Posted on 12/08/2024 3:37:30 PM PST by TBP
Trump won the 2024 election and if he follows through on his promises, the Chair’s risk-taking will have paid off and fusionism will be the new underlying philosophy of the Libertarian Party. I don’t say this as a threat but just an objective view of things. I believe under fusionism the LP will turn more into a lobbying group instead of a political party. Will this new philosophy keep old Libertarians like me around?
Probably not those of us brought into Libertarianism through Ralph Nader, Ross Perot, and to some degree Pat Buchanan. We are not the kinds of people looking to cut deals with the two major party systems. We joined a third party because we don’t like the options the first two provide us, nor the undemocratic standards of fairness for elections in the United States.
Will it bring in new Republican adjacent Libertarians and hopefully steady donations?
It may attract Republican adjacent folks. If the ideology wasn’t popular within the Libertarian Party the Chair wouldn’t have won her election. This is what the majority wants in the party. One thing I learned at convention is the Chair is very popular across a large swath of Libertarians who hold very different views of what it means to be a Libertarian. But as we have seen declining membership and donations from Libertarians who despise fusionism such as myself, fusionism likely does not bode well for the Libertarian Party long-term.
Will lobbying get more Libertarian policies passed over the difficulty of getting Libertarians elected?
Yes. Lobbying is easier than campaigns. Fusionism naturally encourages lobbying over running candidates. The Republican Party should be an opposition party, but under fusionism the Libertarian Party does not oppose the corrupt two-party system but rather becomes integrated with it. However, without running candidates, many state parties will lose their ballot access. At that point the party would likely deteriorate as advocates would be encouraged to move over into the Republican Party instead.
Will it work in the long run?
This is uncharted territory and I have no idea. Trump’s election would likely put an end to any possible campaign violations between RFK and the LP so that won’t be a worry for them anymore. The NAACP essentially works as a lobbying group and has been very successful with that, as has the Heritage Foundation and the NRA. So the people who want this for the LP would probably be successful if they dedicated their time and energy there. That being said, the LP itself is not a lobbying group and as a legal entity it is still a political party. That poses serious issues for the long term sustainability and growth of the party. After all, why be a fusionist Libertarian if you can just be a Republican? And of course many Libertarians don’t want to be Republicans which is why we are Libertarians in the first place. Where will folks like us go?
What becomes of the older Libertarians as a block?
They move on to other things or continue to fight desperate rear guard actions against the MC who by the way has massive social media outreach and money coming in from the RFK fundraising agreement that no other caucus is getting. MC will soon have enough money to get all their delegates a free ride to Grand Rapids. There is no coordinated opposition when compared to how the MC is currently functioning. If you’re not big on fusionism you are probably getting rooted out. High ranking leadership from the Transparency, Classical Liberal, and the Radical Caucus are not meeting with each other on a regular basis for: fundraising, or coordinating strategy for the next convention. If you think the MC is falling apart, I would like to point out what their former leader and LNC employee Mr. Heise has said publicly: “The next convention to determine this is in May of 2026. Join and fight, fight, fight!” In addition to that another major leader is Dave Smith who although tired of party politics seems to be on top of the social hierarchy of defining what a Libertarian is and serves as a lightning rod of recruitment for like minded fusionists. The other caucus groups have no such person.
What this means is we can at best expect a repeat of 2024 and at worst have complete MC dominance. I have urged caucus leadership to understand that it is no longer a question of Anarchy vs Pragmatism. It’s fusionism libertarianism vs non-fusionism libertarianism. If the groups opposed to fusionism actually worked together and put ideology to the side they would end up in a far better position than they can possibly imagine. I remind you all that only Nixon could go to China. Both groups also need to form a Bylaws committee where they can ensure no dominant caucus can ever rule a party again. I would suggest a rule that all LNC elected members must leave any caucus group they are part of and have the Transparency caucus look at what would be required to ensure that accountability.
All of these things require hard work. Imagine if the time taken trying to dominate Libertarian spaces online or arguing with each other on Discord was actually used to determine and implement a good strategy and fundraising for Grand Rapids? Stop throwing down purity tests on facebook groups and start thinking about the future.
Please keep in mind this isn’t an endorsement, it is just the objective Realpolitik view of what is currently happening in the party based on my 17+ years of involvement including 3 presidential campaigns, and a history of libertarianism spanning from NC to NE. Opposition can also continue to bring National to trial until they are bankrupt but that doesn’t change the ideological battle nor the inherent weakness of LNC bylaws and state LP bylaws that allowed for hostile takeovers and for fusionism to take root. In my opinion it is not the end of the Libertarian Party but it is the end of the Libertarian Party as I knew it. One thing I have learned with the Libertarian Party is the mechanics for self-correction do not exist. No one seems interested in doing root cause analysis and ensuring the same thing doesn’t happen again 20-30 years down the road.
Libertarians think they are safe as long as “their” people are in charge. This is the same fallacy those who believe in two party politics seem to have. But really it is the bylaws and the lack of mechanics of enforcement that will always leave the doorway to fusionism open [Be it Red or Blue] and lawsuits are the only corrective action against malfeasance. All of these things need to be corrected on a macro level to have a sustainable big tent liberty party. The Libertarian Party is full of intelligent well meaning people but we lack the coordination skills to resolve these systemic problems. For those who have sworn fidelity to the party I hope I have given you some serious topics to consider as you move forward.
The author lists himself as:
Founder: Books Behind Bars
Founder: Digital Music Archive of the Midwest
Member: NAACP
Advocate: Defend The Guard
Delegate: 2024 Libertarian Party Convention
State Deputy Director Nebraska: Chase Oliver For President
Former:
Advocate: Nebraskans For Medical Marijuana
Libertarian Party of Nebraska: Volunteer, former D1 Alternate Coordinator
Libertarian Party of North Carolina: UNCG -Volunteer/ Anti-War/ Police Accountability
Ron Paul for President 2008 -Volunteer
Ron Paul for President 2012 – Volunteer
All I will say is that there are MANY libertarians who have zero understanding of practical politics.
If I was going to leave the Republican party I’d be joining the Constitution Party. Too bad most of these other parties will never gain traction, even if they should.
I lean libertarian, in that I think less government is better. I think libertarian time and energy would be better focused on ousting swamp creatures in the primaries.
I used to say I was a libertarian tilted Republican, but the more I hear from people like this, the less I think I am. I like less government and I think Trump and Musk are doing just that. And going about it rationally, not in any extreme way. I’m not in favor of drugs and that seems to be a burning issue for today’s libertarians.
Tell me you want to commit suicide without telling me you want to commit suicide.
“””””I’m not in favor of drugs and that seems to be a burning issue for today’s libertarians.””””””
It always was, some people for some reason think that the libertarians changed, or moved left from some past ideal positions, they didn’t, they are the same as they have always been, they were always far left but with some conservative economic/limited govt. positions.
>>conservative economic/limited govt. positions
Jumping up and down, “Me! Me!”
Those are found with conservatism.
Libertarians are not conservative, they are radical leftist except on economic issues.
Here is the leftists agenda hidden behind the Libertarian Party curtain.
Libertarian Party Platform:
Throw open the borders completely; only a rare individual (terrorist, disease carrier etc.) can be kept from freedom of movement through “political boundaries”, eliminate the Border Patrol and INS.
Homosexuals; total freedom in the military, gay marriage, adoption, child custody and everything else.
Abortion; zero restrictions or impediments full 9 months.
Pornography; no restraint, no restrictions.
Drugs; Meth, Heroin, Crack, and anything new that science and marketers can come up with, zero restrictions.
Advertising those drugs, prostitution, and pornography; zero restrictions.
Military Strength; minimal capabilities.
There are three types of capital “L” libertarians:
(1) Stoners who just want legalized weed and other intoxicants;
(2) Sexualists who just want to bang anything; and
(3) Principled libertarians who understand that it is a philosophy that requires an infrastructure to be maintained. You can’t have libertarianism if your populace has no morals, no restraints, is constantly stoned, is uneducated, has no sense of responsibility to community, etc.
That last type of libertarian is what makes libertarianism viable as a political movement. I would argue that it’s actually pretty close to small “c” conservativism and is the most dedicated to checking overreach from both the left and the right.
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