People who believe libertarians are wingnuts might want to read this

[mcablue]

JULY 5, 2008

Libertarians Favor Obama and Other Looks at Election 2008

Libertarian voters make up 4% of the nation’s likely voters and they favor Barack Obama over John McCain by a 53% to 38% margin. Three percent (3%) would vote for some other candidate and 5% are not sure. These results, from an analysis of 15,000 Likely Voter interviews conducted by Rasmussen Reports, challenges the conventional wisdom which assumes that strong support for a Libertarian candidate would hurt John McCain.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/libertarians_favor_obama_and_other_looks_at_election_2008

I am a liberal. But I am unbiased enough to recognize that although Libertarians disagree with progressives in many issues, they disagree with conservatives on many issues as well; and at least in 2008, they preferred the Democratic candidate.

[LAGC]

1. I consider myself a Left-Libertarian.

And while I hardly see eye-to-eye with Democrats on many issues, I don't see eye-to-eye with the Republicans on hardly ANY issue, except maybe gun control.

I think the independents and libertarians were really crucial in unseating the legacy of Bush/McCain. Their support helps win elections.

[libodem]

2. We should lure them over to our side

I'm a Nader Hater because of my perceptions of what he did to Al Gore in the disputed election of 2000, but I listened with interest to his video the other day. Not bad content. My boyfriend is neither a Dem nor a Pub and is quarrelsome about either Party being anything but corporate whores. I'm a born Democrat but he occasionally grabs my attention with some rational thoughts. I hate that when it happens, dammit.

[JHB]

3. As a self-described Left-Libertarian I'll note the artcile in the OP is ambiguous...

...as to whether it is referring to a generic "libertarian" candidate, or a Libertarian Party (commnly referred to as "big 'L' libertarians") candidate. The definition they use (fiscal conservative, social liberal) fits usual of the LP, but not someone like me. (I'll also add that I DO include the LP among the wingnuts, as the "useful idiots" in warping policies to further favor corporate managment and the super-rich.)

While there definitely is value in wooing "libertarian" voters, I think the larger, longer-term project for progressives is educating (read that as "engaging and arguing facts and viewpoints, not simply lecturing") to counter decades of indoctrination against "collective" solutions, and to point out how when, properly implemented, progressive policies (in their dreaded "collectivism" :sarcasm: ) actually achieve many libertarian goals, whereas policies passed under the guise of "getting the government off you back" often ompede libertarian goals by transferring power to less acountable sources.

Big 'L' Libertarians love to toss around the adage "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" to dismiss liberal policies, but it applies just as much, if not more, to their own version of "good intentions".

[Touchdown]

4. Why shouldn't they? They're pro corporate. The Prez is pro corporate.

Sounds like a match to me.

[pnwmom]

5. The Libertarian party doesn't believe in the social safety net -- not Social Security,

not government health care, not Medicare, not public schools. These people aren't good prospects for the Democratic party.

[JHB]

6. The LP doesn't believe in them -- but individuals can be approached

I'll agree with you as far as the Libertarian Party itself is concerned, but don't confuse the LP with all libertarians, much less everybody with "libertarian leanings". Particularly in an environment like the one we are in, where there has been decades of propagandizing against SS and other "collectivist" policies.

Keep pointig out how liberal policies work to maximize individual liberty, whereas "getting the goverment off your back" has lead to conditions that reduce the amount of control most people have over their lives.

[comtec]

7. Every liber I have met or talked to has been a republican in hiding

there is NOTHING in the platform that isn't ivory tower, make-believe bullshit!
There is NOTHING in the philosophy that isn't just craven hatred for the poor!
if the libers were in power this country would already BE in hell as opposed to slowly on the way!

I don't care what numbers they SAY they voted in. I don't trust them for a moment to actually do the right thing.

A "liberal" libertarian is a democrat.
Or at the very least a republican with a conscience.

Ron paul is a xenophobic isolationist who has no clue how the real world works!
He is so fucking rich living in his taaaallllll ivory tower that he probably doesn't even know what real life is like.

All the libertarians I have met are insane because they think altruism alone will help people!

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. Property rights libertarians

are not in favor of government. They believe in stirring up chaos so they can land-grab. The Mayberry Machiavellis during the Bush years were primarily coming from a libertarian background. Dick Cheney embodied their philosophy. I even heard that he took over Indian property through adverse possession.