No wonder why most people don't vote. Maybe they are smarter than all of us. They figured out years ago that whether Giant Douche or Turd Sandwich is elected it doesn't matter. Parker and Stone really are geniuses.
Posted on 01/18/2008 3:47:41 PM PST by SubGeniusX
Barring a miracle, South Carolina will bury the last libertarian-leaning candidate of '08
COLUMBIA, SC—One by one, the great libertarian hopes of the 2008 presidential cycle have been dashed.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson was touted—some might say over-hyped—as an example of a Western "libertarian Democrat" for his friendliness to gun rights, for signing a medical marijuana law, and for a tax-cutting record that earned him a B on the Cato Institute's Fiscal Policy Report Card. He dropped out of the race after failing to break the six percent mark in Iowa or New Hampshire. At his final debate appearance in New Hampshire, the Clinton-Obama-Edwards triumvirate hardly seemed to notice him.
While few thought Congressman Ron Paul, the one-time Libertarian Party candidate and anti-war Republican, would be a viable contender for the presidency, lots of people thought that he might at least raise the profile of libertarian ideas. Now his history of associating with the uglier side of the paleolibertarian movement has come back to haunt him, and many once-sympathetic observers are wondering if his campaign might actually be bad for libertarianism.
That leaves former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson. For a while, during his endless flirtation with the GOP race, Thompson looked to some people like the Great Libertarian Hope. The Cato Institute's Michael Tanner praised Thompson last May for "a solid record as a fiscal conservative," adding that in the Senate he was "a consistent supporter of entitlement reform" and a reliable vote for free trade. "On federalism," Tanner wrote, "there may be no better candidate."
Indeed, Thompson is the only major candidate who talks about the importance of federalism, which has helped earn him endorsements from an impressive roster of libertarian-leaning law professors, including Volokh Conspiracy blogger-profs Eugene Volokh, Jonathan Adler, Todd Zywicki, and Orin Kerr.
On the stump, Thompson likes to say that "a government big enough and powerful enough to give you anything is big enough and powerful enough to take anything away from you." He waxes on about how the principles this country was founded on include "respect for a market economy, and what can be done in a free country with free people doing free things in healthy competition with one another and trading with their neighbors."
Alas, Thompson has hardly taken the race by storm. Glenn Reynolds wrote last month that he might have joined Volokh et al. in endorsing Thompson if he hadn't observed how poorly Thompson's campaign is run behind the scenes. That poorly run campaign has yielded poor results. Thompson's low-key affect and introverted personality made him ill-suited to the hands-on retail politicking that Iowans expect, and he edged out John McCain for third place in the Iowa caucuses by just three tenths of a percentage point despite spending much more time than McCain stumping in the Hawkeye State (McCain focused on New Hampshire, where he won). He made almost no effort in the New Hampshire and Michigan primaries, where he got less than 2 percent and less than 4 percent of the vote, respectively.
Now Thompson is putting all of his hopes on a strong finish in South Carolina. "We have to be very successful [here]," Thompson spokesman Jeff Sadosky told me Wednesday. "He would say he has drawn his line in the sand in South Carolina. We've been down here for the last couple of weeks while everybody else was up in Michigan. We're campaigning heavily throughout the state. It's his neck of the woods." Does he have to finish second or better? "I'm not going to get into that," says Sadosky. "We're working hard, we're going to be successful. I'll let the pundits figure out where we need to be."
Very well, then: Thompson needs to finish second or better in South Carolina, or his campaign is over. There are signs that he's gaining steam; polls show a small uptick in support for Thompson over the past week, coming at Mike Huckabee's expense. But it's not at all clear that it'll be enough. In Orangeburg on Wednesday, at 6:30 in the evening, Thompson attracted a good-sized crowd. At 12:45 the next day, Mike Huckabee attracted an even bigger crowd in Florence.
Huckabee's mixture of nanny-statism, populist economic rhetoric, and social conservatism makes him a libertarian's nightmare, and anything that trips him up is to be welcomed. But if Thompson really is dragging down Huckabee, the biggest beneficiary is McCain, who is either leading or tied with Huckabee in every poll this week. A libertarian journalist could fill a book with things that are troubling about John McCain, and reason editor Matt Welch has done so.
Perhaps something will change the dynamics of the race in the remaining hours before South Carolina Republicans go to the polls tomorrow, and Thompson will catch a break. But at the moment, his prospects don't appear to give fans of smaller government any reason to abandon the pessimism that has by now become all too familiar.
John Tabin is a writer and blogger for The American Spectator.
Personally, against my hopes, I think Mitt is the guy whose “stock” will start to rise. That of course worries me. The Clinton machine will crucify him and his religion in the general. That’s why Rush took that Mormon gal’s call as his last call of the day, right after he read Babbin’s piece extolling Fred.
That was Rush’s way of “endorsing” Fred and saying, while Mitt might be a conservatives 1st choice because he polls better than Fred, buyer beware. If you were savvy enough, you could read between Rush’s lines. Hopefully the voters of S.C. will give Fred enough gas in the tank of that little red truck of his to hang in there and finally some cred with the media, so that he gets more national exposure.
This is no slam against Duncan Hunter, but can someone explain to me why everyone says Fred HAS to drop out if he doesn’t come in second in S.C. tomorrow? Yet Hunter, who polls at 1% and has vuitually no money, is encouraged to stay in?
I don’t get it. I hope both our two REAL conservative guys stay in.
What happens with a McCain/Thompson Ticket v Hillary/whomever?
I know my answer ...
No wonder why most people don't vote. Maybe they are smarter than all of us. They figured out years ago that whether Giant Douche or Turd Sandwich is elected it doesn't matter. Parker and Stone really are geniuses.
If Thompson signs on to a McCain ticket, it will tell me volumes. I’d imagine it would you as well.
LOL
Fred hasn’t got much market confidence at Intrade. He’s leading the pack for a January dropout at 80%, next closest contender is Edwards at 18.9%. His contract is the only one on the rise.
Contract Bid Ask Last Vol Chge
DROPOUT.JAN08.(F)THOMPSON
Fred Thompson to drop out of 2008 Presidential race on/before 31 Jan 2008 M Trade 75.0 84.9 80.0 269 +7.1
DROPOUT.JAN08.CLINTON
Hillary Clinton to drop out of 2008 Presidential race on/before 31 Jan 2008 M Trade 1.0 23.9 1.0 71 0
DROPOUT.JAN08.HUCKABEE
Mike Huckabee to drop out of 2008 Presidential race on/before 31 Jan 2008 M Trade 7.4 20.0 10.0 76 0
DROPOUT.JAN08.EDWARDS
John Edwards to drop out of 2008 Presidential race on/before 31 Jan 2008 M Trade 10.1 16.9 18.9 122 0
DROPOUT.JAN08.GIULIANI
Rudy Giuliani to drop out of 2008 Presidential race on/before 31 Jan 2008 M Trade 10.0 13.9 10.1 64 0
DROPOUT.JAN08.PAUL
Ron Paul to drop out of 2008 Presidential race on/before 31 Jan 2008 M Trade - 5.0 5.5 105 0
DROPOUT.JAN08.ROMNEY
Mitt Romney to drop out of 2008 Presidential race on/before 31 Jan 2008 M Trade 2.5 10.0 6.2 351 0
DROPOUT.JAN08.MCCAIN
John McCain to drop out of 2008 Presidential race on/before 31 Jan 2008 M Trade 0.5 9.9 4.9 66 0
DROPOUT.JAN08.OBAMA
Barack Obama to drop out of 2008 Presidential race on/before 31 Jan 2008 M Trade - 0.1 0.1 11 0
I predicted this a while back ... I stand by my prediction...
I truly think that the discussion here on FR would be highly entertaining ...
It would be entertaining for about a day. After that the people who were going to vote for Fred would simply abandon the subject and write November off. What would be the point of discussing it further.
In October there would be some discussion again, as the McCainiacs and party over policy loyalists would duke it out over the issue of not voting for the presidential spot.
BTW, not between themselves, but united against those who planed not to vote for the ticket or write in.
Damn straight! Fred is my 1st choice. If Mitt is the nominee by honest means I will vote for him. But I will NEVER vote for Rudy or McCain and I will sure as hell never vote for Huckabee. If Huckabee is the nominee I will do whatever is necesary to defeat him, even if it means voting D for the first time in my life. I will NOT let that freedom-hating POS become the defacto leader of the party that I have always understood to represent freedom and destroy all we’ve fought for. $UCK THE HUCK!!!
If Fred makes a good showing in South Carolina, Then it tears open “Super-Duper Tuesday”.
A good showing on Saturday virtually ASSURES Fred of winning Tennessee, and possibly GEORGIA.
Alabama is a Thompson/Huckabee tossup, and could hinge on who Bob Riley decides to endorse.
He knows Romney well, and has been friends with McCain for a long time.
ILLINOIS could very well be the Wild-card here, with everyone going left to vote for the home-boy, Obama, leaving the Republican side WIDE OPEN....
bump
Thanks for that comment Rob. You may be right there. Take care.
I agree with your take on Ls also.
Fred needs a good place in SC.
You’re post is quite intriguing.
Not those who know the facts and aren't ready to sell out.
LIES AND DECEIT USED TO SMEAR RON PAUL
http://www.newswithviews.com:80/Stang/alan27.htm
I'm an RP supporter ...
but did you seriously just use an Alan Stang (Batshiat CrazyTM) column in an attempt to advance his cause?
P.S. How's that Aqua-Chi footbath workin out for ya?
I used the column to show that the issue about the newsletter was nothing but a smear.
And it was.
Dude.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.