The LP That Failed

Gary Johnson’s debate lock-out should spur changes in Libertarian approach

Nothing is more sad than the death of an illusion. -Arthur Koestler

The best argument for excluding Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson from the presidential debates lies not in his single-digit polling numbers, but in the LP’s dismal roster of elected office holders. Heavy on non-partisan fire/soil/water commissioners it is shockingly light on actual partisan legislative seats, the latter being, you know, the entire point of a political party. With this backdrop, Johnson’s poor performance despite unprecedented media coverage and historic voter dissatisfaction with their Red/Blue option makes perfect sense: the LP is bad at politics.

Or rather, it has chosen to be for several decades. To have a meaningful role in the long overdue post-Warsaw Pact realignment of American politics now underway, the LP must jettison its pointless affectations, stubborn strategy, and focus on pro-freedom issues it alone can address. And do it quickly before the electorate re-gels without it.

First up, the non-aggression oath. There is no telling how many potential voters the LP has scared away over the years with, “To validate my membership, I certify that I oppose the initiation of force to achieve political or social goals.” Nebulous and ultimately meaningless, the oath only gate-keeps the LP club for party activists. Proof of this will be found in the reax to a call to ditch the oath. No one will much care except those who will liken an LP without the oath to the Federation without the Prime Directive.

Similarly, the LP must embrace the reality that it will not elect a President any time soon, if ever. Accordingly, and as I have counseled since a nebby little Vermont socialist mayor was attempting to claim a House seat, winning a seat in the House of Representatives must be the LP’s primary goal. This does not mean that noble if quixotic House runs were not attempted before. It does mean that modern, professional demographic metrics should be used to ID the districts most favorable to an LP candidate. The goal should be to make runs in the most likely CDs in 2018, narrowing to the best one or two in 2020 as the de facto top of ticket.

To further underscore the primacy of the legislature in the LP’s new approach to politics, the party should emphasize federal issues which reclaim Congressional power disastrously ceded away. No matter who is sworn in as President come January, a large chunk of voters will quake at the thought of the judicial appointments to come. The LP alone could assert that it is past time for a runaway federal judiciary to again be subject to the check intended by the Founders — impeachment.

The impeachment process for federal judges was never intended to be a fire-ax on the wall, for use only in the case of criminality and extra-office misconduct. Rather the people’s representatives have a right and a duty to constantly evaluate judicial performance and decisions for adherence to the common sense consensus of civil society. Otherwise self-government has no meaning when a few black robed priests of the legal cartel can put the IRS in charge of policing private health care relationships or declare that users of medical marijuana have no Second Amendment rights. For me, I would love to hear one or two Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judges explain how they did not violate their oaths by conspiring for years to keep Snowden doc spy programs hidden from their fellow citizens.

Another issue which the Red/Blu duopoly can’t touch is the Federal Reserve — but not in the gold-buggy manner of Ron Paul and the audit the Fed crowd. No, there is something much more fundamental and again vital to the notion of legislative primacy. Congress must forbid the Fed from following the lead of the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan by imposing negative interest rates on savers. This is a bright-line event which is quite separate from any Fed claims of independence. The power to tax resides in the House and cannot be usurped by central bankers for any reason. Period.

These changes to the core of the LP may or may not have the effect of purging the party of its Speedo boys, light saber caucusing, dice-bag collectors, and fanfic aficionados. They are welcome to come along to try to save the Republic and restore the rule of law, providing they keep the yiffing to a minimum.

But these changes must be made if the Libertarian Party is to transition from a clown car to a principled, effective opposition party.