Libertarians can indeed learn a lot from the Democrats.
Take Dennis Kucinich whose ideology is closely aligned to those of Ralph Nader, but insists in supporting Barack Hussein Obama as he calls for all Democrats to support the Democratic Candidate. Dennis, who is usually dismissed within his own Party and seen as a radical or a purist took the high road instead.
Take Hillary Clinton who expected a coronation but did not expect the fanfare that occurred with Obama. Hillary earned around 18 million votes and could have very easily disrupted the convention. Hillary could have held a brokered convention and make a case of her election as the nominee instead of Obama, but, she nonetheless, for the good of the Party, conceded and has done everything in her power to unify the Party and support Obama. Do not underestimate how hard this is for any Clinton to do. Both Hillary and Bill Clinton gave arousing speeches in the Democratic Convention asking, urging, and making a case for unity. Democrats understand that unity and their message to the American public is larger than any differences between the candidates themselves.
The Democrats have been successful because of their ability to hold a Tent big enough to welcome all, as long as they maintain the basic principles of the Party.
This is the kind of maturity needed within The Libertarian Party. Many libertarians do not hold this level of maturity and would rather cut their nose to spite their face.
This, of course, occurs in all Third Parties, which in my opinion is what I call growing pains and is unavoidable. But it will be the Party that can best maneuver through these growing pains that will succeed in the end.
As a supporter of the Libertarian Party, I urge all of us to stand together and support the Libertarian Candidate for President and do all that we can to help Bob Barr succeed in November. Smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom is what unifies all of us.
©2008 Jonathan Cymberknopf, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Thursday, August 28, 2008
Last modified: Thursday, August 28, 2008
The views expressed in this article are those of Jonathan Cymberknopf only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Jonathan Cymberknopf is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
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Reader Comments:
Posted By: Steve
Date: 2008-08-28 11:04:39
Johnathan,
I hope you have read what you have written and that you ratchet down your own verbal attacks on all other Libertarians.
Posted By: James R.
Date: 2008-08-28 11:45:30
So, Jonathan, you're advising members of the "Party of Principle" to abandon some of their principles for Bob Barr's ambiguous promises of smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.
Exactly (and I want percentages, please) how smaller a government, lower taxes by how much and, I know this may be hard to measure but you brought it up, how much more freedom?
I anxiously await your reply.
Posted By: Jonathan
Date: 2008-08-28 11:59:00
Dear James,
I am asking for Unity for the principles of the Party remain intact.
I sympathize with you that your choice for candidate would have been much different. But it is what it is. For the good of the Party and to advance the Party's principles we should all support our candidate.
This is a cut and paste from www.bobbarr2008.com from the ISSUES section on Government Spending written by Bob Barr :
"Every area of federal spending can and should be cut. Entitlements must be reformed and welfare should be cut, including subsidies for business sometimes called corporate welfare. Military outlays should be reduced and pork barrel spending eliminated. Needless, duplicative, and wasteful programs, most of which have no constitutional basis, should be terminated."
This in of itself is good enough for me and no candidate out there running for President comes close to this. There is much more stuff under the Issues page but I gather you know this. I'm hoping for unity but you know the old saying you can't make everybody happy all the time.
Best Wishes
Jonathan
Posted By: James R.
Date: 2008-08-28 12:09:32
"Every area of federal spending can and should be cut. Entitlements must be reformed and welfare should be cut, including subsidies for business sometimes called corporate welfare. Military outlays should be reduced and pork barrel spending eliminated. Needless, duplicative, and wasteful programs, most of which have no constitutional basis, should be terminated."
"Ambiguity, the devil's plaything." - Emo Philips
Posted By: James R.
Date: 2008-08-28 12:56:27
Main priorities:
Immediately reduce the federal budget by 50%.
Immediately repeal the federal income tax.
Balance the federal budget immediately.
Sell federal assets and use the proceeds to pay off the federal debt.
Privatize Social Security.
Bring all American troops home.
From Harry Browne's 2000 LP Presidential Campaign. Now, is that so hard?
Posted By: Haigh
Date: 2008-08-28 13:52:32
James R, Great list of positions. So which POTUS candidate with likely ballot access on 40 or more states most closely approximates the positions you advocate?
Posted By: James R.
Date: 2008-08-28 14:56:20
None of them. But, if the LP is smart, they will once again court ex New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. He walked the walk.
Posted By: Haigh
Date: 2008-08-28 16:00:16
A future LP courtship for Gary Johnson would benefit from Bob Barr pulling record vote totals into the LP column in 2008.
Posted By: James R.
Date: 2008-08-28 16:29:43
Haigh. I agree completely. I am voting for Barr as his candidacy will help pave the way for, hopefully, Gary Johnson.
Posted By: Haigh
Date: 2008-08-28 16:37:49
James R, It is refreshing to find we are on the same page.
Posted By: Robert Capozzi
Date: 2008-08-28 19:08:22
James R.,
WRITING your list is easy as pie. DOING (undoing) your list, profoundly difficult, in the short term.
Posted By: James R.
Date: 2008-08-28 22:06:20
Robert,
Having no list is easiest of them all. Bob ain't got no list.
Posted By: FormerLPMember
Date: 2008-08-29 00:51:41
Jonathan,
This is a cut and paste of the first paragraph from [link edited for length] from the ISSUES section:
Throughout his distinguished career, Bob Barr has proven that he is the leader Americans need to restore confidence of the American people in the future of their nation. Both working for the American people as a Congressman from Georgia and afterwards partnering with groups dedicated to protecting civil liberties, Bob has shown a commitment to shrinking government and giving power back to the people.
It is hard to skip the fact that he seems proud and boastful of his so called distinguished career as a republican congressman and a paid lobbyist.
Do you think his voting record [link edited for length] is libertarian or something to brag about now as the LP’s presidential candidate?
Posted By: James R.
Date: 2008-08-29 08:31:07
Good post, Former. So far I Bob has had NO success in repealing the Barr Amendment other than getting a lobbyist's paycheck from MPP. (If he was truly repentant he would have lobbied for them pro bono. His "Defense of Marriage Act" is still being tested and the so-called Patriot Act still bears his signature.
But don't give up, Former. My crystal ball tells me that the LP will have 2 great candidates in 2012, one who's climbed Mount Everest and the other a former Navy Seal. And both with a more libertarian political past than Bob Barr.
Posted By: James Maynard
Date: 2008-08-29 08:50:07
It doesn't seem to me that the Dems have such a large tent. Many, or most, of us FSPers in NH (where Barr is polling 10-11%!) are beyond party labels. We (again, for the most part) are open to working with people of any party or independents on a per-issue basis. But the Rs are FAR more willing to work with us than the Ds. I gotta agree with you at the end though... Barr '08! JM
Posted By: Mike Blevins
Date: 2008-08-29 11:23:28
Let's see now....
Democrat Party Principles: Create an ever larger and larger dependent class. Promise them the moon and soak the "rich" to pay for it.
Republican Party Principles: Loudly tout high-minded libertarian-sounding ideals like self-reliance, low taxes, and limited government; then, once elected, govern as much like Democrats as possible.
Libertarian Party Principles: Tightly hold high-minded utopian ideals that the average American will not be able to swallow all at once, then cut everyone off at the knees that doesn't agree with you. (Wow, that's a formula for grow there! Gonna transform the nation with that one)
Posted By: James R.
Date: 2008-08-29 13:23:46
"Libertarian Party Principles: Tightly hold high-minded utopian ideals that the average American will not be able to swallow all at once, then cut everyone off at the knees that doesn't agree with you. (Wow, that's a formula for grow there! Gonna transform the nation with that one)"
Almost worked for Ron Paul. Based on money raised, Barr's LINO approach isn't working nearly as well.
Posted By: Mike Blevins
Date: 2008-08-29 14:38:52
Uhh....excuse me? Ron Paul is no utopian idealist. Yes, he holds strong libertarian positions, but as a U.S. Congressman, he also has the pragmatic sense to know he can't get everything he wants at one time. He is well versed in the principles of incrementalism. He understands that 'even the longest journey begins with just one step.' Ron Paul would love to abolish the IRS, for instance, (wouldn't ge all?) but he'd settle for lowering the current tax burden. He'd call that a move in the right direction. Having achieved that, he would begin pushing for another reduction. That's how it's done. Incrementally. Pragmatically. I have heard libertarians come in these blogs and summarily reject out of hand anything or anyone that doesn't go all the way immediately. That's a formula for political obsurity in the United State of America. It gets branded as lunatic fringe and rightly so.
Posted By: Jonathan
Date: 2008-08-29 14:58:19
wow I never imagined UNITy is such a tough concept for people to understand and get behind.
Oh well, everybody for McCain instead and support the Two Party system. The hell with advancing the principles of The Libertarian Party, the hell with achieving automatic ballot access in 2012 thus saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in petitioning, the hell with the only candidate who is for less government pending, the hell with FISA. Let's endorse the Two Party system.
Posted By: James R.
Date: 2008-08-29 15:22:17
Jonathan, once again you've got it wrong. I am voting for Bob Barr. He's paving the way for Gary Johnson. Heard of him?
p.s. Mike, Has Bob Barr said he'd lower our tax burden? Nope.
Posted By: James R.
Date: 2008-08-29 15:26:11
Jonathan, once again you've got it wrong. I am voting for Bob Barr. He's paving the way for Gary Johnson. Heard of him?
p.s. Mike, Has Bob Barr said he'd lower our tax burden? Nope. He dances around the issue on his Issues page, but never specifically states how much lower my taxes will be.
Posted By: Mike Blevins
Date: 2008-08-29 21:30:19
James, don't throw Bob Barr up in my face. I'm not an apologist for Bob Barr, nor am I responsible for the positions he has chosen. My beef is with the utopianism of some in the Libertarian Party. As for Barr, he is at least doing something that neither Obama nor McCain will do: he has proposed radical changes in the current tax system. He has also proposed abolishing cabinet-level federal departments like Education and Commerce. Like you, I would like to hear something more specific from Mr. Barr on taxes.
Posted By: James R.
Date: 2008-08-30 10:33:10
Mike, I'm no utopian. If I walk into a store looking for a new computer I don't expect one for free. I do expect, however, to know the exact price I will be paying. And if there is a discount, I want to know exactly how much I'll be saving.
If Bob Barr were the salesperson at said store, he'd probably say something to me like, "This computers costs more than it should so hand me some cash and maybe I'll be able to return some of it back to you possibly someday."
Posted By: Mike Blevins
Date: 2008-08-30 20:53:08
LOL. You may have something there, James! Incidentally, my 'utopian' comment wasn't directed at you.
Posted By: James R.
Date: 2008-08-31 09:55:06
Thanks, Mike. It seems like we're seeing things from similar perspectives.
Posted By: Mike Blevins
Date: 2008-09-01 21:16:30
Maybe I'm just naive, but I'd like to see all of us of libertarian stripe get behind Bob Barr's candidacy. I think it would do wonders to build the party if he got enough votes to earn the LP automatic ballot access in the next elections.