Libertarian Threat to McCain is Over-Hyped

The Libertarian Party Convention got underway yesterday, and before Tuesday morning, the party will have selected its nominee for the presidency of the US. Some commentators have suggested that the Libertarians pose a grave threat to John McCain’s campaign, likening it to the effect Ralph Nader’s 2000 campaign had on Al Gore’s run. While it makes a good headline, the truth is the Libertarians don’t pose much of a threat to Mr. McCain because his problems lie elsewhere on the right.

The Libertarian Party platform hasn’t changed much since the party stated up in the 1970s. They favor legalizing drugs, abolishing taxes, and getting American forces out of other countries. They oppose laws about morality, censorship and social programs. Their instincts are largely correct, but their ideal of a government-free capitalism misses the point that capitalism requires government to enforce property laws. Libertarianism is a bit like Christianity or communism; it’s never been tried, and it won’t work if it is because it assumes people are better than they actually are.

Now, there is a segment of the Republican Party that is libertarian, without being quite so extreme as the Libertarians. One might think of them as the Barry Goldwater types, favoring small government and a defense budget that will protect America but not every crackpot nation that claims to be America’s ally. These people are largely already supporters of Senator McCain. Mr. McCain also has no trouble with the Wall Street Socialist wing of the Party, those who believe that government exists to give subsidies and tax breaks to the Fortune 500.

Where Mr. McCain has trouble is with social conservatives, those who want laws preventing card playing on Sunday, putting the 10 Commandments in the courthouse (why not the Beatitudes? “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”), and keeping gay teachers out of the classroom. They want to use the apparatus of the state to promote a certain culture and certain social norms. They are on the right to be sure, but not the libertarian right.

So, whether the Libertarian Party picks former congressman Bob Barr, former senator Mike Gravel (who ran earlier this year as a Democrat and got nowhere) or businessman Wayne Allyn Root, none represents a threat to Mr. McCain’s hopes. The Libertarian vote this year is a “none of the above” vote, the ballot of someone who might otherwise stay home. Mr. McCain has the GOP libertarians in his pocket; he needs help with Republican Party of God ("Hezbollah" in Arabic).

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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