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#1
10-12-2006, 11:33 AM
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Where are all the Libertarians?
Just cruising through the 2+2 Politics and Legislation forums, and the one other internet political site I frequent (Fark.com), I am struck by the number of self-professed Libertarians out there. There are definately more people identifying themselves as libertarian/ACist than identifying themselves as liberal or conservative. And yet, the Libertarian Party never gets more than 3% of the vote.
What's going on here? Is it just a matter of trying to seem cool by bucking the establishment? Is it a matter of libertarians not wanting to vote? Even if its the latter, you'd think the difference wouldn't be so dramatic that the major parties would get 20x as many votes as the Libertarian Party. I dunno. Just to be clear, I am talking about people who say in the forums "I am a libertarian" and those who don't self identify but use libertarian arguments. 
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#2
10-12-2006, 11:36 AM
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Re: Where are all the Libertarians?
I would guess that libertarianism has a bigger following among young, intelligent, Internet-savvy people than the general populace. Also, I vaguely recall seeing a poll once in which 15-20% of people said that they would vote for a third party candidate if they believed he had a realistic chance of winning, as opposed to the 2-3% that actually do. This is probably a factor as well.
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#3
10-12-2006, 11:39 AM
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Re: Where are all the Libertarians?
The obvious answers are:
1) As with any voters who would prefer a 3rd party, they aren't willing to risk seeing the major party candidates they like least get elected. 2) A statistically significant portion of Libertarians post here and on other political boards on the net, which seems to overstate their size in the total electorate.
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#5
10-12-2006, 11:46 AM
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Re: Where are all the Libertarians?
Most of us here are not "stuck" with tradition and vote for the party which most identifies with our beliefs. Also, the republicans has sort of lost their way and the old school republican motif of smaller less intrusive government is apparently not part of the current crop in congress. Those ideals seem to have been hijacked by the religious leanings of the party.
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#6
10-12-2006, 11:48 AM
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Re: Where are all the Libertarians?
[ QUOTE ]
The main problem is that trying to get any 2 people who claim to be "libertarians" to agree to a specific platform is damn near impossible. [/ QUOTE ] I would agree with this. As a libertarian I couldn't bring myself to vote for the moron who ran on the libertarian ticket in 2004.
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#7
10-12-2006, 01:23 PM
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Re: Where are all the Libertarians?
[ QUOTE ]
The main problem is that trying to get any 2 people who claim to be "libertarians" to agree to a specific platform is damn near impossible. [/ QUOTE ] I think this statement is completely false. In fact, being a libertarian and identifying with others means that I know we will have a basic agreement with regards to most of the big issues. As others have pointed out, fear of having the worst of the two evils win is the reason the lib numbers are so low. There is some critical mass that must happen before a liberatarian gets some relevant number of votes (see Perot/Ventura)
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#8
10-12-2006, 11:45 AM
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Re: Where are all the Libertarians?
[ QUOTE ]
Just cruising through the 2+2 Politics and Legislation forums, and the one other internet political site I frequent (Fark.com), I am struck by the number of self-professed Libertarians out there. There are definately more people identifying themselves as libertarian/ACist than identifying themselves as liberal or conservative. And yet, the Libertarian Party never gets more than 3% of the vote. What's going on here? Is it just a matter of trying to seem cool by bucking the establishment? Is it a matter of libertarians not wanting to vote? Even if its the latter, you'd think the difference wouldn't be so dramatic that the major parties would get 20x as many votes as the Libertarian Party. I dunno. Just to be clear, I am talking about people who say in the forums "I am a libertarian" and those who don't self identify but use libertarian arguments. [/ QUOTE ] For me in the past I would get the feeling that I was just wasting my vote so being a realist I would choose the lesser of two evils. I figured that if one of the two parties had to win I should vote for the one that I agree with more. Not anymore though or at least not until the republicans become fiscal conservatives again.
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#9
10-12-2006, 11:47 AM
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Re: Where are all the Libertarians?
I am a card-carrying member of the Libertarian Party, so here I am.
Generally speaking, a lot of self-professed Libertarians like winning more than they like their ideals. Also, many people bridge the gap between Republican and Libertarian(and more rarely, Democrat and Libertarian), but continue to vote Republican. With any fortune, due to shifting attitudes and disillusionment in this country, the party will become more of a player on the scene. Unfortunately, at this point, we have yet to have a galvanizing leader that everyone supports(paging Ron Paul...Mr. Paul, you're wanted in our party). And...as the other reply mentioned, it is difficult to vote for a party knowing that you have no chance of winning and are simply standing on your principles. People like to play for teams that have a chance of winning. Until we get more players, it's going to be a low percentage. The party has many problems, but chief among them is simply legitimizing ourselves as a viable party in most people's minds. When I tell people I'm a Libertarian, I get two responses: 1)Quick laughter, then pity when they realize I'm serious. 2)Confusion, then a quick changing of topics Until we figure out a way to change the perceptions, we are going to be a party of also-rans. I am proud of my affiliation, but I'm also realistic about where we stand. Most of our core beliefs are conservative in nature, so there is a lot to get behind, but there are some items on our platform(drugs, drunk driving, taxes) that some people simply consider to be unchallengeable beliefs. Honestly, I don't have a workaround for that. And since no one else seems to, we are likely to continue to struggle until we find a)palatable options for the masses, and b)someone with charisma who can get the point across without scaring the bejesus out of John Q. Public.
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