Should a libertarian support Paladino and O’Donnell?

But there is a delicate, almost aesthetic question that remains: Do we back candidates like Carl Paladino and Christine O’Donnell—people we wouldn’t ask home to dinner, except in a “Dinner for Schmucks” sense? Put another way: Is our thirst for a resounding defeat for the statist Democrats so great that some of us would be prepared to swallow a mouthful of “Paladonnell” rotgut along with the premier cru of a GOP victory in the House, the Senate, and elsewhere?

Personally, I would love to see Paladino and O’Donnell lose, since they’ve distracted attention from the small-government message by adding in their own social conservatism and cultural weirdness. Republican primary voters need to be reminded to be more grown-up, and practical. But there are, of course, many libertarians who would tend to think that anything is better—yes, even Paladino and O’Donnell—than Democrats endorsed by public-employee unions.