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05/31/2004 Archived Entry: "The Libertarian Party"

Posted by antle @ 12:33 PM EST [Link]

THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY IS TOAST: At least in this election. The LP had a real opportunity this year given the number of conservatives frustrated with the Bush administration's record on spending and government growth. They also had the potential to appeal to the growing number of non-liberal/non-socialist opponents of the Iraq war.

But instead of Aaron Russo or Gary Nolan, the Libertarians decided to nominate the most obscure candidate running. With the exception of 1980, the LP seems to top out at around 400,000 votes even when they run reputable candidates like Ron Paul or Harry Browne, so the odds were always somewhat against them influencing the outcome of the election. Maybe there is something about this guy I don't know, but it seems to me that the odds are longer now.

Note in the story the nominee's observation that if he would win the nomination (by prevailing among the convention's 800 delegates) he could win the election (in which there will probably be something like 100-110 million voters). This is the lack of seriousness that keeps a lot of small-l libertarians out of the Libertarian Party.