Posted on 10/29/2004 8:50:48 PM PDT by freedom44
WASHINGTON -- Move over, Ralph Nader: A New York Times analysis says that Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik could be 'critical' to the outcome of the 2004 election, and that the party's 2000 candidate may have cost Bush at least four states.
In the Sunday, October 24 "Political Points" column, New York Times writer John Tierney asserts that in 2000, Bush "could have won Florida easily, and possibly several other states, if the Libertarian candidate, Harry Browne, was not in the race," assuming that Browne's votes would have gone to Bush.
In Florida, Browne earned 16,415 votes, while Bush defeated Al Gore by just 537 votes.
In three states won by Gore -- New Mexico, Oregon and Wisconsin -- Browne won more votes than the difference separating Bush and Gore, the article notes. In New Mexico, for example, Gore prevailed by 366 votes while Browne earned 2,058, and in Wisconsin, Gore beat Bush by 5,708 votes while Browne garnered 6,640.
With New Mexico, Wisconsin and other battleground states too close to call again in 2004, Libertarian Badnarik has the potential to "Naderize" Bush by attracting conservative votes, according to Tierney and other analysts.
A recent Zogby/Reuters national poll shows Badnarik tied with Nader at 1 percentage point, which is "not much, but possibly critical" to the outcome on Election Day, Tierney says.
Rasmussen polls have put Badnarik as high as 5 percent in New Mexico and 3 percent in Nevada, which Bush won by just 4 percentage points in 2000.
Increasing Badnarik's impact, according to Tierney: "Unlike Mr. Nader, Mr. Badnarik is on the ballot of every battleground state except New Hampshire."
Nader will be absent from the ballot in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Oregon, Missouri and other key states, prompting many analysts to predict that Badnarik will have a bigger impact on Bush than Nader will have on Democrat John Kerry.
In an attempt to attract votes from fiscal conservatives, the Libertarian Party has launched an advertising blitz on the conservative Fox News Channel -- a campaign that is "aimed directly at Mr. Bush's Republican base," notes the Times article.
Responds Joseph Seehusen, executive director of the Libertarian Party: "Fiscal conservatives aren't abandoning the Republican Party; the Republican Party has abandoned fiscal conservatives. Bush has fattened up the government far more in percentage terms than Bill Clinton did, and responsible voters don't want to reward that behavior. So they're sending a message by voting Libertarian."
There are MANY Libertarians in Arkansas - Maybe it is time that the republican party gets back to its roots and quit acting like a bunch of prima-donna democrats with thirsty wallets.
I asked for some Bush yard signs from the republican party hqtrs here in Hot Springs, and the head(?) of the republican womens tea party simply asked me HOW MUCH DID I DONATE?!! And REFUSED to give me any yard sign stating they were reserved for donors only!
I was the ONLY pro-Bush demontrator that went against the leftist demonstrators during Vice-President Cheney's visit here ---- at this rate, it is MY LAST!
Perhaps it is time to bring out the true reason for the SECOND AMENDMENT to our Constitution - to FREE ourselves from tyrannical rulers.
It is my understanding that the man who wrote the "constitution" for the Libertarian Party and has written many books on it is endorsing and voting for George W. Bush this year.
That's what Neal Boortz said.
Bad bad Leroy Badnarik. (HA HA)
Doesn't matter what they do, say, or the motivations thereof.
EVERONE knows the Slimes is in the tank for sKerry.
The base is motivated, and the weekend ad blitz will get some of the soft support for Bush to the polls.
Also, up to 20% of the votes are already cast - some estimates are that Bush has a 15 point lead in early voting.
Right, open borders for Osama.
Panic has turned to fantasizing over on the far left...
Yeah, same here. They certainly have a valid point about fiscal conservatism. I like pretty much everything from the Cato Institute except their foreign policy stuff. However, anyone dumb enough to actually vote Libertarian should be institutionalized.
I think the real circus will be about 2008 or 2012 when the social cons and fundivangelists start throwing fits when they can't impose every element of their views on Republican candidates and start running really serious Third Party campaigns..likely leading to Democrat victories.
Feel free to bring up the above prediction in 8 years. I hope I turn out to be horribly wrong :-).
Or a violent Philadelphia Eagles Linebacker...
LOL - Your line is better!
That's correct! In fact, he has released a memo endorsing President Bush
It is truly bizarre to see one party try to destroy another party with which it AGREES 90% of the time--to replace it with a party with which it DISAGREES 90% of the time, thus undermining everything Libertarians claim to hold dear.
Some might call this "insanity".
Well if they interview him after he robs Bush of the election I just hope he is wearing a name tag so we can tell who he is and spot him.
"I asked for some Bush yard signs from the republican party hqtrs here in Hot Springs, and the head(?) of the republican womens tea party simply asked me HOW MUCH DID I DONATE?!! And REFUSED to give me any yard sign stating they were reserved for donors only!"
The horror. Imagine thousands of dims lining up at GOP headquarters demanding yard signs so they could throw them in the trash. This response alone tells me too many libertarians have the street acumen of a roadkill.
The NYSlimes just called the election for Bush.
I one of the LP ads also, it looked like one of those really bad local car dealership ads.
The title should read:
The NYT Prays ('Wishes.' Because they don't believe in God at the NYT) Badnarik Will Have a Critical Impact on the President
5.56mm
wishful thinking by the media organ of the kerry campaign, the NYT.
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