Bye Bye Barry by Joel S. Hirschhorn (Centrist Liberal Libertarian)
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Topic: Presidential Campaign 2008
Barr next Paul for Libertarians? The Libertarian Party convenes this coming weekend to decide who will be its candidate for perhaps its most successful year ever. Can Bob Barr convince party members that he's the next Ron Paul?by Jeff Wrobel
(Libertarian)
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
The biennial Libertarian Party convention takes place this Memorial Day weekend starting tomorrow (Thursday). At the top of their agenda is the selection of their candidate for president. Because of the unprecedented success of the candidacy of mostly-libertarian Ron Paul, the word "libertarian" has probably been used by the media more in the past year than in the entire previous decade. That has given a large percentage of the population at least a vague idea of what the word means (see The Advocate's web site for a good explanation if you're not sure). The Libertarians hope that this will help boost them to their highest vote total in the party's 36-year history.
While the Libertarian Party has maintained a consistent philosophical message throughout its history, and has had many eloquent candidates, they have never succeeded in getting more than 1.1% of the popular vote total in any presidential race, and usually end up with less than half a percent. There are many theories for why they have done so poorly, including the following:
The U.S. winner-take-all system naturally results in two main political parties, as voters tend to feel a need to vote for the candidate that has the best chance of winning rather than the one with which they agree the most.
The two main parties have set up many legal obstacles to third party ballot access.
There is strong major media bias against parties like the Libertarians that threaten their corporate dominance.
The U.S. public in general is uneducated and has a short attention span.
All of these explanations have merit, and this is the world in which the Libertarians must operate. For many years the libertarian cause has seemed hopeless; especially to long-time party activists who have seen decades of failure. The surprising success of Ron Paul this year (who ran as the Libertarian presidential candidate in 1988) has given new hope to many libertarian "drop-outs".
The standard operating procedure for the Libertarian Party is to choose from a set of long time party activists. Occasionally this includes someone of modest fame, but more often it is someone who is virtually unknown among the general public. Many Libertarians believe that despite Paul's recent success, this same old party formula of choosing a relatively unknown candidate is doomed to failure once again. There has been a push among some Libertarians to nominate a candidate with name recognition, even if the candidate is not solidly libertarian.
This presents a fertile environment for more famous candidates who want to take over the reigns of the Ron Paul Revolution. Twelve standard-bearer Libertarian presidential candidates have recently been upstaged by newly declared libertarians, but more famous candidates, Bob Barr and Mike Gravel. Even Jesse Ventura has mentioned the possibility of running as the LP candidate, though he has made no official declaration.
Much of the media seem to presume that Bob Barr will easily win the nomination for the Libertarian Party and have already discussed the possibility of Barr siphoning off votes from John McCain. At the end of this weekend, the media may be shocked to discover that the Libertarian Party rejected Barr as their nominee. While Barr has recently apparently wholly accepted the libertarian philosophy, many long time Libertarians are going to find it hard to look past Barr's record as a leading drug warrior and his unconstitutional abdication of congressional responsibility in his vote to give President Bush authorization to use force. Most libertarians consider these acts to have caused irreparable harm to the country's freedom and its reputation, not to mention the resultant horrors of war.
The Libertarian Party has on average the most highly educated membership of any party. Considering this, plus their long-standing refusal to sacrifice their principles for the sake of winning elections, it is unlikely that they will be fooled into nominating Bob Barr as their representative.
Mike Gravel is also a new convert to libertarianism. His long record of voting against economic freedoms is contrary to the libertarian philosophy. His recent conversion makes him appear to be using the Libertarian Party for his own benefit rather than truly representing the party. It is also unlikely that Gravel will receive the nomination.
Many libertarians find it unfortunate that Jesse Ventura has not actively sought the nomination. Unlike Barr and Gravel, Ventura has a much more solid history of being libertarian minded and acting accordingly. While not agreeing 100% with the party platform, he is probably about 90% in line with it, and has not suddenly changed his positions out of political expediency.
In addition to Ventura's consistent support of personal freedom, he has a lot to offer the party. He has a charisma that is often lacking in the typical high-brow Libertarian. He has the celebrity status to gain the free media attention needed to win. And he has the proven track record in a high executive office (Governor of Minnesota). Unfortunately for both Ventura and the Libertarian Party, he has not taken formal steps to seek the nomination. He may be waiting for the party to come to him as it recently did with Ron Paul. But with 14 candidates actively seeking the nomination it is unlikely that the LP will go out of its way to approach Ventura.
The Libertarian Party convention is usually covered by the media with a smirk on its face. It may be taken a bit more seriously this year as much of the media believe that most Ron Paul followers will support the Libertarian candidate rather than John McCain, thus acting as a spoiler. The left-leaning media will want to encourage this, so they may try to persuade what they consider to be right-wing voters to support the Libertarian. The right-leaning media may realize that McCain cannot win if they continue to deride the libertarian wing of the Republican Party. This could result in much more favorable media coverage than in past elections.
With the chance of positive media coverage, the number of celebrities joining the party, and the likelihood that the party will become the new political home for many Ron Paul revolutionaries, this year's Libertarian Party convention could prove to be a very interesting show.
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2008 Jeff Wrobel, all rights reserved.
Published: Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Last modified: Wednesday, May 21, 2008
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You are correct in noting that the Libertarians will not nominate Jesse Ventura. If Bob Barr loses, the nominee will likely be either Mary Ruwart or George Phillies.
I doubt, though, that "most Ron Paul followers" would support either. Why in the world would they?
I am not sure if many Ron Paul supporters will go to the Libertarians because part of the Paul revolution is to change the Republican Party from within.
I was registered as a Libertarian until NC decided it would no longer recognize the Libertarians as a party and switched All Libertarians' political affiliation to Non-Affiliated, NC's name for independent.
Personally I am debating joining the Republican Party... but I knew how I felt when Larry Elder defected to the Republican Party.
I don't know if the Libertarian candidate will even be on the NC ballot in the general election. But I know if Ron Paul is not on the Rep. Ticket and there is a Libertarian...and honestly I don't care (for the most part) who it is I will vote for the Libertarian.
a knight: "Ron Paul 'followers' Are Not Real libertarians.
They are 'followers'. What more need be said?"
For one thing, it needs to be said that you statements make no sense.
A libertarian is someone who does not believe it's right (and therefore, doesn't intentionally) initiate force against other people. That has nothing to do with being a 'follower' or not.
What, praytell, exactly is a "real" Libertarian? Though I don't claim the title, when I joined the Party, I swore off force in the pursuit of social or political objectives.....is there some other criteria I'm unaware of? Just curious.
@ Mike Stahl - dictionaries are wonderful tools, but first a quote:
"I do esteem individual liberty above everything. What is a nation for, but to secure the maximum of liberty to every individual? What do you think a nation is?—a big business concern?"
D.H. Lawrence
From The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Liberty
1a. The condition of being free from restriction or control.
b. The right and power to act, believe, or express oneself in a manner of one's own choosing.
c. The condition of being physically and legally free from confinement, servitude, or forced labor.
2. Freedom from unjust or undue governmental control.
3. A right or immunity to engage in certain actions without control or interference: the liberties protected by the Bill of Rights.
Posted By: Jahfre Fire Eater
Date: 2008-05-23 06:56:59
The obvious difference between Bob Barr and Ron Paul, aside from the details of voting records and personal principles is that Ron Paul made his big mistake (running as a 3rd party candidate) 20 years ago. Barr is way behind on the political maturity curve.
If you want to move some serious political earth you don't choose a 3rd party teaspoon as your tool.
I have nothing against 3rd parties at all. I usually vote for 3rd party candidates. I do so knowing my vote is only a protest and nothing more. There can be no effective change in our government or our future by joining or voting for a 3rd party.
It is the folks who act as if the strength of their emotions will suddenly cause their political vision to manifest by making the LP a useful tool for political change that I have a problem with.
There is no way to emote ones way around the fact that compared to the Democratic party and the GOP, the LP is a fart in the wind. For all that Libertarians like to believe they are so rational and logical, this little fact seems to elude them all. Pity. They could be helping to promote good GOP candidates rather than letting the neocons pick who will use the most powerful political tools.
The powerful elite in the GOP love that so many motivated, effective people choose to waste their efforts digging with a teaspoon and isolating themselves from the larger marketplace of ideas to appease their desire for their comfort and safety while standing on their self-righteous indignation that more people don't join them in their futility.
I find the heated debate over the potential LP candidates to be great entertainment. Like the People's Court, whatever is decided makes no difference to anyone outside the immediate participants.
I'll cast my protest vote for the big "L" regardless of who that candidate is.
Barr will certainly win the LP nomination (as he should). He is the only candidate in the field who can command some media time. In past years, the LP nominee gets 15 minutes of fame. Barr may be able to stretch that time and finally get some real exposure for the party.
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2008 Jeff Wrobel, all rights reserved.