Liberty MavenThe Great Libertarian Opportunity, Palin-Paul 2012?
October 27th, 2008 9:02 am | by Marc Gallagher | Published in Activism, Bailouts, Big Government, Constitution, Election, government spending, Individual Responsibility, John McCain, Libertarianism, Liberty, Maven Commentary, Money, Neo-con, Obama, Philosophy, Politics, Ron Paul, Sarah Palin, Socialism | 17 Responses
The Libertarian candidate for President in 2000 was Harry Browne. That year he released a campaign book with the title, “The Great Libertarian Offer
I say opportunity because the outlook for liberty at this point in our country’s history is quite bleak. The popular political culture pendulum is swinging far to the left with Barack Obama’s pending victory. Following 9/11 Neo-conservative Right ideals were in vogue. The question remains what happens when the rebound occurs from the current move to the left? This is where libertarians can capitalize if the cards are played properly.
How to play those cards is the bigger question. Should libertarians follow Ron Paul’s lead and join the Republican Party in an attempt to infiltrate and shift the platform toward liberty? How long would such an effort take? Is there something to be said for reaching out to Sarah Palin in an effort to bring her into the liberty fold before 2012? I suggest this due to the recent reports of her “going rogue” and off-message according to a McCain aide reported on CNN.
Palin has already been dubbed a potential Presidential candidate in 2012 by her GOP fans. The blessing and curse is that Palin is the source for the most recent conservative infighting. What if Palin resents being a puppet for the McCain campaign, and resents having to modify her own belief system even more? In short, what if Palin really is a moderate libertarian in neo-conservative lipstick? That is completely at odds with what we’ve discussed previously, but given the infighting, is it not a possibility? What if overtures are made now, Palin runs in 2012 and chooses Ron Paul as her running mate? Sure it is crazy and unlikely, but it’s only 2008. A lot can happen in the next four years.
It is difficult to believe such a thing is remotely possible for many reasons. She already has a taste of Republican “power” and may already be too far gone to the dark side to come back into the freedom fold. Would Ron Paul be interested in such a team? What about a Palin-Johnson ticket? Gary Johnson, that is — the former Governor of New Mexico. They are both young Republicans and “talk” limited government. Johnson even practices it. That would be a young vibrant team for a GOP libertarian revolution of sorts. While this is certainly more plausible it still rests on Palin doing a bit more of her own thinking, which is at this point is more than a long shot.
Any way you look at the next four years, the potential for liberty is slim. There is an entire status quo culture that embraces more government instead of less. However, there is a definite vocal minority undercurrent of libertarian opposition to giving the government more and more power over our lives. Isn’t it odd that the President and Congress are at record low approval ratings yet a candidate preaching more government is leading the polls for the White House? People seem to actually believe Obama has ideas that will fix all that ails us. This could work in libertarian favor if, over the next four years, we end up worse off than we are today.
Somehow we need to morph the status quo attitude from “the government will save us” into “the government needs to get out of the way”. It’s time for another bailout. It’s time for limited government liberty-loving libertarians and Republicans to bail out the failing GOP. The difference is that it needs to be done with the spread of grassroots ideas instead of our hard earned tax dollars. When the pendulum swings back from its current leftward trajectory, libertarians need to be ready to guide it towards the freedom guaranteed by our forgotten Constitution. That is, if it swing backs at all.
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October 27th, 2008 at 4:56 am (#)
Sarah Palin will have a difficult time wresting the support of Christian conservatives from Mike Huckabee. If she gains the support of Ron Paul, it would give her a new base from which to run. But Ron Paul never compromises a policy principle to gain a political advantage. Is there a basis upon which Palin and Paul could have a meeting of the minds that would be acceptable to Republican primary voters? Only a determined alliance of Ron Paul and Pat Buchanan forces will have a chance of wresting control of the GOP. And Sarah Palin has yet to prove she has the intellectual competence to inherit the mantle of those two men.
October 27th, 2008 at 10:41 am (#)
While Ron Paul may have been the match that lit my newly found libertarian fire, Harry Browne, and his books, are the fuel for that fire, as far as education is concerned. It’s good to see that others also appreciate Harry’s works.
As far as 2012 is concerned, it boggles my mind that folks refuse to remember that “all politics is local”. Why isn’t the Libertarian Party mobilizing their ground troops? Why isn’t the Barr campaign taking advantage of those troops?
Just like you can’t force democracy from the top down (see: Iraq) you can’t force liberty from the top down. Just because you have a high visibility candidate, be it Paul, Barr, Palin or whomever, doesn’t mean that liberty will be accepted by the masses.
They need to be shown, at the local level, that it works and it’s the best for everyone.
I have yet to see that.
- Bill
http://www.williammize.com
October 27th, 2008 at 5:41 pm (#)
Well, I’m all for Gary Johnson in 2012.
I think November 5th should be an appropriate time to start trying to convince him to run.
October 28th, 2008 at 4:15 am (#)
Sarah Palin has demonstrated what a cheap prostitute she is by running with McCain and regurgitating the rhetoric of the neocons. What use is she to the liberty movement? She most certainly is not leadership material.
Further she has proven herself to be a complete bimbo and a laughingstock such that the GOP now has opportunity to shudder every time she might actually speak.
As George Will has said, the embarrassment of running Sarah Palin could have been avoided. As it turns out she may have been an ideal candidate to help in the destruction of McCain.
October 28th, 2008 at 1:25 pm (#)
Luckily this idea is downright ridiculous. The potential for liberty is slim indeed, and the idea of such a disgraceful, embarrassing scum sucker like Palin running for President would be the zenith of this whole fiasco. Visit my site http://www.slaughterhaus.com for more revolution discussion.
http://www.slaughterhaus.com
January 12th, 2009 at 1:01 am (#)
Whatever the case may be, Republicans must return to real conservative roots if they expect to win in 2012. I am not a libertarian but see real conservatism as a close relative to libertarianism and would fully support a Palin-Paul ticket. Neoconservatism is the root of the problem and the GOP must walk away from it before it’s too late.
December 1st, 2009 at 12:22 pm (#)
as a "Jeffersonian libertarian" i feel that we should not assimilate into the Republican Party, no matter the cost. We are the Party of Principle, we do not compromise, we do not conform, we do not assimilate. Palin is a dangerous individual, even on the spectrum of Neo-conservatives she is among the worst, i would hastily vote for a Democratic candidate in place of Palin [if given no other choice]. Palin may attract some of the mainstream vote, but will likely drive away a substantial amount of libertarian vote.
December 1st, 2009 at 5:23 pm (#)
sorry, i forgot to subscribe
December 24th, 2009 at 11:36 pm (#)
Palin is not a libertarian. She is not for civil liberties and is a Christian theocrat. Sorry, but she's selling you a bridge in Arizona if you think she stands for freedom and civil liberties at all.
December 24th, 2009 at 11:36 pm (#)
Palin is not a libertarian. She is not for civil liberties and is a Christian theocrat. Sorry, but she's selling you a bridge in Arizona if you think she stands for freedom and civil liberties at all.
December 3rd, 2010 at 6:26 pm (#)
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August 18th, 2011 at 1:16 am (#)
Yes to Ron Paul but you lost me at Sarah Palin, this will definitely be a problem for me if it comes to that, she is completely useless.
January 2nd, 2012 at 5:40 pm (#)
I think Sarah Palin has proved her abilities as governor of Alaska. She cleaned out her cabinet and battled against big corporations and corruption. I think a Ron Paul/Sarah Palin ticket is what America needs. As far as the Christian Conservatives go, Sarah IS a Christian and I as a conservative Christian would give her my vote any day. they would return us to a Constitutional America and clear out the corruption together! What a team that would make.
January 2nd, 2012 at 5:46 pm (#)
Pardon me??? You sound like a replay of the attacks of the far-left Socialist media. It was their intent to try to make her out as a "bimbo" and laughingstock . They always do that when they can't find anything else to attack with. It seems to me they are afraid of her or they wouldn't attack her so hard. Same with Ron Paul. Of course you don't hear them attacking Mitt Romney. He is their "ringer" on the other ticket so they can push their agenda no matter who wins, Romney or Obama.
January 2nd, 2012 at 5:48 pm (#)
Are you with Acorn or just a leftist instigator? Funny how you guys always show up on conservative sites to try to "slaughter" people of integrity.
February 7th, 2012 at 12:52 pm (#)
what comes out of obamas mouth and bidens they have said alot more dumb stuff than sarah.its the media that has brainwashed people and you have allowed them to do it to you what a shame
February 7th, 2012 at 12:59 pm (#)
get in the repubs and slowly take it over like the progressives have done the dems completely take it over libertarians get slammed from the repubs and the dems