This is all pretty funny but repubs have made their own bed. Many people who consider themselves libertarians have been voting for pubbies largely because of the two groups philosophy of fiscal restraint and the reality that the Libertarian Presidential candidates don’t stand a chance. I know that there are a lot of freepers who think libertarians are all evil yada yada yada... but when you consider that the 2000 election was won by a few hundred votes that policy of demonizing libertarians doesn’t seem very smart. McCain is probably going to lose a lot of those thousands of votes. For that matter he’s going to lose a lot of republican votes too since he’s basically a liberal and from what I can see the sort of people he would nominate to the USSC are not acceptable. If the pubbie pres won’t nominate conservative judges and considering their spending track record and the recent ascendancy of the country clubbers in the party there’s little reason to prefer McCain over the others. A lot of conservatives are going to stay home. Libertarians won’t cross over. The Republican Party has only itself to blame.
“The Republican Party has only itself to blame.”
You refer to the party as if it has nothing to do with conservatives. This is our bed and yes, we only have ourselves to blame.
If every Libertarian vote cast in 2000 had been cast for the GOP instead, George Bush would still have lost the popular vote by 160,000 votes.
I don't recall any major player in the GOP demonizing Libertarians in 2000 or any other election.