It's time to remake the Libertarian Party. It is time to turn it into an organization which is A. Libertarian in principle as well as in name; B. Actually consists of more than the Huge Enormous Head In Washington, D.C.; C. A real political party.
I wrote three days ago about the embarrassment to the L.P. of the antics of its national committee. This situation is still ongoing, and seems to become murkier every time someone attempts to explain it ([link edited for length].
I also discussed what the Libertarian Vice Presidential candidate, Wayne Allyn Root revealed about himself in an interview for Reason Magazine. I don't know whether Mr. Root or the LNC were ambarassed by the interview. But, as far as I know, Mr. Root was not motivated to resign from the ticket, nor was the LNC moved to remove him from it (assuming it was within their power to do so).
This makes the events of Tuesday and Wednesday even more incredible and inexcusable. Bob Barr and the LP may have been disappointed and even angry when they discovered that the hoped for endorsement of Barr's candidacy. But the bridge burning, scorched earth policy adopted by Barr and the party have pretty much destroyed the credibility of both.
Both Barr and the L.P. were counting on the Paul endorsement. Even before the formation of his exploratory committee, Barr was being touted as a friend of Ron Paul by Barr's supporters.[link edited for length]). The expectation of this endorsement provided most of the impetus to Barr's push for the L.P. nomination. But on Tuesday, Representative Paul informed Mr. Barr that the endorsement--at least as the single reommendation--was not going to happen. The Libertarian Party and its Presidential candidate reacted with what can only be described as an hysterical tantrum.
Mr. Barr sent word that he would not attend the Paul press conference. He later held a press conference of his own and said that he felt it would detract from his campaign if he shared a stage with Cynthia McKanney, the candidate of the Green Party. He said that she was a liberal and he would not associate with liberals. Since Mr. Barr has formed a mutual admiration society with Ralph Nader, also a liberal, the conclusion that he did not want to share a stage with a fellow former Representative who is a black woman as well as a liberal.
He then wrote (and later published on his website) a letter to Representative Paul inviting him to become Barr's running mate ([link edited for length]) Since the LP had earler urged Paul to run as the Libertarian candidate for President and Barr himself had said he would not seek the nomination for himself but would support the candidacy of Representative Paul, this was an astounding offer. Since Paul had said "No" to both offers, the offer of second place on the ticket could only be regarded as a deliberate insult. The L.P. supported the sending of the letter.
Since the Libertarian convention in Denver had already provided, after three ballots, a candidate for Vice President in Mr. Root, the letter insulted not only Representative Paul but Mr. Root and EVERY delegate who went to the trouble and expense of attending that convention and selecting the ticket.
As if this were not enough, Shane Corey, Barr's campaign manager, posted in the Barr Blog and article accusing Paul of being solely concerned with getting money from libertarians and not with advancing libertarian ideas ([link edited for length]). Being accused of being money hungery by Shane Corey, Bob Barr and the LNC is akin to being called ugly by a possum, a blowfish and a flock of vultures. The Libertarian Party site jumped in with a defense of Barr's letter and Corey's blog ([link edited for length]).
Barr and the party had been very much counting on the addition of the Paul supporters to the usual libertarian voters. But the reaction was not only unfair to the man whose campaign had ignited the current Libertarian uprising, but a deliberate insult to the voters which they hoped and needed to attract. Like a good many libertarians I was not a supporter of Barr before his nomination. Since then, I have been struggling with the question of whether I could support him in November. Immediately after the LP convention I was impressed enough by his speech to think that I could support him ( [link edited for length]). I still was worried about many of his actions in Congress but was willing to accept his new found libertarianism as sincere. When I heard him on Fox News defending the Defense of Marriage Act as a move to preserve the question of the right to marry for the states all of my earlier doubts returned ([link edited for length]). I no longer have any doubt that I will vote for someone other than Bob Barr.
The question arises, again, as to whether the LP is a viable method of advancing Libertarian ideas. Although one of the tenets of the party in to limit the federal government and return more constitutional authorities to the states and local communities, the organization itself is rigidly (and in screcy) controlled from the top. The emphasis of the party is always on the Presidential campaigns, but a political party to be effect must be built from the ground up. The L.P. might be rebuilt if the states organizations, where they are effective, become the major decision makers and the major fund collecters and users. The national LP appears to be a machine for collecting money and spending it from the top. The purpose of a party is to bring change by winning office for people dedicated to the change. The record of the LP, despite its presence on the state ballots is not very good because it is the ballot access rather than the government which is the goal. It is time for reform of the party rather than the platform.
The Campaign for Liberty in its early stages seems to be capable of becoming a more effective political vehicle, either within the Republican Party or as an independent force. The early effort to create a national political infrastructure is encouraging. It sill be ineresting to see where it goes.
But whether a reconstituted Libertarian Party or the Campaign for Liberty proves to be the vehicle which brings victory for the freedom movement, It is clear that it will not be this year, and that Bob Barr, his campaign, and the current leadership of the L.P. will not be involved.
©2008 rtbohan, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Thursday, September 11, 2008
Last modified: Thursday, September 11, 2008
The views expressed in this article are those of rtbohan only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. rtbohan 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: Eric
Date: 2008-09-11 13:54:09
This is a great summary of the situation. Thanks.
Posted By: censoredagain
Date: 2008-09-11 14:40:32
I am so disgusted with Bob Barr I might not be voting for anyone for the office of president this election.
Posted By: Haigh
Date: 2008-09-11 15:11:53
Thousands of Americans have died for a failed and archaic foreign policy. The Democrats and Republicans show no sign of changing this foreign poicy. Barr IS talking change. In this context your complaints against Barr are petty.
Barr indeed is a different kind of LP candidate. Whether he can reach out to a much broader spectrum of voters is an experiment whose outcome will guide future campaigns. It's an experiment that needs to be done. Disgruntled LP'ers should go find a cave.
Posted By: Seth
Date: 2008-09-11 15:51:18
I was considering voting for the first time in decades. No longer. It's bad enough to be drawn into a rigged game, but to do so to vote for a political idiot simply "isn't worth it."
Posted By: Rocky
Date: 2008-09-11 23:21:14
Haigh wrote: "Barr indeed is a different kind of LP candidate. Whether he can reach out to a much broader spectrum of voters is an experiment whose outcome will guide future campaigns. It\'s an experiment that needs to be done. Disgruntled LP\'ers should go find a cave."
Rocky replies: He reached out to a broader spectrum of voters yesterday, didn\'t he? Reached out and slapped them upside the head! And not in a good way, either.
Posted By: Spence
Date: 2008-09-14 01:32:57
Those who expected Barr to be a true road-to-Damascus success-story were only going to be sadly mistaken. Those who accepted it though on the way in have nothing to worry about.
The offense is the inaction of the LNC and this recent challenge with at large rep. Angela Keaton to force her to resign over providing full transparency against them. In doing so, the LNC has proven they are much like the crooks they claim to despise.
The only way to save the Freedom movement is to purge the LP.
Posted By: Ayn R. Key
Date: 2008-09-14 09:55:38
The problem with the "Road to Damascus" story is that there are some who never believed it. Not only the "purists" but also there are more than a few "reformers" who never believed it. They voted for him BECAUSE they never believed it. Just like they never believed it when Wayne Root swiched from pro-war to anti-war, and then once he had the nomination wrapped up he switched back to pro-war. His staunchest supporters AND his staunchest opponents knew he was pro-war the whole time.