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Memo to Snyder: Don’t stop the radical reforms now!Small-government candidate wins, no thanks to Libertarian Party
January 20th, 2010 | 
Author:
Dan Sherrier
Massachusetts’s famous Senate race is over, and as you’ve probably heard by now, Republican Scott Brown defeated Democrat Martha Coakley – not by a landslide, but by a comfortable margin of 53-46.
If you’re an advocate of smaller government and reducing the federal debt, Brown was the clear choice–even just on the health care issue alone. And that’s a rather enormous issue.
Joe Kennedy: No hope
Nevertheless, the Libertarian Party (LP) was willing to risk spoiling the election in Coakley’s favor. The party applauded its senatorial candidate, Joe Kennedy (no relation to the late Ted Kennedy), for refusing to drop out of the race.
In a press release, Wes Benedict, executive director of the LP, stated: “In fact, no one is ‘stealing’ anything. The votes belong to the voters, not the candidates. If voters choose Kennedy over Brown, it’s probably because they understand that Brown is a typical big-government Republican. If voters choose Kennedy over Coakley, it’s probably because they understand that Coakley is a typical big-government Democrat.”
Brown might meet the LP’s definition of “big government.” But compare him to Coakley – or compare the average federal Republican to the average federal Democrat – and see that you can’t apply the exact same “big-government” label to both. If Brown is “big,” then Coakley is gigantic.
It’s possible that some Massachusetts voters might have switched from Coakley to Kennedy. But it’s unlikely for most. Government spending is an issue that concerns many American minds. The Tea Party folks are evidence of that, and they’re not everyone who cares about the situation. (I have never participated in any Tea Party, and I’m concerned about government spending. I suspect many more fall into this category.)
On this issue, and the issues that stem from it, the Libertarians and Republicans vie for the same constituency. Both parties are opposed to the Democrats’ plans for America. They don’t agree on everything, but both would like to reduce the size of government and thwart current Democratic proposals, such as the healthcare legislation, cap-and-trade, and any more massive spending bills that might arise.
Yes, the Republicans spent too much money when they were in the power. They messed up. Those who participated deserve a good scolding.
But they’ve been behaving themselves better over the past year, beginning with their near-unanimous opposition to the $787 billion stimulus bill. There’s a reason the Democrats try to smear them as “The Party of No” (as if saying “yes” to any legislation that passes through Congress is automatically a good thing).
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Just because the Republicans screwed up in the past doesn’t mean they definitely will in the future. After all, many of the big-spending offenders were voted out, hence the current Democratic majorities. And we can find better Republicans to replace the incumbent Democrats. Brown is just one example of new Republican blood at the federal level.
Here’s my suggestion to the LP: Join forces with the Republican Party, at least temporarily.
Focus on the common ground. Put isolationism and drug-legalization on the back-burner for now. When the Democratic Party is sufficiently neutered, then you can break away and present your alternative to the Republican Party.
Libertarians, your official motto is “Smaller government. Lower taxes. More freedom.” What short-term compromises are you willing to make to achieve that? And aren’t the current Republicans working to bring us in that general direction, or at least to slow down the growth the Democrats want to enact?
The Republicans are far from perfect, but they’re many times better than the Democrats right now.
Peter Schiff has it right. He’s very libertarian-minded, but he’s running for Senator from Connecticut as a Republican. Look at the issues he outlines on his web site. He focuses on the common-ground topics. Schiff could actually win in 2010 and produce accomplishments that would make both libertarians and conservatives happy.
At different times over the past year or so, I’ve referred to myself as both conservative and libertarian while maintaining a distance from both the Republicans and Libertarians. Between these two parties, I qualify as a moderate. I can find items to disagree with on both party platforms, but I can at least understand from where both sides are coming.
The national Democratic Party’s plans, however, strike me as a blueprint for power-hungry politicians. Let’s scare them about global warming. Then let’s scare them about health care coverage. And let’s make sure they believe that only the government can heal a sick economy. Then we can enact more regulations and further justify our existence!
I’d much prefer to see Republicans vs. Libertarians as the two major parties rather than Republicans vs. Democrats. In order for that to happen, the Republicans and Libertarians first need to work together to thwart the Democrats, which will take time and hard work.
Or, the Libertarian Party can stand on the sidelines with its 1 percent of the vote and continue to shout, “Well at least I took my stand! I tried! ‘A’ for effort!”
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31 Responses to “Small-government candidate wins, no thanks to Libertarian Party”
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The Republican Party is always a party of bigger government when it’s in power, and it always claims to be a party of smaller government when it’s out of power. It’s been that way for 150 years now, and it isn’t likely to change, especially since that approach obviously continues to fool some of the people most of the time.
Voting Republican for smaller government is like fucking for virginity.
As far as Kennedy dropping out to help Brown is concerned, the effect would have been exactly the opposite. The polling numbers said that Coakley, not Brown, was the second choice of Kennedy voters by a margin of 2 to 1.
Regards,
Tom Knapp
The Bush Republicans put through a 2 trillion dollar spending bill to give more ‘free’ drugs to people who vote for Republicans. This is more than double the Democrats fiascoe and these are the guys your claiming are going to fix the current plan?
The Republicans have no credibily as a small government party and it is easy to argue they are worse than the Democrats. Thomas, above, has nailed who they are well.
Brown is a big government socialist just like all Republicans! Billions on earmarks and spending. Just wait and see. I’m going to keep standing up for my principles.
They campaign like Libertarians.
They govern like Democrats.
They are Republicans.
{Thanks, HB}
Scott Brown is not a small government candidate. Sorry, but torture is not something a small government does. Neither are foreign wars that kill disproportionate numbers of innocent bystanders. Oh, the Massachusetts healthcare system? Not small government.
At least Coakley would have stood up on foreign war and civil liberties in the Senate. But she would have been intolerable too.
You complain about Democrats using fear-mongering. So are Republicans. Do you not understand- both parties make you afraid of the other. You know something is wrong when a “moderate” like Scott Brown is being rallied to by the tea parties…
Brown was the best between him and Coakley. I like his views for a Republican. Republicans are still big government and if they win back the house and senate they will spend will increase government as always. When they are done with increasing government they will start taking personal freedoms away. Don’t forget the Democrats want to be your Mama and the Republicans your Daddy.
Libertarians are Isolationists? They are the opposite of Isolationists.
Shouln’t you know something about a party before you talk about them?
Scott Brown is pro-socialised health care… isn’t that what this fight is about?
Or so we would be led to believe.
He is also PRO-WAR which is not a Libertarian stance.
Um, when will the Republicans return the favor? Seriously. If you want the Libertarians to occasionally support Republicans who lean a little libertarian (and I mean little) then when will the Republicans stop telling the libertarians in their own ranks that they are not particularly wanted or well regarded? When will party leadership support the libertarian in the Republican primary?
Or if there is no Republican in the race, but there is a Libertarian and a Democrat, when will the Republicans explicitly endorse the Libertarian?
Do you remember how the Republican Party treated presidential candidate Ron Paul? How he was excluded from the New Hampshire debate but Giuliani was included? Do you remember how he wasn’t even invited to the convention?
The Republicans have had almost 40 years to earn Libertarian support. Now it is time for them to show us why we should change our minds. If you want our support, treat us like partners instead of claiming that we’re bad because our votes belong to you and we’re not giving them to you. Earn them.
“Just because the Republicans screwed up in the past doesn’t mean they definitely will in the future.”
Yes, they will. You can bet the house on it.
You go for it Charlie Brown. Maybe Lucy won’t pull the ball away, this time.
The Republicans current behavior is what they always do when out of power. It is a marketing ploy to differentiate them from the Democrats and their own recent past. Democrats do the same thing, pretending to care about civil liberties and peace.
I’ve seen this episode before. If you are young it might seem fresh and new. But, let me tell you how it ends. Charlie lands on his backside.
You argue that just because Republicans screwed up in the past does not mean they definitely will in the future. Definitely… no. Probably… yes. Further, as long as the party continues to promote big government Republicans over small government Republicans (which it is doing across the country), it is more than just probable but highly likely. If you want the Libertarians to fold into the GOP then embrace your small l Republicans. Until then, quit whining.
Huh?
The LP, Libertarians, and libertarians, all did the best they could to help the small government candidate, Joe Kennedy. If it weren’t for them, I would not have been rooting for him from California because I wouldn’t have known he was running.
He didn’t win, unfortunately, but if all the non-voters had voted for him, he would have, and they’d all have been no worse off, and quite possibly better off.
I WISH the small government candidate had won.
Right you are Ron.
Republicans are never more dangerous than when out of power.
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My wife says I waste my votes on Libertarians who don’t win, I think they’d be wasted on people I don’t agree with. Better a whisper of protest than silence that resembles consent.
Better a whisper of protest than silence that resembles consent.
Tom, summed up like a poet.
To me, what is most disconcerting about Big Government Republican Senator Elect Scott Brown is:
1) The fact that he wants universal health care for everyone (as noted in LP Blog 01/22/10)http://www.lp.org/blogs/mark-meranta/surprise-new-republican-senator-wants-more-government-run-health-care
2) That throughout his 11-year state legislative career, Scott Brown has repeatedly voted for higher government spending, bigger government, and higher taxes and is likely to do the same in the US Senate
3) That Scott Brown brags about his vital role in designing, writing, and passing RomneyCare in Massachusetts and is likely to make ObamaCare even larger than it is today
4) That WGBH-TV (the Boston PBS affiliate) revealed that Scott Brown VOTED WITH the Democratic Majority in the legislature over 91% of the time and is likely to do the same in the US Senate
Scott Brown doesn’t represent the fiscally responsible & socially tolerant principles of the Libertarian Tea Party movement which stands for Smaller Government, Lower Taxes and More Freedom! Shame on anyone who voted for Mr. Brown!
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