Libertarians going after the conservative vote...
The Republican Party needs to be careful when it appears they are compromising their principles for the purpose of creating a "bigger tent." It seems the Libertarians are going after the conservative vote...
posted by Andy W. Rogers | 10:30 AM
1 Comments:
The Libertarians are lightly courting the conservative vote because they see an opportunity. Since their platform and positions are decidedly to the right of the current occupant of the White House and after the liberal circus that was the GOP convention last year, they see the possibility of gaining new members. It is a double-edged sword for them, though. Easily half of the people who self-identify as conservative are religious and social conservatives. Social conservatism is antithetical to the majority of the Libertarian Party's membership.
I voted Libertarian in the last election on two counts: President/Vice President and NC Governor. In both cases, the Libertarian candidates matched my ideological positions more closely than either of the Republican candidates, especially in the case of Barbara Howe vs. Patrick Ballantine. I expect I will be doing that more frequently in the future.
So the question will be whether the LP will suffer the schismatic growing pains in order to accomplish growth, and if so, what will the LP of 2015 look like with respect to the LP of today. The LP gained a lot of ground in the 1980's with those who opposed the GOP's War on Drugs. Those folks tend to be far to the left on most social issues. An interesting dilemma would present itself to the LP should Roe v. Wade be overturned. As a matter of national principle, they would (or should) be in favor of local determination of any such issue. However, most of their membership would be opposed to any move on a state level to outlaw abortion.
They have to do something, though. At their current growth rate, they have another fifty years before they even become a noteworthy political contender. By that time, with no third-party voice to challenge Republican and Democrat Socialism, I expect us to be living in an autocracy with sham elections.
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