by Ian Tartt
What’s the best way for libertarian politicians to be able to affect change from within the government? Run on the Republican ticket. Here are three reasons as to why.
1. Republicans have a long history of electoral success
Since their first victory in 1860, Republicans have won 24 presidential elections out of forty. Additionally, they currently control both houses of Congress and will again control the White House in January once Trump is sworn in. And they have control of many state and local positions as well. In contrast, the Libertarian Party has never seen a presidential candidate take the White House, nor has it ever won a seat in Congress, although it has had some success at the state and local levels. This election saw the greatest amount of popular support for a presidential candidate in the history of the Libertarian Party, and it still wasn’t anywhere near close enough to win.
Even Republican candidates who lost still got much closer to winning than Libertarian Party candidates have. Barry Goldwater, who was libertarian in many ways, was the Republican presidential nominee in 1964. He lost to Lyndon Johnson in one of the biggest landslides in U.S. history, winning just six states, 27,175,754 votes, 52 electoral votes, and 38.47% of the popular vote. Despite his massive loss, he still drew in more support in every area than every Libertarian Party presidential candidate thus far combined, meaning that the 1964 Goldwater campaign came closer to electing a libertarian president than the Libertarian Party ever has.
While it is admirable to see libertarians offering a different political ideology and party to the people, at some point, we should step back and ask if we’re going about this the right way. We see our ideas as essential for saving people from the iron fist of tyranny and the near-certainty of economic collapse. With that in mind, why not acknowledge the superior track record of the Republican Party and consider running as Republicans? A doctor trying to heal a sick patient will try what he thinks will best help the patient, but if it doesn’t work, he will try something else. And we should too.
2. Most of the Libertarian Party’s problems aren’t a problem for the Republican Party
The Libertarian Party has always struggled with ballot access, fundraising, participation, and being taken seriously. This can certainly explain at least some of its electoral difficulties. However, none of these are issues for the Republican Party. Republican candidates face no trouble getting their message out there (more on that on the next page), getting onto the ballot, raising money, or, perhaps the most crucial point, getting people to vote for them.
People are used to voting for Republicans. There are still many voters who are either registered with the party or who mostly vote for Republican candidates, as evidenced by the recent Republican victories. And, although there’s not much merit to the idea that third-party candidates act as spoilers by helping elect unpopular candidates, voters still act as if that were the case. Libertarians who run as Republicans avoid that issue, which can get them more support from people who like their ideas but don’t want to vote third-party.
But isn’t the Republican Party hostile to the ideals of liberty? Overall, yes, but, just as there is a range of political ideology within the Libertarian Party (moderates, classical liberals, constitutionalists, minarchists, and anarchists), so too does ideological variance exist within the Republican Party (progressives, moderates, and libertarians/libertarian-leaners). Justin Amash is an example of a libertarian or libertarian-leaning Republican, while Theodore Roosevelt is an example of a progressive Republican. And, of course, Ron Paul spent decades in Congress as a Republican. If more libertarians joined the Republican Liberty Caucus, they could be a serious threat to establishment politics. Imagine Congressional libertarians voting for smaller government, lower taxes, and a more peaceful foreign policy, while also voting against the endless expansion and abuses of government.
Getting into office and being able to influence proposed legislation, which is much more likely to happen through the Republican Party than through the Libertarian Party, greatly increases the potential for change. President Calvin Coolidge lowered taxes, freed millions from the burden of the income tax, cut government spending, and paid back some of the national debt during his time in office. While he had an easier time than a modern president would (since the government was much smaller in his time than it is now and there were far fewer people dependent on government services), his example shows what someone with libertarian leanings can do if they can get into office.
Part of this requires action even from those who aren’t interested in running for office. The Libertarian Party has just under half a million members. Imagine what could be done if some or all of those people joined the Republican Party and attended meetings, conventions, primaries, caucuses, etc. And, with all the setbacks Democrats have had in this election, now would be a good time for libertarians to start infiltrating the Republican Party, either to run for office or to assist good candidates.
3. The Republican Party has a larger platform for spreading ideas than the Libertarian Party
Republicans have a bigger platform from which to spread their ideas than the Libertarian Party. While the Libertarian Party has gotten increasingly more attention over the past decade because of the internet, its outreach is still limited. That means its effects on shaping policies and converting non-libertarians is also limited.
Consider all the attention Rand Paul has brought to foreign policy through his twelve-hour filibuster. He likely wouldn’t have been able to garner that much interest if he hadn’t been in the Senate, and he likely wouldn’t have been in the Senate if he had run on the Libertarian Party ticket. Consider also the amount of support and influence Ron Paul had with his two recent presidential runs. He exposed millions of people to libertarian principles through his appearances in the Republican debates in 2008 and 2012. Had he been running instead on the Libertarian Party ticket, as he did in 1988, it’s doubtful he would have had such an impact.
Let’s hop across the aisle for a second and talk about Bernie Sanders. For months, when he was Hillary Clinton’s sole challenger for the nomination, he put out several campaign ads, raised a lot of money, inspired a grassroots movement, and helped shape the current Democratic Party platform. For most of his political career, Sanders has been an Independent, but he knew he would have a better shot at invoking the type of change he wanted to see by running as a Democrat. Although libertarians disagree with Sanders much more than we agree with him, he still shows how much more influence is possible when running on a main party ticket as opposed to a third-party ticket; think about the difference between his amount of support and influence compared to Jill Stein’s.
Given all of the above, the best chance for libertarian politicians to get their message heard by the largest possible audience, win elections, and change policies for the better rests in the Republican Party. This is not the easiest thing to say, as it would be a great David vs. Goliath story for the Libertarian Party to beat Republicans and Democrats in a major election. But, considering the advantages of the main parties and the disadvantages of third parties, as well as the staying power of the main parties compared to that of all the third parties over the course of history, that is unlikely to happen. So if we want to make this a free country again, the choice is clear. The path to victory lies not with the porcupines, but with the elephants.