From TPM...
Libertarians in Washington are not happy about how the Republican primary is shaping up. Barring a miracle, there are two candidates with a decent shot at the nomination. Mitt Romney, the godfather of Obamacare, is not libertarians’ first choice. And they think Newt Gingrich, the new frontrunner, is even worse.....
But a candidate Romney or God-forbid Gingrich is more likely. Libertarian blogger Will Wilkinson expressed the libertarian frustration with Newt Gingrich with a little dramatic flair on Twitter Monday: “If Newt Gingrich becomes president, we all deserve to die in a purifying fire.”
My thoughts below the squiggly.
First off the libertarians in Washington DC (my home) are not the same as the Libertarians outside of Washington. Washington DC libertarians tend to be of the Cato or Reason Magazine style, rather than the more paranoid Tea Party types. Make no mistake they fully support the Tea Party and de-regulation, removal of the income tax, drowning the government in a bathtub are cherished goals central to their movement. However ending the prison industrial complex, stopping the war on drugs, rolling back the police state, and getting government out of peoples bedrooms are just as important to them. I hear more buzz about the pot smoking, gay marriage endorsing, Everest climbing former governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson than any of the current clowns on stage outside of Ron Paul, who rubs some of the more cosmopolitan types the wrong way. Which explains the following gem...
On Monday, Christopher Barron, a Republican strategist with libertarian leanings and head of GOProud, which represents gay conservatives, penned an op-ed mourning Herman Cain’s exit from the race. In his stead, Barron endorsed Gary Johnson, the libertarian former governor of New Mexico.
Not that this will matter much in the GOP primary. The last GOP member to embrace GOProud was Norquist who was promptly tossed out of CPAC for hanging with teh gheys and brown Mooslims who are hell bent on taking over America. Johnson hasn't been evicted from anything yet, but he certainly didn't get any attention and has threatened to run as a Libertarian.
This is fairly good for Democrats in the coming election. Libertarians have never been fond of social conservatives or neocons. They've got a lot of cash to throw around, several influential print articles, an axe to grind about treatment of their candidates, and a palpable disdain for both current GOP front runners. Currently they see completely willing to pile on both Romney and Gingrich and call them out for the liars and hypocrites they are. I also wouldn't be shocked to see a Paul/Johnson libertarian ticket crop up as a final "screw you" to their treatment in the primaries with hilarious results in both the presidential debates and the general election.
More from TPM here
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