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March 23, 2004

Knapp on Muth and Dondero

Pleas and carrots
The Life of the Party, part 18

by Thomas L. Knapp

Since the 2000 election, when the Libertarian Party "spoiler factor" began to penetrate the consciousness of Republican political operatives, the GOP reaction has been primarily hostile.

"We are now at a state of all-out war with the LP," said Republican Liberty Caucus activist Eric Dondero in 2001. "We must deal the Libertarian Party a fatal blow. They are the enemy. Much more so than the Democrats or moderate Republicans."

Chuck Muth, late of the RLC himself and now head of another "conservative" organization, took a similar tack. "Libertarian candidates have historically been nothing but spoilers who effectively elect the WORST possible candidate for the pro-liberty cause in a close race," he said in a National Review interview. In various installments, Muth likewise declared a fatwah on the LP and its candidates.

To the extent that Dondero and Muth are agents of a political party opposing the LP, these seem like natural positions to take, especially given the fact that the LP has proven that it can hold the GOP's feet to the fire by preventing anti-liberty Republicans from being elected or re-elected. Of course, to the extent that Dondero and Muth claim to value libertarian ideas above partisan concerns, one would think that they'd be more appreciative.

Dondero and Muth are back, bearing a carrot called "strategic voting." The idea is that the LP's presidential candidate will go after voters in states where George W. Bush is a clear, unambiguous winner or loser; and that in "close" states, the LP will lay off and Libertarians will vote for Bush.

That way, they say, the LP can pick up enough votes to "make itself heard" without being "responsible" for the removal of George W. Bush from office. Dondero is even flirting with seeking the LP's vice-presidential nomination.

Color me suspicious, but when a couple of guys who have spent the last four years screaming "the LP must die" come around trying to tell us what's in our best interest, I'm not inclined to just jump on the bandwagon.

Dondero and Muth have switched from threatening the LP with a (non-existent) stick to offering it an arsenic-laced carrot. "Strategic voting" is a really bad idea in two ways.

...

Posted by Lance Brown at March 23, 2004 10:34 AM | TrackBack
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