Ticket Stub

“The real division is not between conservatives and revolutionaries but between authoritarians and libertarians.” ― George Orwell, The Lost Orwell: Being a Supplement to The Complete Works of George Orwell

I noticed the other day that my membership in the Libertarian Party has now reached 20 years. I hadn't thought about party membership as signifying much of anything, other than supporting the good guys. After all, the LP is the only political party that's come close to decoding the formula for governing humans. I usually don't worry about whether or not they had a good showing in the election, since the result would always be symbolic, anyway.

Oh, sure, I voted for Gary Johnson instead of Mitt Romney in 2012. Who wouldn't have? In fact, judging from this article, Mitt himself must think that that was a pretty good idea.

Third parties don't usually last this long (the LP has been around over 40 years), The Reform Party has logged 21 years as of this writing. However, the Bull Moose Party has not fielded a candidate in 99 years (apparently there are plenty of other outlets for progressives now). For some reason, we pick from Republicans and Democrats these days.

In 2016, now, the Republicans have nominated their populist, and the Democrats have nominated their authoritarian. It appears that there would have been a real opportunity for a liberty candidate. In response to this golden opportunity, the 2016 Libertarian Party nominated, wait for it..., a couple of Republicans to lead their ticket.

Third parties often attract strange actors who simply want the ballot access. Ralph Nader, and Pat Buchanan before him, took the Reform Party after Perot. History is replete with such interlopers. This year is no different. And if Gary Johnson gets the 15% vote that he alone would call a moral victory, there will be many more pretenders looking to carry the LP battle flag in future years. Ballot access creates strange bedfellows.

So, just as Trump has hijacked the GOP, and a Clinton bullies her way to the Dem nomination, we see that qualifications are optional for the LP as well. For today, we can barely discern that Johnson (leaving out Weld for the moment) is the most qualified candidate still standing. So, even the Libertarian Party - the party of principle - can be hijacked. Can't tell the players without a scorecard.

The debate rages whether Johnson/Weld will siphon votes from Trump or from Clinton. We should be well past the siphon phase, by now. We should be choosing the best candidate that shows enough savvy to actually get on the ballot. Yes, the choices are pretty thin at this point. I suppose if you want a Republican in the office, well, Johnson is now your best bet. However, the polls are showing that Johnson/Weld are actually pulling more from the Never-Hillary Crowd. Maybe the Weld VP nomination makes that happen.

If the GOP would have nominated a Republican, they'd probably win in a landslide. Incredibly, the only Republican still in the race is the Libertarian Party nominee. And while we're saying it, perhaps the only qualified Democrat in the race is the Libertarian Party candidate for VP.