NoDonkey, you will end up despising your fellow Republicans too. Because a great many of us GOPers are voting for Bob Barr. It’s not just the Libertarian Party.
ericdondero on August 18, 2008 at 5:37 PM

Do you think that you’ll get more than 397,265 votes this time?

I’m thinking maybe up to 600,000. Nationally.

Conversation over. Troother. ‘Nuff said.

As it is, the Republican Party chose ho-hum John McCain, who is far from being a libertarian.

Tell me Mr. Donkey, why should any libertarian be excited about McCain for President?

Because the Republican Party has completely ignored libertarian concerns. What libertarian issues has the GOP championed as of late? Tax Cuts? Property Rights? Marijuana Legalization? Repeal of Seat Belt Laws? Ending Affirmative Action?

And McCain, worse than any of the GOP primary candidates has ignored libertarians. Though admittedly, not like Huckabee who went out of his way to bad mouth us.

I personally contacted the higher-ups in the McCain Campaign immediately after he clinched the nomination. I suggested that he consider making an appearance at the Libertarian Party National Convention. At first I got a curious but positive response. Then they came back a week later with a “no” with no explanation.

Since, McCain has done absolutely nothing to reach out to libertarians. No meetings with the heads of the Cato Institute. No Editorial Board meetings with Reason Magazine. Not even a phone call to the Republican Liberty Caucus.

He is clearly not interested in reaching out to libertarians, even libertarians within his own Party.

So, how should libertarians react? Support him anyway?

We might have done this if the Libertarian Party had nominated a far-out extremist as they’ve done in the past. But this time they’ve made a giant leap towards the mainstream with Bob Barr and Wayne Root.

So, you’ve got McCain and the Republicans ignoring Libertarians. Meanwhile, you’ve got the Libertarian Party moving to the middle.

If you were a Libertarian Republican what would you do?

Eric Dondero, fmr. Senior Aide
US Congressman Ron Paul 1997-2003
Founder, Republican Liberty Caucus
20 year member of the Republican Party

How, by bolstering the Democrat Party in order to make the Republican Party as irrelevant as the Libertarian Party?

Why must the strategy be to defeat the party most reflective of libertarian views, in order to punish the American people by putting a bunch of Marxists/statists/nanny state lunatics into office? Whose “work” on behalf of making us all slaves to the state will take decades if not centuries to undo?

If Bob Barr and the Libertarians succeed in drawing enough of the vote away from McCain and to Barr, therefore electing Obama, I and many conservatives who have many libertarian views will end us despising the libertarian party. This is not the way to build your membership, it’s just a cheap ploy to get publicity.

Used to be. I admit. Throughout the 1990s the Party was controlled by a bunch of Anarchists like Harry Browne and Michael Emerling.

But in the last few years, since 2005, the LP has mainstreamed quite significantly.

Many of us are working diligently to blur the lines between Republican and Libertarian. Yes, many of those listed at MainstreamLibertarian.com are both Republicans and Libertarians. And that’s PRECISELY how it should be!

In which case Barr would take from some conservatives disaffected (to say the least) with McCain.

Michael in MI on August 18, 2008 at 9:46 AM

Conservatives disaffected with John McCain? The most conservative Republican candidate since, since, since … … … well since George W. Bush. How can that be? Oh, say it ain’t so Michael.

Ay, currumba!

great post

It’s kinda amusing to see people say they are voting for Barr because he wants to seal our southern border. Er, that’s what he said in 1999-2001. Today’s Barr is way more into the open border than McCain, and possibly even more than Obama. The LP stance on the border is that we shouldn’t have one because borders only restrict the free flow of people.

crazy

Barr’s positions and I think his presidential run is a bad idea, but he has always struck me as a serious, thoughtful man and candidate, and his policies rational and intriguing.

Having lived close to his congressional district, I’m sorry to say that your impressions are incorrect. The guy really is almost as embarrassing as Cynthia McKinney.

Barr’s candidacy in a single sentence would be, “I was a terrible Congressman, which is why I’m now running for President.”

I consider myself somewhat a libertarian but now that they’ve elected Barr simply to steal votes from the Republicans in order to elect a Marxist President, makes me hostile to the party. I won’t even slightly consider Libertarian candidates anytime in the future.

Further, Over 500 elected Libertarians serving in public office nationwide, including Mayors, Town Councilmen, and County Supervisors. That’s twice as many elected officials as all other minor parties combined.

Are these people that ran under the LP banner or are they mostly just Republicans that you are calling Libertarian. Because most of the “Elected Libertarians” listed on your website with names I recognize are actually Republicans. There’s a big difference between holding some small-l libertarian views (like I and a lot of Republicans do) and actually being a member of the LP. The LP holds a lot of views that many of the Republicans listed on your website would probably deem “fringe” (like on immigration and national security). I don’t think it’s right to say that anybody who holds any small-l libertarian views is automatically a de facto member of the Libertarian Party.

You still haven’t explained why it’s ok for you to use the same rhetoric that Putin uses.

That’s twice as many elected officials as all other minor parties combined.

Yeah. Such as the communist party. And the Socialist party. And the Socialist workers party. And the Peace and Freedom party. In the last election, the libertarian party got 0.32% of the vote. But I wouldn’t call that “fringe.”

That “fringe” Libertarian Party you talk of Donkeyboy, has just gotten on the ballot in 48 states.

Further, Over 500 elected Libertarians serving in public office nationwide, including Mayors, Town Councilmen, and County Supervisors. That’s twice as many elected officials as all other minor parties combined.

I’d hardly call that “fringe.”

I found the Washington Post piece this morning to be quite positive for our boy Bob, admittedly colorful, but a positive none-the-less.

Like Bob’s taste in music – Pink Floyd and Bob Marley.

This was a piece on Bob Barr the Man (and his lovely wife). Not a boring-ass policy wonker article. I’m sure the WP will do much of that in the weeks to come.

Eric at Libertarian Republican blog

Michael in MI on August 18, 2008 at 9:41 AM

The leftists have worked long and hard at creating the pathetic state of today’s Republican Party and they would have to start all over again if a new party rose in its place. Think of the success of the early Republicans as the Whigs petered out. The Democrats realize by that history lesson that it is to their benefit to keep the opposition party in a weak but breathing state.

so the pro-life part may be what the Post/libs don’t like about Barr….plus don’t forget the Clinton impeachment angle.

jp on August 18, 2008 at 10:02 AM

We have the two-part answer on why the hit piece was done. Getting revenge for the impeachment of Clinton is more important than anything else for the Left.

Putin is also “Prime Minister for Life”, hardly elected at this point. the KGB runs the place like a mafia outfit, one party rule. Dissent is crushed, literally…Eastern Bock countries leaders are poisoned and now he’s doing ethnic cleansing in Georgia. A place that has “Free Markets” and some Classical Liberalism and share Western Values.