A Washington Times editorial this morning asks, “Who are the independent and Libertarian voters going to vote for in November?†The piece focuses mainly on Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s potential to appeal to Libertarians. The Times says that while Libertarian Bob Barr “poses no serious threat†to John McCain or Barack Obama, he “appeals to Libertarians, Republicans and the most important swing voters — independents.†However, the Times concludes, “at the moment, it appears that the economy is going to have a bigger affect on independent voters than Mrs. Palin or a third-party candidate.â€
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I hate how these pundits and editorials talk about “independents” as if they’re a rare breed. There are more independents than Democrats or Republicans.
I will not reward the LP for abandoning its principles. I will reward Chuck Baldwin for supporting Ron Paul, then entering the race when it looked like Ron was out. I will reward him for having the cajones to question 9/11 and challenge the New World Order. And I will reward him for avoiding mention of those parts of the CP platform that make so many of us uncomfortable.
It will depend on the state. In states where the Boston Tea Party is on, I expect Charles Jay will draw many libertarian votes. Most states will split them between Barr, Baldwin, Nader, and McKinney.
Many will go for McCain or Obama, being fooled by Palin’s false “libertarian-republican” label and Obama’s occasional anti-NAFTA and anti-special interests rhetoric and his stress on personal responsibility rather than welfare on many issues.
This libertarian will likely vote for Baldwin, since he’s pretty sure Charles Jay didn’t submit the write-in paperwork by the early July due date (a ridiculous requirement) and has confirmation that Baldwin did. Also, Nader’s carbon tax, single payer national health care, and love for regulation don’t make me feel too comfortable. Baldwin is my best option, even though I have to write him in.
I just can’t do Barr. I never felt comfortable with him, but kept hoping he would convince me. He has instead turned me further away with every word he says and move he makes. Based solely on his issue platform, I would consider him acceptable. However, he lacks ethics bigtime. He panders to Republicans while snubbing libertarians and even Ron Paul. Baldwin has a similar platform, but is actually a decent guy. I have to punish Barr and the LP for failing to act libertarian and failing to even respect libertarianism and libertarians, so I will vote for Baldwin.
The Barr/Root ticket is weakest in Georgia and Nevada. It seems the more people know them he less they like htem.
Probably happened after the article deadline, or they were relying on Third Party Watch.
🙂
No mention at all of the big news of yesterday? Do they not follow 3rd party news?
This Times article suggests that the economy, more than ideology, will drive the independent vote, and so third party candidates will have negligible impact. But see, http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13699.html, where Politico columnist Ben Adler leads with the point that Nader and Barr, at least, have been using the economic crisis to say, “I told you so.”
Most libertarians will probably split between the Democrats and the Republicans, as has always been the case. The rest will split between Barr, Nader, and Baldwin. It’s hard to say in what proportions, though.
NOTA is who I am voting for.