Two stories today in the news illustrate the changes to the Republican Party over the past six years. As Ryan Sager writes about in his upcoming book "The Elephant in the Room: Libertarians, the Christian Right, and the Battle for the Republican Party" the Party of Goldwater has all but thrown out the supporters of libertarianism.
New York Gubernatorial hopeful William Weld
was rejected today by the Republican Party's convention. He will still be on the ballot in September for their primary, but the convention delegates favored the more conservative John Faso three to two. Weld already has the endorsement of the Libertarian Party of New York and will be on the ballot as a Libertarian even if the Republican Party rejects him in the September primary.
Over in Minnesota, the state party made sure that another hopeful Republican gubernatorial candidate with the backing of the Libertarian Party wouldn't even have the chance at addressing the party's convention. Sue Jeffers, who has the endorsement of both the Libertarian Party and the Republican Liberty Caucus, was denied her request to address the convention and attempt to challenge Governor Tim Pawlenty. She still has the option of running in the September primary as a Republican or in the November election as a Libertarian.
On the other side of the aisle, libertarian Democrats are having more success. Democratic challenge Frank Gonzalez continues to reveal the hypocrisy in the record of his opponent, Bush Republican Lincoln Diaz-Balart. Frank Gonzalez is the first Democratic challenger in the Florida 21st since 1998, although in 2004 he ran as a Libertarian and received 27% of the vote. Fed up with the Bush Administration's policies, from the Invasion of Iraq to the Patriot Act to NSA wiretapping, Frank Gonzalez is running as a Democrat this year in hopes of uniting the politically diverse voters of the Florida 21st.
Today he highlighted the difference between Congressman Diaz-Balart's rhetoric and his actions. In recent mailings to his constituents, Congressman Diaz-Balart highlighted his support of a line-item veto in order to curb excessive Congressional spending. In very fine print on the back of the same mailing reads:
"This mailing was prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense".
So much for being a fiscal conservative! I'd like to give three cheers out to people like Frank Gonzalez who are working to court voters unhappy with Bush's Republican Party. Thank you to Frank for helping the Democratic Big Tent grow!