Why Libertarians Don't Vote For Their Own Party
The Libertarian Party sounds great. It always has. And every
year around election time I have the same discussion with my
other libertarian conservative friends as to if this is the year
to actually vote for the Libertarian candidates. Usually though
we continue to discard the Libertarian Party candidates as not
viable because of things like this:
"As the American people grow increasingly frustrated with the
occupation of Iraq, President Bush still refuses to articulate
any type of vision for withdrawal," stated Shane Cory, Chief of
Staff for the Libertarian Party. "While the President evades
reality, American troops remain in harm's way. The Libertarian
Party is still the only political party that has formulated a
viable, complete, and practical exit strategy for American
soldiers in Iraq."
Quick Facts:
* Number of American deaths since the invasion of Iraq: 2,080 *
Total Number of Americans wounded: 15,468 * Number of proposed
strategies for exiting Iraq: 1(source)"
Spin worthy of some of the other political parties I dare say.
Ignoring for a moment that there has always been an "exit
strategy" for Iraq (called WIN the war) this is what the
Libertarian Party Proposes:
"The first step is immediately to begin the withdrawal of all
American troops from Iraq. Currently American troop levels are
at about 140,00011. Troops would leave gradually, in increments
of approximately 11,600 per month, resulting in a complete
withdrawal in one year's time. This will bring the troops out of
harm's way quickly, preventing more unnecessary loss of life.
Allowing a year for the withdrawal will give the Iraqi
government time to train and deploy a sufficient security force
in trouble areas. (source)"
Yep, you read right. Phased troops withdrawal ... committing to
leave before we know if we should leave. Running away
essentially.
Then there is the mischaracterization of who the "insurgency" is
actually fighting:
"By removing our troops from Iraq and relocating them to various
bases in the Middle East, we remove the insurgency's common
enemy."
Implying that the insurgents are fighting against us, the United
States.
They are not. They are fighting against freedom for the Iraqi
people. That is why they are blowing up more Iraqi citizens each
day than they are killing US Soldiers. It is why they are
blowing up police barracks and sending car bombs into crowded
market places to blow up women and children shopping for
necessities. They want power. And they want it for themselves.
To Hell with liberty and justice for the Iraqi people they would
then control.
And this is why, the Libertarian Party cannot gain enough votes
to be a major player in American Politics. It is also why those
of us that are Libertarian get lumped in with he left wing even
though we are more to the right wing than almost any
"conservative" you will talk to.
Leaving before the job is done is not an exit strategy. Ok it
is, but it is a poor one at best and committing to a time table
DOES (no matter what the Libertarian Party thinks) tell the
enemy how long they have to hold on. Think of it in simple terms
we can all understand. If tomorrow the government announced that
on January 1st 2006 there would no longer be any taxes paid on
capital gains would you even think about liquidating assets
before that? Not unless you absolutely needed to you wouldn't!
See, you can easily prove to yourself why committing to
timetables is bad.
Determining what number of troops to bring home each month after
the job is done and the war is won ... now that is an exit
strategy and it has been proposed by President George Bush and
libertarians like myself time and again.
If the Libertarian Party really thinks that what they say is
true about the declining support for the war and that their plan
is a good idea run on it. Go ahead. Run on that platform. See
how many votes you get.
And those of us Libertarians out here will continue to vote for
the Republican Party because they are the lesser of two evils. I
wish there was a true Libertarian Party in America to vote for.
I really do. Because if there was, it would win. I wish there
was a true Libertarian Party that we could count on to reduce
government spending, uphold the constitution and defend this
country with a firm hand. There are so many of us just hanging
around the Republican party because there isn't a better place
to be.