Posted on 11/08/2006 2:27:12 PM PST by quidnunc
New York – Glum Republicans might turn their attention to the Libertarian Party to vent their anger. Libertarians are a generally Republican-leaning constituency, but over the last few years, their discontent has grown plain. It isn't just the war, which some libertarians supported, but the corruption and insider dealing, and particularly the massive expansion of spending. Mr Bush's much-vaunted prescription drug benefit for seniors, they fume, has opened up another gaping hole in America's fiscal situation, while the only issue that really seemed to energise congress was passing special laws to keep a brain-damaged woman on life support.
In two of the seats where control looks likely to switch, Missouri and Montana, the Libertarian party pulled more votes than the Democratic margin of victory. Considerably more, in Montana. If the Libertarian party hadn't been on the ballot, and the three percent of voters who pulled the "Libertarian" lever had broken only moderately Republican, Mr Burns would now be in office.
Does this mean that the libertarians are becoming a force in national elections, much as Ralph Nader managed to cost Al Gore a victory in 2000? Hope springs eternal among third-party afficionadoes, but the nature of the American electoral system, which directly elects representatives in a first-past-the-post system, makes it nearly impossible for third parties to gain traction. The last time it happened was in the 1850's, when the Whig party dissolved over internal disputes about slavery, opening the way for the emerging Republican party to put Abraham Lincoln in office. And acting as a spoiler is dubiously effective at achieving one's goals. In theory, it could pull the Repubicans towards the Libertarians, but in practice, it may just elect Democrats, pushing the nation's economic policy leftwards.
(Excerpt) Read more at economist.com ...
thanks for posting that, it's a great reminder.
Colorado and Nevada.
South Dakota was one
Not in Alaska. A lot of Rs went Libertarian for a while then gave up on that. The Greens, though, would all be Ds if there were no Green Party.
Ronald Reagan -- America needs another like him.
You're a fan of the Economist now? LOL
Phoey. I don't buy it. This is like blaming someone else in the race for being faster. Maybe if the Republicans were what they say they are, it wouldn't have been a problem.
This next 2 years will be living he!!.
Address:http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-rlc/721810/posts
Libertarians running as third-party candidates have no chance of being elected to any national office.
The only thing can they can do is act as spoilers for the GOP.
The Greens though almost gave Allen a win in Virginia. I think the Green candidate pulled about 26,000 votes. It works both ways. The Greens had to live with helping Bush beat Gore in Florida in 2000. The Libertarians have to live with helping the Dems capture the Senate.
So what are we seeking to do now?
Blame others for engineering our loss, like the Democrats mewled and puked about Ralph Nader?
NEWSFLASH!: People who are not Republicans, like, say, registered Liberatarians, or Independents (registered or unregistered) don't owe us Republicans ONE DAMNED THING.
They have not joined us. They do not belong to us. We have no right to expect their vote. We have, in fact, no right to expect anything other than that, as members of opposing parties (or individual opponents) they will try to undermine and defeat us. That is their RIGHT.
If we want to win, we have to PERSUADE them that we're the better option. We failed to do that last night, completely. That's why we lost. If we don't persuade them next time, we'll lose again. And we'll keep repeating the lesson of getting ourselves "Thumped" (to use a Bushism) until we DO learn it.
Conservatives are the Republican core, but they are by no means enough to win Congress or the White House. The margin of victory lies in persuading others - people who are NOT registered Republicans - people who are suspicious of us, our party and our agenda - to come out and vote for us anyway, perhaps as the lesser of two evils, perhaps because we actually manage to inspire them to trust us.
Either way, it is pathetic of us to spend one moment whining, crying, mewling and puking about people who are A DIFFERENT PARTY "stabbing us in the back". they didn't stab us in the back; they stabbed us in the chest, in a sword fight, which they had the RIGHT to fight, because they're NOT Republicans and they owe us NOTHING.
To win, we have to persuade them not to fight us.
Just like the Dems had to persuade the Greens to come home.
Another whiner thread about Libertarians. The GOP created their own destruction.
If you think I'm going to wade through that turgid screed you're nuts.
I have a new tagline. ;)
Colorado Amendment 44: Legalize Marijuana
Yes 557,758
No 819,579
Nevada Question 7: Legalize Marijuana
Yes 252,776
No 320,854
South Dakota Initiative 4: Allow Medical Marijuana
Yes 157,945
No 173,184
Wow, those are some massive defeats. ROTFL Dane is such a dork. The real analysis is that the initiatives are gaining ground and a few more years will see these votes flipped.
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