Comments on: Libertarians: The Party of Bob Barr, Jason Pye, and…Mike Gravel?

By: StevePerkins

StevePerkins — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 18:34:26 +0000

Yeah, the Dems’ version of the RLC is the Democratic Freedom Caucus. Actually, their platform is one of the most sensible set of position statements I’ve ever read. If the DFC were the slightest bit relevant within the Democratic Party (or even had a state affiliate at all in Georgia), I might send them the occasional check and establish some contacts in Democratic circles.

Unfortunately though, their relevance within their party is essentially zero. Thus, if I want to participate or have a say in one of the two major parties, I have to stick with the RLC… whose relevance in the GOP is just slightly greater than zero. It’s a shame too… I agree that libertarians are usually seen as just a subset of conservatives, and it would be good to see some Dems find some common ground under the umbrella also.

By: SpaceyG

SpaceyG — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:19:31 +0000

Whatever party, I hope he raises enough cash to go back and get that perfectly good rock back out of that lake.

By: Jason Pye

Jason Pye — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:41:32 +0000

Konop,

I aware of what he has said, and took some libertarian positions on some issues with regards to drugs. However, he did not govern that way when he was in office.

He is best characterized as a democrat (notice the small “d”).

By: John Konop

John Konop — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:08:34 +0000

Jason

FYI

Reason: You’ve been called a libertarian. Is that an accurate characterization of your politics?

Ventura: Sure. I am a libertarian. I’ve taken the libertarian exam and scored perfect on it. There’s this 10-question quiz that the Libertarian Party puts out. They give you 30, 20, or 10 points, depending on how you answer the questions. I’ve gotten all 30s.

http://www.reason.com/news/show/30973.html

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:16:16 +0000

Democrat Freedom Caucus.

By: Jason Pye

Jason Pye — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 03:06:52 +0000

There is a group similar to the RLC in the Democratic Party. I think they’re called Freedom Democrats. They mostly focus on civil liberties.

Speaking of Libertarians, whatever happened to Governor Jesse “The Body” Ventura?

One thing that Ventura proved during his time as Governor was that he is no libertarian.

By: Icarus

Icarus — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:56:10 +0000

Joe,

libertarian-leaning Democrat = legalized drugs

By: joe

joe — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:53:30 +0000

Jason,

Why isn’t “libertarian-leaning Democrats ” an oxymoron?

By: Bill Simon

Bill Simon — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:36:54 +0000

Speaking of Libertarians, whatever happened to Governor Jesse “The Body” Ventura?

By: Buzz Brockway

Buzz Brockway — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:20:12 +0000

Gravel just wants an excuse to keep making You Tube videos.

By: Hank Reardan

Hank Reardan — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:42:32 +0000

As a libertarian i welcome him. If like Bob barr he moves down the path to a better uderstanding of Liberty I welcome him with open arms. I will not vote for him in Denver at our convention but I think he will make the convention more exciting.

By: StevePerkins

StevePerkins — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:59:22 +0000

“Dog the Bounty Hunter” could declare himself a Democratic Presidential candidate, and Michael Jackson could declare himself a Republican Presidential candidate. Neither scenario means that the Dems or GOP would accept them as such.

The history of third parties is filled with quasi-celebrity candidates looking to piggyback off them for resources and ballot access as a matter of convenience (e.g. Pat Buchanan, Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney, etc). Smart parties keep their distance when the “candidate”‘s views or motives are out-of-sync… dumb political parties (e.g. the Reform Party with Pat Buchanan) embrace the quasi-celebrity and wind up imploding in the process. I predict that Gravel got a higher percentage of the vote toward the Democratic nomination than he will end up getting toward the Libertarian nod.

By: Jason Pye

Jason Pye — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:39:49 +0000

Judging from some of the comments I’ve read since yesterday afternoon, Gravel wouldn’t have much of shot at the nomination. Bob Barr would have a hard enough time getting it and he is the party’s biggest backers.

I still don’t know how to react to it. The party needs to do more bring in libertarian-leaning Democrats into the fold, but Gravel’s joining and jumping immediately into the race for the nomination is a bad idea.