The 1 percent solution

November 24, 2007

Guest Post by Morbo

I get press releases from the Libertarian Party in my spam folder. I’m not sure why. One that arrived this week was typical: Party official bragging about how 2008 will be their breakthrough year.

“I believe 2008 will be a special year for Libertarians everywhere,” says Wayne Allyn Root, the party’s likely 2008 presidential nominee. “Polls show that American voters are ready – if not desperate – for a dramatic change; for a fresh and dynamic message; most importantly, for a credible, viable third party Presidential alternative.”

Yep. That could happen. It’s also possible that the decaying corpse of Richard M. Nixon will rise from the grave and fly a purple moose to the third moon of Saturn to open a nudist colony.

I’ve been hearing this Libertarian bluster for years. Back in 1980, when I first got interested in politics, a friend handed me a Libertarian Party newsletter. Some official had a column in there predicting that the party would capture 5 percent of the national vote and usher in a new era of politics.

Ed Clark, the Libertarian candidate that year, received 1.1 percent of the vote. No new era of politics was ushered in.

How has the party done since then? Not so well. Consider these figures:

1984: 0.25 percent
1988: 0.47 percent
1992: 0.28 percent
1996: 0.50 percent
2000: 0.36 percent
2004: 0.34 percent

Do you sense a pattern here? This is a party that had its best year 27 years ago, with 1.1 percent of the national vote. Yet to hear them yakking all over the internet, you’d think the country was ready to go over to the Libertarian platform next week.

Libertarians respond that they get people elected locally. And yes, on occasion they do. Forgive me for not being overly impressed by their ability to win slots on the Pottawattamie Park, Ind., City Council and the Gahanna, Ohio, City Council. Bring me a U.S. senator, and we’ll talk.

Why is this party going nowhere fast? Root, the party’s leading contender for the 2008 nomination, says people are ready for change. He’s right — but that doesn’t mean the people are ready for insanity. The Libertarian Party platform includes the following: ending all forms of social service programs (if you’re poor, go get help from family members or a church); abolishing the Postal Service; abolishing Social Security and completely deregulating the healthcare industry (no health care plan from these folks!)

I could not find it on the party’s Web site, but they used to talk about abolishing all environmental protection laws as well. Individual Libertarians are also prone to prattle on about the gold standard and allowing people to own surface-to-air missiles under the Second Amendment.

Far from a breakthrough year for the Libertarians, I see another result somewhere around .38 percent.

You’re right, of course.
But that won’t stop the Randroid Paulians from showing up in droves and spit their foaming propaganda.

  • I had a very vocal Libertarian acquaintance back in about 1980. I was intrigued by their views on social issues – greater civil liberties, the stupidity of our drug laws, etc. I even went to a Libertarian Party meeting. After fifteen minutes, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

    Humans are social animals like chimps and gorillas, not solitary animals like tigers who fiercely defend their territory. We live in groups. When we live in large groups, we need rules, laws, and structure. It’s called government. Sorry Libs, but that’s the way it its.

    Any good idea (such as personal freedom) taken to its extremes leads to conclusions that are batshit insane.

    OK, I’ll sit back now and wait for the shitstorm to hit.

  • First of all, here’s their website: http://www.lp.org/

    As I live in Alabama where I know my electoral college vote is going for the Republicans no matter whose lever I push, I vote Libertarian every time they manage to make it on the ballot. I consider it a monkeywrench vote, hoping they will earn enough votes to be permanently on the ballot and thus help destroy the myth of the two party system.

    As a party the Libertarian’s are, unfortunately shills of American corporatism. The day they put into policy that government corporate licenses are as much a form of welfare as food stamps, I will start to take them seriously. In the meantime, they are certainly entertaining to have around. Really, if CSPAN broadcasts their convention, enjoy the show.

  • Libertarians are the ones too illiterate to read Ayn Rand and become permanent sophomores. Now they’re all Paulies.

  • Their rhetoric almost sounds good at first blush, but falls apart as soon as you ask…

    So, who takes care of the town square?

    Closest I could get to an answer – “Oh, somebody’ll do it”

    Yeah, right.

  • There was, once upon a time in the great land of America, an annual phenomenon known as the circus parade. The troupe offloaded an the train station, paraded through town, and put up their tents somewhere on the outskirts. The only drawback was the mess left behind by the animals as they paraded through town—someone had to sweep up the mess.

    That era may be long gone, but the concept lives on today in the “Libertarians.” They march through our lives, leaving their excrement behind—and their encampment is still on the outskirts of the political village (I believe their “closest set-up” was mentioned as 1.1%). The only difference is that there isn’t anyone at the end of their parade to sweep up after the dancing bears, the performing horses, and the elephants….

  • Let me try this again. Wayne Root would be the best Libertarian Presidential candidate ever. He has the backing of the internet gaming community who is super-pissed off over the ban. Root also is well-funded, and has great ability to attract major media attention.

    As a Rudy supporter, I’m hoping he doesn’t get the Libertarian nomination. Root could pull 2 to 3 million votes easy. 90% of that would come out of the GOP column.

    The LP did quite well in the ’07 off-year elections. Fully 17% of their candidates won election to local city councils, mayorships, county supervisors and judges.

    The whole Ron Paul phenomena and the increased popularity of the word “libertarian” will help him, as well.

    I’ve been a Libertarian Party critique for years. But even I admit, they have some excellent prospects for ’08.

    As a Republican, I’m hoping that they nominate a 2nd tier candidate like dweeby George Phillies or the marijuana guy Steve Kubby, and not Root.

    Root could sway the election to Hillary Clinton, easily.

  • Libertarians are not all “Paulies.” Many of us are very much opposed to Paul and his candidacy.

    Paul used to be more on the Right. Now he’s become a leftist populist Bush-bashing almost Democrat. He hardly ever talks about cutting taxes and cutting spending any more. It’s all about opposing the War in Iraq.

    As a result, he’s lost a great many supporters. Many former Paulists have moved into the Rudy Giuliani camp. Giuliani represents the Goldwaterite values of Fiscal conservatism, Social tolerance and Strong on Defense much better than Paul.

    Eric Dondero, Fmr. Senior Aide
    US Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX)
    1997-2003

  • I simply can’t understand a political philosophy that rejects out of hand public sector solutions and actions. It’s like throwing out half your tools and equipment before beginning a construction project.

    Public, private, who cares? It’s the results that matter. There shouldn’t be any preference for how the job gets done, just that it does.

    Goals first, then the best methods to achieve them.

    It’s always seemed to me that Republicans and especially libertarians have it backwards. They don’t care what kind of society emerges, only that there’s no government in it.

  • So, who takes care of the town square?
    Closest I could get to an answer – “Oh, somebody’ll do it” — Barrett Wolf, @6

    The weird thing about that is that somebody *will*, actually. At least to begin with; until they get tired of cleaning up after everyone else, and/or get used to the mess.

    Back in ’71, I spent a summer in Utrecht (Netherlands), living in a tiny “socialist” dorm. There were only 10 of us — each in their own room — and we shared one kitchen and two bathrooms. Theoretically, everyone was supposed to take a turn at cleaning the common ground. In practice… The first week I was there, I went out and bought a load of cleaning supplies and scrubbed one of the bathrooms till it shone. Everyone was impressed and amused at the same time. And everyone said OK, now is my turn. Next week, I scrubbed again, since nobody else had. And the next week. By the fourth week, I was ready to give up but then my “squeeze” (now my husband) joined us and he did the kitchen, so I did our bathroom again. He then left to go back to the States and I said “screw this” and lived in filth for the remaining four weeks.

    That, to me was the microcosm of a truly libertarian society…

  • Most people I’ve met who call themselves Libertarians never vote for their own party. They’re almost always Republicans who disagree with one strain of conservatism or another that dominates their party, or Democrats who have been suckered in by the whole total-deregulation scam.

    My point is that it seems worthwhile to note there appear to be a lot more Libertarians than 0.50% but that most of them just end up not voting for their party.

  • Re: #9:

    I’m confused by this statement:

    “Let me try this again. Wayne Root would be the best Libertarian Presidential candidate ever. He has the backing of the internet gaming community who is super-pissed off over the ban. Root also is well-funded, and has great ability to attract major media attention.”

    First, what ban? There seems to be some context missing there.

    Second, that you make that claim shows you don’t know anything about Internet gaming. Hold on, let me ask all my gaming friends if they know who Wayne Root is or if they plan to vote Libertarian. Nope, none of them. Your statement is a joke. As a community, gamers are not so politically aware as to know much if anything about the Libertarian party or its candidate. As a regular reader of TCR I think I’m probably more politically aware than most and even I didn’t know who the Libertarian candidate was until I read this post. And the time I could be spending getting my WoW on, I prefer to spend reading stuff like this site and Glenn Greenwald.

    Sorry for responding to day-old comments, I just felt that needed to be addressed.

  • ***eric dondero*** If you’re a Rudy supporter then you are insane and for total war all the time and a police state where the corporations rule everything. Hold your head in shame for supporting a blathering egomaniac who thinks waterboarding just needs to be done right by the right people. If Cheney had a rectal prolapse the result would be Rudy Guiliani. If you don’;t know what a joke he is then it’s because you don’t want to know.
    And since you start off by saying you’re a Rudy supporter then anything else you say is full of crap. If you were a senior aid to anybody then it is a slur on them. To support Rudy is an admission of violent stupidity.

  • 28 yrs of conservative economic policies since Reagan and we have become the largest debtor in the world rather than the largest creditor; the largest exporter of raw materials instead of the largest importer; the largest importer of of manufactured goods rather than the largest exporter; we have lost unionized labor and the middle class with most of our wealth concentrated into the hands of the top 3%. Now the dollar has fallen to the point that oil exporters are saying they are getting the same amount of money for a barrel of oil as they did 6yrs. ago because of the fallen dollar. Countries around the world are saying what should we accept the dollar anymore since it is not backed by anything except American economics and the promise to pay. America is becoming a third world country thanks to these conservative policies. No republicans. We can’t afford them anymore.

  • You don’t mention other things Libertarians would get rid of:

    Drug laws that incarcerate harmless users.
    Prostitution laws that cause pimps and VD-laden workers.
    Border patrols that are ineffective and costly. (Prosecute employers of illegals instead.)
    The Patriot Act
    Abortion restrictions
    Corporate Welfare

    Sure, Libertarians attract naive idealists. That’s who shows up groups with no hope.
    It just so happens that many of the ideas third parties have are good ones and not worthy of ridicule.

  • Libertarians would also get rid of stop signs, as they only impinge on their right to make free choices at intersections. And, I suppose, we should all just pave our own damn roads.

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