On the 2nd of November 2004 I had the honor of voting for Libertarian Party presidential candidate Michael Badnarik and spending election night with vice-presidential candidate Richard Campagna watching the election returns come in, discussing politics and drinking a lot. I started this site the following weekend, posting some thoughts on reassessing the Libertarian Party. The LP has a serious image problem.
Virtually everyone I talk to about the LP or libertarianism has misconceptions about what it is, what the principles really mean, and even what the Constitution says! Once I take the time to explain a few things, most of them say they agree and will strongly consider voting Libertarian. — Yours Truly
Tim West has revisited the issue and proposed a roadmap for remaking the Libertarian Party into an alternative to the Republicans and Democrats that actually has a chance of real political success in 2008.
The Libertarian Party could fill this vacuum that I have talked about here before in 2008, but only if the steps to build the base we need are done between now and the 2006 Convention. The [dominant] issues in 2008 will be ones tailor made for the LP, but there is no time to waste. Unless the LP platform is revised to become a political document our candidates can run on without being attacked on it, and the Party widens [its] base, we wont get there. I submit these 5 steps to getting the LP into a position where the Democrats & Republicans will take us seriously in 2008. — Tim West
I would have had this posted much sooner, but Tim’s site used to be at a different address. He moved it, and the old address simply went down without any notice as to where the new site was. Oh well. Now we all know. Liberty For Sale is now back in my list of links.
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
Gardner Goldsmith reveals many of the myths and lies behind Barack Obama's push for medical fascism. Then, he reveals the shocking attitude of Tom Brokaw, who believes government health plans are good, and that those very same medical plans should restrict expenditures on "the elderly."
The census -- like so many government programs -- has grown far beyond what the framers of our Constitution intended. The invasive nature of the current census raises serious questions about how and why government will use the collected information. It also demonstrates how the federal bureaucracy consistently encourages citizens to think of themselves in terms of groups, rather than as individual Americans.
Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works license.
Video published by this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Sampling+ license.
Facebook
Digg
del.icio.us
reddit.com
Newsvine
Mark J
Jun 23, 2005
Making the Libertarian Party a contending national party cannot come to pass without a period of Democrat dominance. Even then, you can’t be sure that people won’t go running back to the Republican party. 8-16 years of Democrat presidents will likely scare people, but you can never tell where they’ll run for solace.
Of course, there is always the possibility that if the LP starts to suck votes away from Republicans, the GOP will move toward a more libertarian platform. I tend to think of libertarianism as an ideal, and will support the people who have the best chance of implementing it.
Asking libertarian-minded voters to hand victories to the Democratic party (which is certainly the most anti-libertarian) in the hopes that as the Republican party wanes, the Libertarian party will be able to spring up and replace it, may be asking for too much foresight on the part of those voters.
Timothy West
Jun 23, 2005
Thanks for the ink!
There will be a major shift in American Politics over the next few years. If the LP sets the stage, it wont be the LP thats minor, it will be the Republicans. This war by Bush is getting ready to be unmasked as a plot, with the facts hidden from view and the policy pre made upon election. Americans dont like being made fools of, and the winds are shifting. Watch for it in about a years time.
They’ll get punished hard in the 2006 elections.
Wade
Jun 24, 2005
As someone who has actually run for public office under the Libertarian banner, I’m convinced that the LP won’t ever be taken seriously until they move away from pure, uncompromising, tinfoil-hat Libertarianism to an actual acceptible mainstream political philosophy, including making some compromises.
The state and local parties I’ve seen are far too concerned with making sure everyone knows about how counter-culture they are, and how they’re the only hope to save society from the evil Demopulicans, that they come off like nutcases to voters. Sure, they get to keep their pride and say, unlike Demopublicans, they NEVER have to compromise, but the flip side to that is that they never have to worry about being elected, either.
A few targeted, well-supported LP races with candidates who can present an electable face would be a good strategy, IMHO.
Aug 01, 2005
Fred Collins for Mayor - IO ERROR