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Is it Time for a Third Party?
By Demosthenes | November 22, 2008
While reading and commenting on a blog post over at the The Renaissance Guy (outstanding blog, by the way, and I encourage all to consider making it part of your daily read), the topic of leaving the Republican party for the Libertarian party has come up. It seems the author is considering moving to the Libertarian party. I mentioned that I find myself more aligned with Libertarians that Republicans, but that I remain a Republican merely for pragmatic reasons.
There are many things about the Libertarian party that attract me. Some things I don’t like. But overall, I find their platform more to my liking than Republicans or Democrats. So, does that mean I should vote for Libertarian party candidates at the presidential level?
Remember the last time we had a nearly viable third party candidate? It was Ross Perot. Most analysts have agreed that most of the votes he received would have been for George Bush. Conventional wisdom seems to say had he not been on the ballot, George Bush would have won the election and we wouldn’t have had eight years of Bill Clinton.
Okay, that’s the practical side. On the other side of the debate is this: If we keep thinking like this, we will never get a viable Libertarian candidate. What we have here is the classic chicken and egg problem.
So, a couple of questions arise:
1. Are we willing to sacrifice an election, or two, or three, to make the necessary statement that Libertarians should be given serious consideration? This is unfortunate, but it is also reality. The Republican machine is a big one, and you can’t bring it down without a long fight.
2. Can the Libertarian party actually nominate someone that can truly inspire the country? Does that person actually exist? As we’ve seen in the most recent election, if you don’t have charisma, charm, good looks, outstanding oratory skills, etc., you really don’t have a chance. In fact, that’s all you need, because substance clearly has no real impact on the outcome.
I’m not sure what the answer is, but it might be intersting to debate.
Topics: General | 3 Comments »
3 Responses to “Is it Time for a Third Party?”
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November 23rd, 2008 at 2:34 am
I for one am sick of candidates simply because they are not as bad as the other guys. I realize that I am 95% in agreement with the Libertarian Party, so it seems more honest to go ahead and join it.
I think that the last eight years, as well as this year’s election, have convinced me that now is the time to switch.
I’m fed up with having a choice between socialism-lite and socialism-medium.
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Keep working on me Renaissance Guy–you might convince me yet.