Libertarians Eye Wyoming for Relocation of 20,000 Persons

Cheyenne, Wyoming Tribune-Eagle ^ | 07-23-03 | Olson, Ilene

[MineralMan]

"Last I heard, they had set their sights on Idaho, not Wyoming."

I can see it now...20K new potato farmers. And they'd make up less than 1.4% of Idaho's population.

But, I don't want to discourage them from moving...not by any means. That would get rid of the idiot who runs for state Assembly here every election as a Libertarian. His main issue: He doesn't like the fact that the local Board of Supervisors is making him clean up the garbage dump that is his 5-acres. He manages about 100 votes each election, but wastes a heckuva lot of time at Supervisors meetings, each of which he attends and addresses.

His moving to Wyoming or Idaho would be a blessing.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

BUMP!!

[HurkinMcGurkin]

As another poster pointed out, they will represent 4% of the pop.

That, of course, is assuming that Wyoming has a zero "libertarian population". I assume otherwise. I also assume that the State is populated by people similar to those who say "Libertarians can't win, so I dont vote for them". An influx of 20,000 die-hard libertarians may persuade many other residence, over time, to vote Libertarian. No one is proposing that anything will change overnight.

[MineralMan]

"Sounds a little like Ayn Rands group of businessmen who founded a freemarket town in a secluded valley"

Wasn't there a Twilight Zone episode about a group like that?

[Jack Black]

Click Logo to Vist their site.

[MineralMan]

"The Wyoming Libertarian Party today claims major party status,
> according to Dave Dawson, Wyoming Libertarian Party Spokesman. LP
> candidate Marie Brossman, in the race for Secretary of State, received
> 29,000 votes, or 17% of the total.
"

From the web site of the Wyoming Libetarian party. One candidate managed to get 17% of the vote. However, that does not mean all 17% were libertarians.

Still, suppose all 20K of the Free Staters had also voted for her. She would then have received about 30% of the vote. Probably still not enough to win this single state office.

[Jack Black]

author does not seem to grasp the difference between libertarians and Libertarians either.

Well neither does DOS, Windows or Google. But Unix does.

Seriously the "little l, big L" thing has to be one of the stupidist inside jokes ever and hurt both sides. Somebody should rename for clarity.

[HurkinMcGurkin]

Still, suppose all 20K of the Free Staters had also voted for her. She would then have received about 30% of the vote. Probably still not enough to win this single state office.

I don't know. If the Libertarian Party could get 30%, then the Republicans and Democrats would probably split the other 70% in some elections. If even 5%(and definitley if 10%) of each party crossed over and voted Libertarian, they could very well have a chance. Not saying it will happen, but I don't think its as unlikely as some may think.

[JohnGalt]

Rather like republican versus Republican, no?

[Jack Black]

what is interesting is that it was an R vs. an L with no D running. That is a good trend, even if th L loses it shows the politics have shifted away from socialism.

[Jack Black]

The vote was something like 140,000 for the R and 40,000 for the L.

[Jack Black]

No vote has taken place, so any comments about what state has been picked are premature. We'll all know in September.

[MineralMan]

"I don't know. If the Libertarian Party could get 30%, then the Republicans and Democrats would probably split the other 70% in some elections. If even 5%(and definitley if 10%) of each party crossed over and voted Libertarian, they could very well have a chance. Not saying it will happen, but I don't think its as unlikely as some may think."

So, I went and looked up the results for the 2002 election. In the Sec. of State election mentioned, no Democrat ran at all. In the race for their Congressperson, where there was a Dem. candidate, the Libertarian party managed almost 6000 votes, about 3%. In the race for Governor, also with a Dem. Candidate, they pulled almost 4000 votes, about 2%.

The extra 20K Libertarian voters, assuming they all agreed on a candidate, would have not affected any of the elections in any way.

Add to that the inevitable annoyance the Wyoming population would feel at being invaded by a bunch of 20-something, overweight Linux programmers and a bunch of drug-promoters, and the effect would be even less.

Still, I should stop discouraging this movement. I'm all for it, and Wyoming is a great place for them to go. It's nicely isolated, and I can switch to hunting in Colorado or Montana instead.

[G L Tirebiter]

As Mark Steyn had pointed out in one of his columns, this is what DID happen to Vermont - except it was lefties/flower childern/tree huggers and Ben & Jerry lickers who migrated there.

A relatively small number of newcomers now deliver Leahy to the Senate and Sanders to the House.

[HurkinMcGurkin]

Do you know if, or how often, someone runs for office in Wyoming on the Libertarian ticket?

[bassmaner]

I can't see the Feds allowing this to happen in Wyoming (re: Cheyenne Mountain).

[HurkinMcGurkin]

Lies. I'd tell you to think again, but its obvious you didn't think the first time. But that's typical of the libertarian bashers.

[Jack Black]

This is just a dumb idea. Almost like a cult-thing where you give up your current life, move across the country and hope for a miracle that's never going to come.

Just what folks who staying in Europe told your grandparents, no doubt. Were the doubters right? They and their kids got to stay and enjoy two centuries of war, the holocaust, and depending where they were from another 50 years of totalitarian communist rule. Now they get four weeks vacation though.

Millions move HERE every year, basically for more FREEDOM and the benefits freedom delivers, like a vibrant economy. What is so odd about people moving to a state to get more of the same. I think people do it all the time. The migration west is largely about that. I lived in NYC for a year, and when I got to California I felt much freer. For one thing I could buy a gun. That's a big deal. Trying buying a gun in NYC. I did. You can't. Only the elites are entrusted. So I just view this as a little more organized version of what happens anyway. It's good for states to compete, right? The laboratory of the states. Clearly some states like NY, California and Mass. are choosing to go to a more socialist, high tax style of life. There needs to be alternatives, and there are. I've moved twice since that move at age 20 to California, always in the direction of states that I percieve are more free.

One of the best things about the FSP is that they did a lot of work to get real facts on things like all forms of taxation in various places so you can use their data for whatever reason you want. Including moving to a state that you think is better than where you are, either alone or with 20,000 friends.

[MineralMan]

You can go here for the Wyoming Election results for 2002. That's where I got my stats. Libertarians ran for Governor, Sec. of State, and for US Congressional representative. All lost miserably.

http://soswy.state.wy.us/election/2002/results/02result.htm