Libertarian Party trashed
In what amounts to a derivative of the wasted vote argument, Jon Henke of the Neolibertarian claims the Libertarian Party is dead. He points out that all of the 590 Libertarians elected to public office are in low level positions, and that the party has never done as well as it did in 1980. Then he talks about renegades from the Socialist Party and the American Labor Party working within the Democratic Party to implement virtually all of the 1928 Socialist platform and argues that libertarians should work within the Ds and Rs.
All of this presupposes that the Libertarian Party, as it is today, has no influence on politics, which is basically hogwash. While the LP generally controls a mere 3-5% of the electorate, that 3-5% is often enough to sway elections either way to the Ds or Rs, as the LP may choose. The LP is in the unique position of having much, but not everything, in common with both the Ds and Rs. Consequently, the LP can influence them both, and hence the entire political process, by "running left" or "running right" as the circumstances of each election cycle may suggest.
All of this presupposes that the Libertarian Party, as it is today, has no influence on politics, which is basically hogwash. While the LP generally controls a mere 3-5% of the electorate, that 3-5% is often enough to sway elections either way to the Ds or Rs, as the LP may choose. The LP is in the unique position of having much, but not everything, in common with both the Ds and Rs. Consequently, the LP can influence them both, and hence the entire political process, by "running left" or "running right" as the circumstances of each election cycle may suggest.
posted by Richard Shepard | 9:27 AM
|
0 comments
