Party Affiliation

[rdbrowning]

I wonder …

I have heard many say that they disagree with some/much/all of the Republican party platform, but they are not going to vote Libertarian. The logic is that since we effectively have a two party system, that a vote for anyone else is a vote wasted. Maybe the wasted vote will result in the “enemy” winning the election.

But is this valid?

It seems that the Republicans are courting the fringe Democrats so much that they have become Republican In Name Only. By being afraid of loosing an election we have lost the party, therefore losing the all control of our destiny.

Maybe another tactic is called for. Since the power brokers will court the votes, maybe it is time that we let them know that as they move farther left, it will cost them more votes on the right. By leaving the republican party, and telling them why, we can get their attention. Maybe, just maybe, they will actually court US for a change.

 

[Kim]

If Libertarians want to be effective they need to infiltrate and run as Republicians. That is what the commies, progressives, democratic socialist have done to the other party. Which group has the most power now?????????????? You may not stay 100% pure but you could make a big difference. 3rd party will have no effect at least Nationally. Conservative have done this for years prior to gaining majority in Southern States. I knew a time that if you did not run on the Democratic ticket in Arkansas you had no chance of winning. Those with more Conservative ideas ran as Democrats------- such produced Zell Miller. Still do in alot of local races.

 

[Alex45ACP]

The only way you "throw your vote away" is when you don't vote your conscience.

 

[Standing Wolf]

If Libertarians want to be effective they need to infiltrate and run as Republicians.

Explain to me, please, how to find the Republican party. I can't tell it from the Democratic (sic) party even with a score card.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

I think it would be easier for libertarians to gain power within the Republican party than it would be for them to suceed as a third party. As a third party, so-called campaign finance reform has stacked the odds against them and frankly, they weren't having a whole lot of luck even before that disadvantage.

However that isn't the only way libertarians can succeed. The most important part is they have to gain support at the local level before they can hope to succeed at the national level. The Libertarian Party needs to make an effort to grow the party from the ground up instead of using every Presidential election as a marketing campaign to try and increase their numbers by some marginal amount.

One problem the Libertarian Party has right now is they are a no-compromise party in a government system that was designed from the ground up as a compromise between various powers. LP members can continue to vote their conscience all they like; but the practical effect is just leaving the decision to someone else.

 

[Boss Spearman]

I strongly disagree voting for a third party wastes the vote. Any vote that does not go to the Republicans or Democrats takes a vote away from both parties.

I voted for Badnarik for president. That took the vote away from both Bush and Kerry. Taking a vote away from both candidates does not sway the election toward either one of them.

 

[TonkinTwentyMil]

Bart Roberts has hit the nail on the head.

In the real world of practical politics, when the Libertarian Party starts electing local dog-catchers, county commissioners, small-town mayors, and state reps and senators, THEN they'll be a serious party with a national voice.

Until then, the best way you can register your "protest" with ANY party is to work within that party for change. Consistently... not just occasionally.

That means a lot of grass-roots, long-range grunt work (letters, debates, fund-raising, phone-banks, door-knocking, etc.)... something that naive 3rd party candidates (and their fickle supportors) often fail to grasp.

That's just the way it is. Reality's a bitch, eh?

 

[Steam dragon]

I wonder how many of you are on your county central comittee?
it is an elected office that pays nothing.
You represent your precinct to the county in your party.
This is true for both the R's and D's.
I wonder how many of you know who your local committee rep is?
From any party?

I know both of mine and am running against the incumbent R.
She's too liberal for me...

 

[chopinbloc]

The logic is that since we effectively have a two party system, that a vote for anyone else is a vote wasted.

i subscribed to that notion for quite a while but i have since realized that we have a ONE party system just as surely as the soviets did. i therefore intend to protest by voting my conscience. compromise is one thing but when a leader is simply less bad on every issue that interests you and is not idealogically aligned with you on any single point, why vote for him? there are republicans i might vote for and i would have voted to re-elect our AZ state governor if she hadn't vetoed the bar carry law. i will not vote for a republicrat ever again, though. maybe it'll help, maybe it won't. i maintain hope - and a well stocked arms locker.

 

[wingnutx]

If Libertarians want to be effective they need to infiltrate and run as Republicians.

That's basically what Ron Paul did.

 

[Sam]

Vote the way you want. If that results in the "enemy party' being voted in to our detriment, oh well, we start the dance a little earlier.

Sam

 

[dolanp]

I agree that local governments need to have a good Libertarian presence before they can move their platform forward. That's why I vote L for every office on the ballot that has one. During the last election there were quite a few actually. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure most simple-minded people just vote the little straight-ticket box at the top and turn it in.

Voting for a Libertarian if that's what you believe in is no more a waste of a vote than voting for Republicans that will stab you in the back. If you got half of the people who don't vote at all to get off their arse and vote Libertarian you could win a presidential election. We are far away from that happening but the more people that vote for them the more recognition they will eventually get. It may take decades or it may never happen at all, but I think a serious multi-party system would do a lot for this country. Right now we have two parties that are pretty much the same, except they take stakes on hot button issues like guns, abortion, religion, etc.

 

[Alex45ACP]

The sooner we start "the dance" the better, the longer statists are in power the harder it's going to be to defeat them.

 

[Rockstar]

If marijuana were legal and cheap, most Libertarians would be too stoned to drive to the polls!

 

[Kurush]

If Libertarians want to be effective they need to infiltrate and run as Republicians.

Let me get this straight... In order to help acheive my goal of a smaller, more hands-off government, I should join the party that has spent the last 5 years bloating the government like a tick, invading foreign nations under false pretenses, restricting civil liberties and free speech, and now wants to repeal Posse Comitatus. Maybe I'm missing something here.

 

[Sindawe]

Maybe I'm missing something here.

Did'nt you know that the Republican party is the LESSER of the evils? If we don't vote Rep, Dem will gain power and we'll really be well and truly frelled. /sarcasm

 

[Kurush]

If marijuana were legal and cheap, most Libertarians would be too stoned to drive to the polls!

I've been told that I'm going to be joining the Republican party, so I'm glad to hear thoughtful, informed opinions from my future fellow party members.

Perhaps, as a drug warrior, you can help me understand why it is that the price of illegal drugs has been dropping for the last 15 years.

Surely after all these years of imprisoning literally millions of nonviolent drug offenders, shooting dogs, mandatory minimums, no-knock predawn raids, drug testing, and other painful sacrifices we've made for the war on some drugs, the suppliers of some drugs must be on the run, struggling to procure even the smallest quantities of their vile non-FDA approved merchandise?

Wait, I've got it! Drug dealers dropping their prices because demand has dropped! The lessons of DARE have finally taken hold in our children's minds and they are no longer lured by the illicit pleasures of some drugs. What a marvelous victory for us! I shall begin planning a celebration forthwith!

 

[HankB]

have heard many say that they disagree with some/much/all of the Republican party platform

It's not so much the Republican party platform that people disagree with . . . it's that so many Republican politicians don't support or work for the platform once they're in office.

 

[xd9fan]

Last week I joined the Libertarian party. I cant tell the differance btwn Bush and Clinton on spending. Both are out of control. GOP ers can play defensive and say that 9/11 and Katrina where events that no budget can prepare for but I disagree. Both responses have meant huge increases in Federal Control, growth and spending. Neither of these two parties are looking at individual Rights and Free Market/Privitazation as a solution. It simply is not even in their mind to think about Liberty first. GW could have veto'd the Kennedy education bill but no he signed it. GW could have veto'd the new version of the medicare nightmare called drugs for seniors but no he signed it. When the hell will it stop!!!

And to think I gave good money to GWBush last year for his election :banghead:

The Founding Fathers fought with their principles against amazing odds. I now join the LP because it still has principles and it holds dear the Bill of Rights. I figure if the Founding Fathers stuck to thier principles then so will I. I will no longer vote for a GOP the looks the other way AFTER they have my vote.

 

[miko]

Maybe the wasted vote will result in the “enemy” winning the election.
But is this valid?

What did you expect from that crowd, “we pledge to our lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor”? Yeah, right…

they need to infiltrate and run as Republicians. That is what the commies, progressives, democratic socialist have done to the other party.

Actually the republican party has long been infiltrated by straussian trotskytes, currently known as neo-cons.

miko

 

[TonkinTwentyMil]

"Infiltrate The Republican Party?"

YES!

That is EXACTLY the point I -- and, I think, Bart Roberts and a few others -- are trying to make.

If you don't LIKE the GOP (even though it's closer to your leanings than the Dem Party) then -- by all means -- DO "infiltrate" it!

Infiltrate that party and all its operations at the grass-roots level, steadily, year after year. As someone mentioned, get involved with (take over!) your local precinct. Help shape your local issues/platforms/candidate selections. Get on your state's national party delegation.

Yes, and make some contribution$, too. Because the folks who show up for the $500-$2,000 a plate party dinners DO get listened too... a helluva lot more than the schlubs who sit at home and just bitch about the gub'ment.

Stand up and speak out constantly -- at the risk of alienating some friends and fellow employees AND employers/bosses -- if/when you think your GOP pals are wimping-out on the Second Amendment.

Will the party leaders "stab you in the back" over 2A issues? Not if they really fear involved/activist gun owners who get off their butts and dramatically increase their presence in the entire POLITICAL PROCESS... ALL THE TIME! Politics is a process, not an occasional walk, and the process never ends.

Look, I had tons of friends who voted for Ross Perot in '92. They all had 2 things in common:

1. They were politically ill-informed:
Didn't follow politics closely. Didn't read all the stuff available. (Do YOU regularly read RealClearPolitics.com? Do YOU read major political journals like Nat'l Review, Weekly Standard, American Spectator?)

2. They were politically naive:
They actually thought that simply showing up at the ballot box every 4 years was an expenditure of their civic energy sufficient to make an imprint on the political course of the nation. Wrong!

It takes an investment of time, energy, and guts to make a difference here. Voting -- alone -- doesn't hack it anymore. It's a high-stakes game.

Years ago, in another life, the Republican Party approached me to run for a Congressional seat -- in a "moderate" district. I told 'em I would... IF I could continue my outspoken-activist position on 2A issues... with strong party support. They waffled, so I declined. Baffled by my ideological rigidity, they then ran a second-choice wimpy RINO.. and give him tepid support. He lost, as I likely would have, too. But I made my point with the party's architects. They learned (in that state, at least) that Gun-Rights Voters cannot be taken lightly... IF their ideological intensity is matched by their involvement where the rubber meets the road.

And, a few years later, CCW got passed there.

"Just because you don't take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you."
-- Pericles, 430 B.C.

Infiltrate!

 

[longrifleman]

That's basically what Ron Paul did.

How much clout do you think he has with the party leadership. I get the impression they pretty much regard him as nothing more than an annoyance.

 

[Gannet]

The Republicans are the Stupid Party. But the Democrats are the Evil Party. (the Libertarians are the Party Party and completely irrelevant)

All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

Get involved with your local Republican party. That's the best way to make a difference in the real world.

imo

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

How much clout do you think he has with the party leadership?

Well he started out with very, very little - which immediately gave him more clout than he had as the former Libertarian presidential candidate. He is now a member of the Republican Liberty Caucus, which if you believe this graph, shows that not only does he have 10 or so prominent Republicans voting with him in the House and Senate (mostly Senate); but that some of them actually score higher than Rep. Paul.

 

[Zundfolge]

How much clout do you think he [Ron Paul] has with the party leadership?

A heck of a lot more then he'd have as a Libertarian who's not in office.

To paraphrase Milton Friedman; I am a libertarian with a small "l" but a Republican with a capital "R". Not because I agree with everything the GOP stands for, but because that party is the best chance we have to actually impliment libertarian ideals"



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