The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Libertarian

An interesting case study in how hardcore movement libertarianism plays to majority of the American people is the presidential campaign of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.). Paul is the most libertarian of Republicans, and was himself a former presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party, back in 1988.

Paul’s campaign is doing better in many respects than I would have guessed back when the rumors of his candidacy first hit the ‘Net back in January. For one thing, he’s doing better in fundraising than some of the other “second tier” candidates—$640 thousand.

This is all, Paul’s campaign press liaison Jesse Benton tells me, from viral spread of the campaign on the net, without much in the way of traditional direct mail or fundraising appearances. Since Paul knows who he is and knows why he’s running, Benton says, he doesn’t need to burn money on traditional polling and consultants and thus still has $525 thousand cash on hand. That’s more than Mike Huckabee and Tommy Thompson, and within $300 thousand of Sam Brownback.

Brian Doherty

Long article, but worth the read.