Stephen Gordon over at The Next Right explains why the Republican Party needs libertarians more than libertarians need the Republican Party right now.
“Republicans need libertarians more than libertarians need Republicans. It’s time for libertarians – fiscally conservative, socially tolerant people who advocate limited government and individual freedom – to start fighting back.” – Jon Henke
Click here to read the full blog post on The Next Right.
Filed under:
National Republican Party
Great article!
The Lindsay Graham quote about 3/4 of the way down is emblematic of the problem the party currently has, whether we’re talking about the controverties of conservative vs. libertarian, Limbaugh vs. Powell, Huckabee vs. Paul: Nobody is saying anything about “turning the party over” to one particular “group” or the other.
What reasonable people (and, I think, most rank-and-file Republicans, such as myself) are trying to say is, to borrow a phrase, “can’t we all just get along?” (apologies to Rodney King).
The Jim DeMint piece that was published in the Wall Street Journal a few weeks back should be required reading. Maybe you guys could find a link and post to it.
How Republicans Can Build a Big-Tent Party by Senator Jim DeMint:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124121871475178899.html
Liberals want a nanny state controlling every aspect of our lives. We will all be just a mass of drones wandering aimlessly through life if Obama and his democrats have their way. Liberalism (they like to be called progressives now that the typical democrat voter has caught on to the term liberal) is the exact polar opposite of libertarianism.
Conservatives want to allow us all of the freedoms that are possible just short of us harming each other. The rub between conservatives and libertarians is that conservatives believe that certain destructive behaviors should be limited whereas libertarians don’t. The other major difference is that libertarians are somewhat isolationist while conservatives understand that we have a responsibility to defend much of the world against various barbarous nations and groups, by keeping the enemies of civilization at arms length is better than having them beat down our walls.
The bottom line is that libertarians have zero in common with liberals/progressives but have about 85 percent in common with conservatives. Libertarians can continue to have about 3% popular support alone and keep pretending to be relevant or they can join the conservatives to present a united front against the anti-American democrats.
D Johnson:
While I agree with you, I think a lesson that all of us, regardless of where we fall on the conservative/libertarian continuum, is that we need to treat each other as reasonable people, as adults and political partners, and with respect.
When I hear statements like “Libertarians have 3% popular support and are pretending to be relevant” or “Libertarians are ‘isolationist….conservatives ‘understand’ … ” it makes me cringe. What self-respecting libertarian is going to be eager to ally with a group that is represented by those sentiments?
Libertarians are proud, smart people. Pretending to barely tolerate them is no way to forge a coalition. How about we focus on the strengths we can bring to each other.
And with all due respect, how about we quit it with the pissing contests and figure out how to work together.
And Roman:
Thanks for posting that link.
Thank you for posting this article. I usually vote Republican, but my political leanings are primarily Libertarian.
Frankly, it is about trust – those of us who identify as Libertarians simply no longer trust the Republican party to represent the views of limited government, respect for the Constitution, and fiscal conservatism. Your Bush dynasty has completely disabused us of the notion that the Republican party stands for those values.
When the Republican party directly disavows the big government policies of the Bushes, I will consider the matter closed and return to the party. Michael Steele, the GOP National Chairman, announced a few days ago that they are done apologizing. I didn’t hear the apology – did I miss it?