Comments on: Libertarians as a Major Party by 2026

By: MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 00:15:58 +0000

“Libertarians” Are Fruitcakes

In which I piss off a bunch of my readers, yet again

I realize slagging L/libertarians is going to piss off all kinds of people, because this is the blogosphere (where L/libertar(d)ians are ridiculously overrepresented) but I don’t care. Via s...

By: ICallMasICM

ICallMasICM — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 19:31:41 +0000

Off the top of my head LPA candidate Harry Browne received almost a million votes for POTUS in '96 Bednaril received around 300,000 in '04. I'd anticipate similar results in the future.

By: Multiple Mentality

Multiple Mentality — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 15:21:16 +0000

No Third-Party System

The problem with the Libertarians is that they refuse to simply back up what they’re saying with the underlying message: people should be free to be responsible for themselves, and no one else should be responsible for the actions of an individ...

By: McGehee

McGehee — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 14:48:51 +0000

If you think what we have in health care right now is a âfree marketâ, you need to be beat about the head with a first semester economics text book.

Thank you Stormy -- that was my thought precisely. As for the "two-party" system we allegedly have in this country, I don't think so -- more of a one-and-a-half-party system, in which one or the other is persistently ascendant over the other with only brief interludes during which the lesser party gets a chance to remind people why they're the lesser party. You don't generally find a lesser party holding both houses of Congress for a decade, for example...

By: The Liberty Papers»Blog Archive » A Three Party System ?

The Liberty Papers»Blog Archive » A Three Party System ? — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 14:30:28 +0000

[...] James Joyner at Outside The Beltway points to this post by Scott Elliott where he predicts the emergence of the Libertarian Party as a true third party within twenty years: Here’s the reason why: Many Americans are libertarian at heart - they just don’t recognize it…yet. These folks believe in less restrictions on behaviors (a liberal or Democratic view) and less involvement by the government in economic issues (a conservative or Republican view). Right now, many closet Libertarians are counted among the two major political parties. As Democrats continue to espouse increasingly liberal economic policies - such as universal healthcare - it is becoming more and more difficult for libertarians in their ranks to remain. Likewise, philosophical libertarians in the GOP are getting increasingly uncomfortable with the growing influence of the values-based politics - such as pro-life policies and the Defense of Marriage Act - in their party. These forces in both major parties that run contrary to their more libertarian brethren are showing no signs of backing off. As a result, I predict a slow steady bleed of philosophical libertarians from both the Democrats and Republicans. This migration will produce, sometime in the next two or three decades, a political system with three major partisan players. Elliott is right that there is a subset of the American electorate that is, in some sense, libertarian at heart. It doesn’t necessarily follow, however, that this means success for the Libertarian Party, for several reasons. [...]

By: Below The Beltway

Below The Beltway — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 12:05:48 +0000

A Three Party System ?

James Joyner at Outside The Beltway points to this post by Scott Elliott where he predicts the emergence of the Libertarian Party as a true third party within twenty years:

By: Kelley Ritchey

Kelley Ritchey — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 06:03:21 +0000

Believing in the viability of a third party in the United States ignores the political system. There is only room for two parties and the core beliefs of those parties will subtly shift to the fashion of the electorate.

Yes, other countries have viable third and minority parties, but with dramatically different political systems.

By: Tano

Tano — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 04:57:53 +0000

For the Libertarians, or any other party, to become a viable third party, the dems and repubs would need to decide not to co-opt what might be a rising public sentiment for libertarian policies. The two major parties have survived for so long precisely because they have always managed to co-opt fringe movements that threaten to catch on with the public. I see no reason to suspect that if libertarianism became more popular, that the two parties wouldnt succesfully weave such policies into their platforms.

By: Kevin O'Connell

Kevin O'Connell — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 03:16:37 +0000

If anyone needs to etimate how viable the Libertarians will be in the future surf into http://www.fec.gov and read their financial reports.

First thing you will see are a large number of amended reports. This is because they have so mismanaged their accounts and books that they have been unable to submit accurate reports for about two years.

For their latest report you will see that they ended November with with a net worth in the negative, -$17,000.00 and some change.

Begining this month they will no longer charge membership dues which is a sudden drop in income they are dependant upon. They are on the edge of bankruptcy.

For the Libertarians to become a major party they must learn basic finances just to fund becoming less weird.

By: Stormy Dragon

Stormy Dragon — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 02:32:44 +0000

>Iâm not necessarily arguing for universal
>healthcare, but the âfree marketâ clearly isnât
>cutting it.

If you think what we have in health care right now is a "free market", you need to be beat about the head with a first semester economics text book.

By: Say Anything - North Dakota’s Most Popular Political Blog » Libertarians To Be A National Party By 2026

Tue, 03 Jan 2006 01:52:48 +0000

[...] I think this is right on. Sort of. [...]

By: Steve Verdon

Steve Verdon — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 01:19:21 +0000

James, When you discuss the weirdness of the Libertarian Party you should always include a picture of the Libertarian candidate who turned himself blue by taking colodial silver. From what I read he thought Y2K was a serious issue and that it would lead to a shortage of antibiotics. I guess some people believe colodial silver is the answer. Definitely qualifies as weird, IMO.

By: Anderson

Anderson — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 00:55:27 +0000

Concur with JJ.

I can sooner see the Republicans splitting between their business and fundamentalist wings.

(For the Democrats to split, there would first have to be a coherent Democratic Party. Otherwise it would be like the Dorothy Parker quip: "How can you tell?")

By: bryan

bryan — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 00:11:16 +0000

Agreed that the libertarians need to become less weird. But the author misses the point on healthcare. I'd consider myself something of a conservative libertarian, but I also think the healthcare system is a monetary sinkhole. I'm not necessarily arguing for universal healthcare, but the "free market" clearly isn't cutting it.