Posted on 11/14/2006 6:25:58 PM PST by Purple GOPer
In one closely watched Congressional race (Sodrel v Hill, IN-9) and two critical Senate races (Missouri and Montana), the Republican candidate was defeated by fewer votes than the Libertarian candidate received.
[Note: the last data I could find on the Missouri race still had two of the 3746 precincts to report, so it is possible that statement isn't true for Missouri, but if it is not true it is still very close and does not diminish my point.]
In other words, in these two critical Senate races and if the Republican had gotten the Libertarian's votes, the Republican would have won.
For the rest of this article, please recognize that I am speaking of the small-"l" libertarian, and not the Libertarian Party of the candidates mentioned above. A "libertarian", in the shortest definition I can muster, is someone who is fiscally conservative and socially liberal. In other words, it is someone who wants the government to perform a very small set of legitimate functions and otherwise leave us alone.
I can hardly contain my glee at seeing this happen after years of hoping it would. And in such dramatic fashion, with such important results. I did not hope it would because I wanted Republicans to lose, but because the Republicans had become corrupted (by which I do not mean corrupt in the typical sense.) They became enamored of power, and believed that they could get away with expanding the size, intrusiveness, and cost of government as long as they had government aim for "conservative" goals rather than liberal ones. This loss, and the way it happened, was the best thing that could have happened for Americans who care about a government focused on limited government and liberty.
No, the Democrats are not that government. They believe in anything but limited government, and they only believe in liberty in one's personal life, but not in one's economic life. In a sense, Democrats believe that the citizens work for the government.
Republicans on the other hand have acted in just the opposite way: they believe in economic liberty and they know we do not work for government. But they do not believe in personal liberty. The failure of the strategery of the Republicans, to focus on "the base" by trotting out social issues such as the South Dakota no-exception abortion ban (which lost, I'm pleased to say) demonstrated two things: First, social issues do not have long coat-tails. Second, the GOP base is fiscal conservatives more than it is social conservatives.
Fiscal conservatives, even more than social conservatives, were the demotivated voting block. Fiscal conservatives who are not socially conservative, i.e. voters who are libertarian even if they don't know it or wouldn't identify themselves that way, were the key swing vote in this election and were the reason that the GOP lost Congress...the Senate in particular.
In a recent study called "The Libertarian Vote", David Boaz (Cato Institute) and David Kirby (America's Future Foundation) discuss the growing number of American libertarians, the growing dissatisfaction among them (including me) with the GOP, and the continuing shift in voting patterns caused by that dissatisfaction. Tuesday held the obvious conclusion of this shift.
The party which went from reforming welfare to banning internet gambling by sticking the ban inside a port security bill, the party which went from Social Security reform to trying to amend the Federal Constitution to prevent gay marriage, the party which went from controlling the size and scope of government to banning horse meat became a party which libertarians and Republicans alike could not stomach.
The Democrats are a disaster, though they probably realize they need to move to the center. The Republicans have just been taught a brutal lesson that they also need to move to the center (on social issues) and back to fundamental principles of our Founders on issues of economics and basic liberties. No party can rely on the unappealing nature of their opponent to be a strong enough motivation to win elections, nor should we let them win if being just a bit better than the other guys is all they aspire to.
What I love about libertarian voters is that they vote on principle, not on party. The GOP might not like it, but politics should not be about blind loyalty if your party has lost its way. So, I disagree with suggestions that libertarians are fickle and unreliable voters. Instead the Republicans became an unreliable party. The Democrats on the other hand are extremely reliable -- they will always raise spending and taxes, get government involved where it doesn't belong. But other than the tax cuts of several years ago, the Republicans have been no different other than choosing different areas of our lives to intrude upon.
I hope that the result of the Libertarian Effect, particularly on the GOP, will be that the next election may provide us an opportunity to replace this batch of Democrat placeholders with Congressmen who not only have read the Constitution, but respect it. Congressmen who understand that Republican voters do not elect politicians to have them impose their (or our) morality on the people, but rather to keep government from interfering in our lives and leaving us, in the immortal words of Milton Friedman, "Free to Choose".
And in the dozen or so others, they didn't.
LOL!
So, you admit you are insane and incapable of telling fact from fiction.
This will certainly save time...
Republican Incumbents Who Lost in the House:
Vacated Republican seats lost
Mostly conservatives, a few borderline Northeast conservatives, a few RINO's and no liberals.
The ACU's "ratings" have been hashed out on a dozen threads already. About as accurate as any other "polling" data....
An ineffective, low pressure hose does me no good.
Guess I'm screwed.
I've seen a few failed attempts to make that argument on other threads.
Cite why the ACU ratings are inaccurate.
Just a few crooks, at least one pervert that I know of...
"Screw them, they can keep on voting for the Democrats like they always have... they are Cultural Marxists..."
They are suicide bombers -- but without a suicide bomber's quiet dignity.
Their whole "theology" is outcome based.
In order argue their high-minded right to stay stoned on weed (or whatever they can get) they will subscribe to open borders, defunding the military -- anything that will justify doping themselves.
Getting stoned is always job one. Just give them their bongs, man.
Which, given how naturally stupified they seem to be, would seem to be overkill. But there they are.
How many seats from your party were voted into office?
"Hey, it's going on right now on another thread. If we elect a candidate that can beat Hillary the unhappy people will take their votes and go third party, which is what she is counting on.. a repeat of Perot."
While a passionate conservative in 1992, I was young and pathetically naive... all I knew was that Bush Senior wasn't as conservative as I wanted and I voted third party.
I was remorseful as hell THE MORNING AFTER THE ELECTION when I saw that an oily, lying sleazebag had won... and that was before we had a clue as to the horrendous damage he was going to do to America for 8 years.
This is the opposite of what the dims want.
It's like groundhog day. I can see we never learn from history in this country.
In order argue their high-minded right to stay stoned on weed (or whatever they can get) they will subscribe to open borders, defunding the military -- anything that will justify doping themselves.
You can add me to the list that did the exact same thing. I learned a valuable lesson. It's one thing to have strong values, another to cut off your nose to spite your face.
The GOP has a libertarian wing...it's largest and oldest faction.
Libertarians are such liars. Here is their official "stance" on abortion:
Official Website of the Libertarian National Committee
I.8 Reproductive Rights
The Issue: The tragedies caused by unplanned, unwanted pregnancies are aggravated and sometimes created by government policies of censorship, restriction, regulation and prohibition.
Recognizing that abortion is a sensitive issue and that people can hold good-faith views on both sides, we believe that government should be kept out of the matter, leaving the question to each person for their conscientious consideration.
http://www.lp.org/issues/platform_all.shtml#reprodright
Translation: "if it feels good, do it, baby!"
Funny, that's their answer to almost everything.
You mean they aren't for open borders or defunding the military.
Maybe you should read their platform for the last forty years.
I will always vehemently disagree with anyone who seems to want to damage, or place in jeopardy, the nation that my grandchildren have to live in. It is admirable for one to want to fight for something you believe in but it is not admirable to burn down the neighborhood in order to do it. There are some conservative fiscal qualities of Libertarians that I admire. However, as one who believes that nothing is more dangerous than a crowd of people, Libertarians belief that society should be totally free of all government, I see as a grave threat to a safe societal structure.
Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference on Social Security on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C. in this May 3, 2005 file photo, as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., listens. Should the Democrats pick up 15 or more seats and gain control of the House of Representatives on November 7, 2006, the Harlem congressman who would become chair of the powerful tax-writing Ways & Means Committee. +++++ But those Libertarian really taught us all a lesson.
If I was gonna start a new party, I'd rip one right out of the middle of the two currently battling for power. I'd grab up every DINO & RINO that I could get my hands on, with one exception. I'd put integrity in government down as my first plank & open government would be my second plank. I'd air all of the dirty laundry of the Democrats & Republicans, all of the back room deals of both sides, so I'm sure I'd have plenty of ammo.
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