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 ...
"The only thing can they can do is act as spoilers for the GOP."
Poor, pitiful you... bash the Libertarians/libertarians 24/7/365 then demand that they vote for your precious (R) statists. You don't get it both ways. Either work WITH the (L/l) or forget their votes so you can just bash them for not wanting to live under your heels.
Appeal to authority? It was Madison, one of those fellows you folks purport to revere and one of the greatest political visionaries the world has ever known. I'm honored to meet someone who considers himself a man of greater perception and brilliance than Madison, didn't think there were too many around.
But the issue here is that the lesser of two evils in this two party system has become increasingly difficult to isolate
And there it is... you're one of those mental giants that sees little difference between the GOP and the overtly anti-American Democrat traitors. That single fact combined with your rather obvious ego makes any further discussion absolutely pointless.
Goodnight.
Oh, I just realized that Talent and Burns could have won their races if the democrats were not running. Just think, take away the 50% vote for the democrats and add that to the republican vote and you will have the republicans getting 99% of the vote with the Libertanians only getting one percent.
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