Following Perot's almost 19% in 1992, the Reform Party was created and had earned substantial ‘matching funds’ (free money) available for their candidate in 2000 and it destroyed them. As with any funds divorced totally from market consideration, any subsidies, the matching funds attracted the worst of motives from potential candidates. When Buchanan usurped the Reform Party for the 2000 campaign, I thought this could not happen to the LP because we didn’t qualify for matching funds nor could we in principle accept those funds. I was wrong. (Write down the date as that hardly ever happens).
Even without matching funds, the structure of the LP was worth using for personal gain.
As the two parties were morphing into one, the ‘true right in the GOP’ and the ‘true left in the Dems’ lost power inside their own parties and have been attempting to take their ideas to a competitive third party. As Greens attracted the far left (socialist/communists, and other liberal statists), the far right (authoritarian statists) gravitated to the Constitution party. When that party had no traction, it seems the existing structure of the LP caught their eye.
I’m not sure the LP can survive Barr.
- If Barr gets enough votes to qualify for matching funds, history predicts a fate similar to that of the Reform Party – unscrupulous maneuvers to usurp the party to get access to matching funds.
- If Barr does not get matching funds, our party has shown itself in 2008 to value votes more than principles and the existing structure of the LP will continue to be a magnet to ‘celebrity candidates’ regardless of principles.
It would be amusing if Ron Paul libertarians can move the GOP away from its statist principles as the LP moves toward them. I’m not holding my breath, however.
1 comment:
Barr didn't have as far to travel as you might thing to find his way to the LP.
See this blog post about Bob's book "The Meaning of Is"
He's been coming around on many of the issues he was weak on, and various LP groups are working to keep him honest. Steve Kubby's apparently being an influence. Outright Libertarians are highlighting his call to repeal DOMA, so he does not run away from that promise.
The LP didn't just hand him the nomination just to let him do whatever he pleases with it.
Now, mind you, the concerns about what happens if the money that comes with 5% of the presidential vote are very valid. The potential negative effects of having that honey-pot out there will have to be a prime concern of the 2010 LP National convention, if that target is hit. This is an advantage of having a biennial convention.
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