Ex-congressman Bob Barr was targeted by the Libertarian Party for defeat in the primaries during the last election cycle. His hard-line stance against medical marijuana made him a good target, and the LP ran TV ads attacking him on this subject. I don't know if it was the LP's efforts that made the difference, but Barr lost.
Oddly, he seems to hold no grudge. Here's the same Bob Barr:
While I am not a card-carrying member of the Libertarian Party, I must say
that, after speaking to its members and listening to many of their concerns,
I've decided that Libertarians have much to offer Georgians of all political
stripes. I hope the media wakes up and pays more heed to the Libertarian
candidates and the substance of their positions. On many of the issues
comprising its platform, the Libertarian Party of Georgia has staked out a
position strikingly in accord with what I perceive to be positions favored
by mainstream Georgians. For example:
- The party understands the Second Amendment, follows legislation affecting
firearms rights, and intelligently articulates a reasonable position.
- Strong families, with a minimum of government interference, are favored by
their platform.
- Libertarians don't like the government collecting fingerprints and other
personally identifying data; neither do most Georgians.
- Libertarians share the growing concerns of many Georgians of all political
persuasions that in its zeal to fight terrorism, the government is showing
dangerous disdain for citizens' civil liberties, including our right to privacy.
- Like most Georgians, Libertarians understand that public expressions of
religious beliefs, so long as not forced on others, do not constitute a threat to the Republic.
- The Libertarian Party of Georgia champions clear criminal laws, and
consistent application and objective judicial review of them. If that's not
mainstream, we're in deep trouble.
- Bedrock protection of property rights, something we need more rather than
less of these days, remains a vital tenet of the Georgia's Libertarian Party
platform.
To be sure, the Libertarian Party adheres to some policies that are not shared by most Georgians. Notable among those are its advocacy of loosened anti-drug and anti-obscenity laws, and its pro-choice stance.
Maybe we've been too nice to the political opposition. We just need to beat them to make them like us.
Posted by Walter at March 8, 2004 08:47 AMHey, I like you! Promise!
No beatings necessary.
Or did you mean something else?
Posted by: zombyboy at March 8, 2004 01:27 PMAlthough I welcome Bob Barr’s comments and I listened to a good interview with him at http://www.philipdru.com/ Lately I have noticed a lot of conservatives either saying good things about libertarians or trying to associate themselves in one way or another with libertarians (a common phrase seems to be “When it comes to this issue, I am very libertarian” or similar. This worries me a little. I like the attention and the sympathies but I have heard this stuff before from politicians and pundits of all stripes and they tend to smooze libertarians with this until they are in office, then they vote exactly opposite of how a libertarian thinking person would. Bob Barr for instance is now a vocal opponent of the Patriot Act, but when he was in office he voted for it. Then they wonder why we don’t trust them. I am not sure what kind of game Barr is playing, but I hope he is sincere and can use his influence to help lobby to ease laws, lower taxes, and pass laws that quit eroding our civil rights.
Posted by: severin at March 8, 2004 02:08 PMThe way the system works in this country -- and members of minor parties need to study this closely -- is that minority parties get, if they are successful, their programs and policies absorbed by a major party, which brings them into the mainstream and makes them law and accepted.
If you like, you can resent this co-option and dilution bitterly, oppose it furiously, and rail against it. The best you might do is slow the process down.
Or you can help speed along the process.
Those are the options. No others are on offer, nor will be.
Why am I so flatly declarative about this? Study of history of American politics.
Posted by: Gary Farber at March 14, 2004 11:19 PM