Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 30 of 68

Thread: TheHill: Could our next President be a Libertarian?

  1. #1

    TheHill: Could our next President be a Libertarian?

    https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign...-a-libertarian

    As they look ahead to the 2020 election, few political pundits have considered the possibility that a Libertarian Party candidate could be elected president. Yes, I know it's a long shot, but not as long a shot as it might initially seem.

    Because of the Electoral College system of voting, third-party candidates have a better chance of winning than most people think. If no candidate gets a majority of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives chooses the president from among the three candidates with the most electoral votes.

    To be in the running, all that a third-party candidate must do is receive enough electoral votes to ensure that neither the Democratic nor Republican nominee wins an Electoral College majority, in which case the “spoiler” becomes a credible final contender. In a close race, the candidate might need to win just one state to send the election to the House of Representatives.

    At that point, the third-party candidate would have to convince members of the House to vote for him or her rather than for the major-party candidates. It's unlikely, but not impossible. It depends on who's running.

    Libertarian ideas on social policy appeal to Democrats, while libertarian ideas on economic policy appeal to Republicans, so a skillful pitch on those ideas might win over Representatives dissatisfied with their own party’s candidates. Although the Libertarian Party is often perceived as a fringe party, libertarian ideas are about as widely held as consistent liberal or conservative views by the general public. Many Americans have views that are socially liberal and economically conservative.

    Currently, it’s not a complete stretch to think that many Republicans might abandon their president to vote for a third-party candidate. President Trump is not that popular with House Republicans, judging by the significant numbers of GOP lawmakers who have announced they will not be seeking re-election. If the Democratic nominee is way outside the mainstream – as is easy to picture given the party’s current field of candidates — then a coalition of Democrats might join with some Republicans to support the third-party candidate.

    For a Libertarian to win the presidency, the first step is for the Libertarian Party to choose a candidate who appears more reasonable to Americans, and especially to members of the House of Representatives, than the major-party candidates.

    more at link
    Wouldn't that be fun?
    "Let it not be said that we did nothing."-Ron Paul

    "We have set them on the hobby-horse of an idea about the absorption of individuality by the symbolic unit of COLLECTIVISM. They have never yet and they never will have the sense to reflect that this hobby-horse is a manifest violation of the most important law of nature, which has established from the very creation of the world one unit unlike another and precisely for the purpose of instituting individuality."- A Quote From Some Old Book



  2. Remove this section of ads by registering.
  3. #2

  4. #3
    oh g0d. i think if D.Trump wins at the RNC after getting past his Senate Trial and Bernie emerges out of a very
    bitter DNC next summer, i can picture Bill Weld flipping back to Libertarian and begging for Mitt's help. oh Gawd.

  5. #4
    A Libertarian will never be elected president anytime soon.
    "Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration is minding my own business."

    Calvin Coolidge

  6. #5
    Most of the declared LP candidates so far are not even trying.

    Adam Kokesh at least you know where he stands on a couple issues on his Presidential website and I believe he would be good on 2A although there is scant information overall about where he stands on issues. I have concerns about his proposal to switch the US dollar to a crypto like Bitcoin, since would it be untraceable like cash? None of anyone's business how I decide to spend my money. @angelatc?

    Max Abramson - elected official in NH who does not strike me as libertarian if you read here. http://www.maxabramson.org/issues.html and he is another LP candidate that does not list his issues on his Presidential campaign website. So basically he gives me no clue where he stands.

    McAfee and others, joke candidates.
    Last edited by kahless; 09-27-2019 at 02:41 PM.

  7. #6
    I'm sorry but the entire text of the quote in the OP is fantasy regurgitated almost verbatim from similar fantasies put in print by other know-nothings who subsequently grew out of whatever they were thinking every presidential election over the past few decades.

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by kahless View Post
    Most of the declared LP candidates so far are not even trying.

    Adam Kokesh at least you know where he stands on a couple issues and I believe he would be good on 2A although information about where he stands on issues on his Presidential website is scant. I have concerns about his proposal to switch the US dollar to a crypto like Bitcoin, since would it be untraceable like cash? None of anyone's business how I decide to spend my money.

    Max Abramson - elected official in NH who does not strike me as libertarian if you read here. http://www.maxabramson.org/issues.html and he is another LP candidate that does not list his issues on his Presidential campaign website. So basically he gives me no clue where he stands.

    McAfee and others, joke candidates.
    A joke candidate is the only kind I could have the slightest care about. I really hope Vermin Supreme gets the LP nomination.

  9. #8
    I'll be surprised if our next president is human.



  10. Remove this section of ads by registering.
  11. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by kahless View Post
    McAfee and others, joke candidates.
    McAfee is no less a joke candidate than Trump was.
    There are no crimes against people.
    There are only crimes against the state.
    And the state will never, ever choose to hold accountable its agents, because a thing can not commit a crime against itself.

  12. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Superfluous Man View Post
    A joke candidate is the only kind I could have the slightest care about. I really hope Vermin Supreme gets the LP nomination.
    McAfee and particularly clowns like Supreme ensures the average American will not ever take the Libertarian party seriously. Maybe that is the entire point of it and the reason why you support such mockery.

  13. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by fisharmor View Post
    McAfee is no less a joke candidate than Trump was.
    I must have missed the campaign commercial of Trump surrounded by whores.

  14. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by kahless View Post
    McAfee and particularly clowns like Supreme ensures the average American will not ever take the Libertarian party seriously. Maybe that is the entire point of it and the reason why you support such mockery.
    BINGO!
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  15. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by A Son of Liberty View Post
    I'll be surprised if our next president is human.

    I'm
    voting for Kodos.
    Another mark of a tyrant is that he likes foreigners better than citizens, and lives with them and invites them to his table; for the one are enemies, but the Others enter into no rivalry with him. - Aristotle's Politics Book 5 Part 11

  16. #14
    Libertarian ideas on social policy appeal to Democrats
    They do?

    Which
    ideas?
    Another mark of a tyrant is that he likes foreigners better than citizens, and lives with them and invites them to his table; for the one are enemies, but the Others enter into no rivalry with him. - Aristotle's Politics Book 5 Part 11

  17. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by devil21 View Post
    What a dumb article.. They said House Republicans aren't that fond of Trump, therefore it would be easy to get Republicans onboard to vote for another candidate. That's because most House Republicans are deep state stooges.

    The people of this country love Trump.

    Let Trump remove the deep state first, then let's get some good libertarians in there to put things back together.

    Putting a libertarian President up against the deep state is not a good idea.
    "He's talkin' to his gut like it's a person!!" -me
    "dumpster diving isn't professional." - angelatc
    "You don't need a medical degree to spot obvious bullshit, that's actually a separate skill." -Scott Adams
    "When you are divided, and angry, and controlled, you target those 'different' from you, not those responsible [controllers]" -Q

    "Each of us must choose which course of action we should take: education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes. But let it not be said that we did nothing." - Ron Paul

    "Paul said "the wave of the future" is a coalition of anti-authoritarian progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans in Congress opposed to domestic surveillance, opposed to starting new wars and in favor of ending the so-called War on Drugs."

  18. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Anti Federalist View Post
    They do?

    Which
    ideas?
    Legalizing herb, but, apparently, not legalizing vaping..

    http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...ake-News/page4
    "He's talkin' to his gut like it's a person!!" -me
    "dumpster diving isn't professional." - angelatc
    "You don't need a medical degree to spot obvious bullshit, that's actually a separate skill." -Scott Adams
    "When you are divided, and angry, and controlled, you target those 'different' from you, not those responsible [controllers]" -Q

    "Each of us must choose which course of action we should take: education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes. But let it not be said that we did nothing." - Ron Paul

    "Paul said "the wave of the future" is a coalition of anti-authoritarian progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans in Congress opposed to domestic surveillance, opposed to starting new wars and in favor of ending the so-called War on Drugs."



  19. Remove this section of ads by registering.
  20. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by dannno View Post
    Legalizing herb, but, apparently, not legalizing vaping..

    http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...ake-News/page4
    Oh yeah I forgot that.

    Far as I know that is about it.
    Another mark of a tyrant is that he likes foreigners better than citizens, and lives with them and invites them to his table; for the one are enemies, but the Others enter into no rivalry with him. - Aristotle's Politics Book 5 Part 11

  21. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Anti Federalist View Post
    They do?

    Which
    ideas?
    The head of the party currently is an abortion dem.
    Do something Danke

  22. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by kahless View Post
    I must have missed the campaign commercial of Trump surrounded by whores.
    I also missed the campaign commercial where McAfee was surrounded by whores.

    I did catch, however, the internet humor video with McAfee.

    Voters overwhelmingly differentiated between Trump the candidate and Trump the locker room 'grab them by the pussy' loser. So irrespective whether you are able to draw these distinctions, it's improper to project that on an electorate which already showed it can.
    There are no crimes against people.
    There are only crimes against the state.
    And the state will never, ever choose to hold accountable its agents, because a thing can not commit a crime against itself.

  23. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by oyarde View Post
    The head of the party currently is an abortion dem.
    They had a pretty solid Ron Paul clone making a serious go at the nomination in 2016 and chose to back "Bake the damned cake" Johnson instead.

    All I have heard about Petersen in LP circles is trash talk despite the fact that he was objectively a dream candidate.

    It's like they are addicted to losing.
    There are no crimes against people.
    There are only crimes against the state.
    And the state will never, ever choose to hold accountable its agents, because a thing can not commit a crime against itself.

  24. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by dannno View Post
    Legalizing herb, but, apparently, not legalizing vaping..

    http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...ake-News/page4


    It is Trump who is trying to ban flavours and he is not considered a liberal

  25. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by juleswin View Post
    It is Trump who is trying to ban flavours and he is not considered a liberal
    And that's odd that he isn't. He won the election in 2016 by promising to strengthen our federal gun control laws, by praising single-payer healthcare, by saying his extreme left-wing sister would make an ideal Supreme Court justice, by criticizing conservatives for not wanting to spend enough on welfare programs and farm subsidies, by being in favor of letting crossdressers use the bathrooms of the opposite sex at precisely the moment when that question was at the forefront of the culture wars, and by making protectionist economic ideas central to his campaign. There wasn't a single issue where he ran to the right of his Republican opponents in the party primaries. By the older meanings of the words, it would be fair to call him the most extreme left-wing nominee the GOP has ever nominated in its history. But these words switched their meanings coinciding with the 2016 race and icons of conservatism like Sean Hannity becoming so enamored with Trump.

    It just goes to show how ever-changing and ultimately meaningless the labels liberal and conservative have become.

  26. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by Superfluous Man View Post
    And that's odd that he isn't. He won the election in 2016 by promising to strengthen our federal gun control laws, by praising single-payer healthcare, by saying his extreme left-wing sister would make an ideal Supreme Court justice, by criticizing conservatives for not wanting to spend enough on welfare programs and farm subsidies, by being in favor of letting crossdressers use the bathrooms of the opposite sex at precisely the moment when that question was at the forefront of the culture wars, and by making protectionist economic ideas central to his campaign. There wasn't a single issue where he ran to the right of his Republican opponents in the party primaries. By the older meanings of the words, it would be fair to call him the most extreme left-wing nominee the GOP has ever nominated in its history. But these words switched their meanings coinciding with the 2016 race and icons of conservatism like Sean Hannity becoming so enamored with Trump.

    It just goes to show how ever-changing and ultimately meaningless the labels liberal and conservative have become.
    To be fair to Trump and his supporters on this forum. He is only supports those liberal policies because he is trying to fool the deep state, the gun control laws, the neocon foreign policy, the regulation of life saving products out of existence and overall increase in govt are all attempts by him to stave off impeachment.

    He is being very liberal and all and he is still not winning the fight for impeachment. Imagine what they would have done to him had he showed his conservative hand

  27. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by juleswin View Post
    He is being very liberal and all and he is still not winning the fight for impeachment.
    That is a premature assessment. But I admit that his recent behavior suggests that he himself believes he is not winning it.



  28. Remove this section of ads by registering.
  29. #25
    Will the next president be Libertarian?

    The long answer is: Nope.

    We're being governed ruled by a geriatric Alzheimer patient/puppet whose strings are being pulled by an elitist oligarchy who believe they can manage the world... imagine the utter maniacal, sociopathic hubris!

  30. #26
    Utter stupidity. Any libertarian knows there is only a one party system in the us. The Republicans and Democrats might disagree on hot button issues to keep the public bickering, but the thing they agree on most is keeping all the power between the two of them.

  31. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by Superfluous Man View Post
    That is a premature assessment. But I admit that his recent behavior suggests that he himself believes he is not winning it.
    Exactly, maybe it's all pretend but this whole impeachment ordeal is going to throw him off his "conservative" agenda.

    The democrats have no chance of getting him out and he is supposed to know it. But what him and the media play stupid for the next 2 yrs.

  32. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by kahless View Post
    Most of the declared LP candidates so far are not even trying.

    Adam Kokesh at least you know where he stands on a couple issues on his Presidential website and I believe he would be good on 2A although there is scant information overall about where he stands on issues. I have concerns about his proposal to switch the US dollar to a crypto like Bitcoin, since would it be untraceable like cash? None of anyone's business how I decide to spend my money. @angelatc?

    Max Abramson - elected official in NH who does not strike me as libertarian if you read here. http://www.maxabramson.org/issues.html and he is another LP candidate that does not list his issues on his Presidential campaign website. So basically he gives me no clue where he stands.

    McAfee and others, joke candidates.
    Rep. Amash, perhaps?

    As far fetched as the OP write-up may be, we're not in "normal" times so applying any sort of normalcy bias seems foolish to me. Is it outside of the realm of possibility that Trump could be impeached (or worse), no credible GOP candidate is fielded (states canceling primaries already) and the Dems nominate a full-tard loon that turns off 70% of the voting population?
    Last edited by devil21; 09-28-2019 at 09:42 AM.
    "Let it not be said that we did nothing."-Ron Paul

    "We have set them on the hobby-horse of an idea about the absorption of individuality by the symbolic unit of COLLECTIVISM. They have never yet and they never will have the sense to reflect that this hobby-horse is a manifest violation of the most important law of nature, which has established from the very creation of the world one unit unlike another and precisely for the purpose of instituting individuality."- A Quote From Some Old Book

  33. #29

  34. #30
    In order for that to happen, voters would have to care about liberty. They do not.
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Pinochet is the model
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Liberty preserving authoritarianism.
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Enforced internal open borders was one of the worst elements of the Constitution.

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast


Similar Threads

  1. Replies: 9
    Last Post: 01-06-2014, 12:06 PM
  2. Mitt Romney TheHill: Romney still defending the mandate as a conservative principle
    By Agorism in forum 2012 Presidential Election
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 12-28-2011, 11:52 AM
  3. Ron Paul article on TheHill.com
    By Rafi in forum Ron Paul Forum
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 12-15-2011, 04:38 AM
  4. Replies: 11
    Last Post: 11-11-2011, 01:17 PM
  5. Nebraska Campaign for Liberty recognized on thehill.com
    By forsmant in forum U.S. Political News
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 01-23-2011, 09:29 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •