Several weeks ago, I posted something suggesting that there was a brewing split within the Republican party involving the "libertarian" wing of the party. I referenced the big Ron Paul support at the RNC (including some highly visible and vocal anti-war protesters) and Ron Paul's presence on the Montana ballot as evidence of this. An anonymous poster jumped on me and said it was just wishful thinking on my part.
Well, I saw on Daily Dish (see link to the right) that the bloggers over at Reason (a libertarian blog with the motto "Free Minds and Free Markets") just listed their writing staff's presidential picks. Guess what, out of 18 writers, only 1 says he will vote for McCain. 3 said they will vote for Obama with another one saying "Barr, Obama if it's close." Drew Carey says "Anyone but McCain/Palin." 5 are going to vote for Barr with another couple of them saying they might vote for Barr.
This isn't a scientific study of libertarians but to the extent that this blog is indicative of where the activist core of libertarianism is, this suggests that my speculation about a split in the GOP involving these people was far from wishful thinking.
This represents a real opportunity for Democrats. There are elements of the standard Democratic party platform that appeal to a libertarian mindset and they should play those up. The Democratic party has a chance to make a serious play for these votes and they should do so.
3 comments:
I'm not an American, so maybe I'm just revealing my ignorance here. But it doesn't strike me as miraculous that the libertarian candidate has a solid support at a libertarian blog. What am I missing?
The fact that they know these votes are not going to help defeat Obama.
Of course the support for Barr is not that surprising. But the Libertarians usually vote Republican. Even when there is a Libertarian candidate, large numbers of them vote strategically and vote for the Republican. But this time, more of them are going to vote for Obama than McCain!
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