The LP is at a crossroads: does it entertain the possibility of joining the big leagues or does it remain a debating society for navel gazing? by Bradley Jansen
(libertarian)
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Is the Libertarian Party acting as short-sightedly with Sen. Lisa Murkowski now as they did with Rep. Bob Barr in 2002? The LP stands at a crossroads: decide they want to come into the light as a "real" political party or continue as a debating society ad infinitum. The Libertarian Party of Alaska has the opportunity to meet with a sitting senator and potentially put one of their own in the upper chamber of Congress. Predictably, the LP national and state parties are rushing to judgement.
To be sure, Sen. Murkowski has a mixed record from a libertarian perspective. Unfortunately, the naysayers focus exclusively on the negative side and ignore the common ground. Many in the LP have an unfortunate predilection to engage in the circular firing squad where no one else is as libertarian as they are. And after several decades, the party has not grown appreciably.
My strongest impression of the senior senator from Alaska was her steadfast communion with Sens. John Sununu (R-NH), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), and Larry Craig (R-ID) against the extension of the USA PATRIOT Act despite strong pressure from President Bush, Karl Rove and party chairman Ken Mehlman. The GOP's libertarians, as the press referred to them at the time, stood firm demanding greater privacy and civil liberties protections as well as greater government oversight requirements.
"The other Republicans who voted with Sununu to force more deliberation on the Patriot Act share his libertarian streak: Larry Craig, Lisa Murkowski and Chuck Hagel" said the Washington Post. "GOP libertarians like New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu are fighting Bush -- and their party -- over the Patriot Act," wrote another. "Craig, Murkowski, Sununu and Hagel have been on the end of vociferous attacks by Bush, Frist and Mehlman over the Patriot act, but they are all standing firm," chimed in yet another.
As Robert Higgs and other libertarians have observed, liberty is lost in times of crisis--especially during wartime. Certainly the consequences of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the United States would qualify as a test of the mettle of our representatives. As I've written regarding Bob Barr and the response to 9/11, I was very active in those debates testifying before the House on the bill that became the USA PATRIOT Act and the FBI Guidelines changes and before the Senate on a National ID proposal as well as privately and in the press. I remember fondly having allies like Rep. Barr and Sen. Murkowski standing up to the Republican leadership and protecting our rights and liberties. We are all better off thanks to their efforts.
As an undergraduate many years ago, I took an Advocates for Self-Government seminar run by the local Libertarian Party leader. She explained to me that unlike libertarians most people we meet will be inconsistent with their views. The goal, she said, was to identify where they are libertarian, get them to understand the principle by which they came to that understanding, and to apply that principle more broadly. That wisdom has helped me see opportunities with everyone I meet and enabled me to work with many strange bedfellows broad "left-right-libertarian" coalitions. It is by working together that we succeed.
I took the LP to task when they acted as a political action committee trying to influence a Republican Party primary against one of the most libertarian congressman when they attacked Bob Barr. Barr later left the Republican Party for the Libertarian Party, served on the Libertarian National Committee and ran for president as the LP standard bearer in the 2008 election. It's instructive to remember how many of the circular firing squad set vigorously opposed Ron Paul's presidential nomination for the Libertarian Party in 1988 not wanting a former Republican giving people the wrong impression.
Sen. Murkowski has responded to inquiries about her meeting with the current LP senate nominee by saying that she is not going to change her stances or disavow her principles for political expediency. It seems as if she and those reloading in the circular firing squad have more in common than they realize. Will the LP take the dead end path or take a step to grow the party and convert more members? Libertarians could be kingmakers.
Did you like this article? If you did, Thumb It! 6
thumbs so far
The views expressed
in this article are those of Bradley Jansen only and
do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates.
Bradley Jansen 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.
We have implemented a new forum for reader comments. If you have not yet
established a new account in the new Nolan Chart vbulletin Forums, you will need to REGISTER in order to
post a comment to this article. To learn more about this recently implemented change,
read about the decision to add the new vbulletin forums to the site.
