. Tax cuts.

Not to toot Bush's horn too much. He's still entirely too liberal for my tastes. Especially on things like McCain-Feingold, No Child, and Borders.

[Niteranger68]

Or course, how you can be a pro-self defense, pro-capitalism, pro-property Rights, pro-individualism libertarian and vote for a RINO socialist is entirely beyond me as well but folks like McCain and Specter keep getting nominated by the GOP.

That's why I think it would be interesting to see Chafee lose his seat, yet the Republicans keep control of the Senate.

[TKDietz]

" But new research shows that about 15 percent of American voters hold libertarian views. They're small-government, leave-me-alone voters who don't like big-spending Democrats or religious-right Republicans."

That does not mean that 15% are Libertarians. I don't know what percentage of Americans register as Libertarians, but it is only a tiny amount. I'm not a member of any party, but I've mostly voted for Republicans in my life. I've always liked the idea of smaller government, less government interference in business and in the lives of individuals, etc. The Republican party has changed a lot in that regard in my opinion. I cannot look at them as the party that stands for a less intrusive smaller government anymore. They've proven to be really no better than Democrats. To be quite honest, I'm thinking a little gridlock is in order to keep them all in line a little better. Neither party can be trusted to run the whole show. Politicians are crooks. They raise fortunes to get elected and then they pay the piper with all sorts of pork. These Republicans in power have spent more money than Democrats and had a real pork fest in Washington. I'm disillusioned. I certainly did not vote a straight Republican ticket this time around.

[LadyNavyVet]

What is the religious right demanding that's going to cost anybody a cent? I'm a social conservative, but I'm for small government, too. There's no dichotomy there. Getting rid of partial birth abortion, supporting school choice, supporting traditional marriage, etc. are free to the taxpayers. Traditional Judeo-Christian values save the government money. Fewer out of wedlock births, one man and one woman in a traditional marriage, schools that aren't liberal cesspool money pits, people who believe they are accountable to God for the way they live their lives--all of that lessens the burden on government and eliminates the need for the Nanny state. A win-win.

[kenn5]

True, however, there at least two libertarians in the US congress that call themselves republicans - Ron Paul of Texas and Jeff Flake of Arizona.

[jackieaxe]

I am a Libertarian with libertarian ideals, however, after 911, I have only voted Republican because if we don't have a country what's the sense of arguing about anything. I voted Republican in spite of 6 years of growing the government at 2-3 times the inflation rate, no permanent tax cuts, "sensible immigration reform", No Child Left Behind, the Medicare Prescription bill, the anti-freedom drug war and banning of Internet poker. The thought of Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House of, Alcee Hastings heading the House Intelligence Committee (Hastings has been convicted of lying under oath and could not receive a security clearance if he wanted to be an assembler at Raytheon, but now he qualified to head the HIC?), and Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader makes me sick.

[Oberon]

I find doctrinaire libertarianism a bit whacky, but if I was a dedicated Libertarian, I would vote third party. If you really hold those beliefs, it's not a matter of picking the lesser of evils.

I would just like to vote for the party that is for maintaining the security of our borders, our property, and our nation, providing a criminal justice system, and otherwise reigning in the rampant Federal agencies and the rampant budget that supports them.

Once upon a time, Republicans were that party, but most of them don't even bother to talk the talk any more, let alone walk the walk.

I will probably hold my nose and vote mostly for Republicans today...but if there was a viable Libertarian on the ticket, I'd be all for it.

Thanks a lot, GOP. [sigh]