IRV for Libertarian Presidential Candidates

[mencken]

How would you rank every Libertarian Presidential nominee? Here's my attempt, trying to combine my personal feelings with how successful they were:

1. Harry Browne
2. Ron Paul
3. Ed Clark
4. John Hospers
5. Michael Badnarik
6. David Bergland
7. Roger MacBride
8. Gary Johnson
9. Andre Marrou
10. Bob Barr

[Kingpoleon]

Which are from the more pragmatic wing? I know Bob Barr freaked out my mother once on a plane and is a well known psychopath.

[sparkey]

Which are from the more pragmatic wing? I know Bob Barr freaked out my mother once on a plane and is a well known psychopath.

I'm more familiar with some than others, but my impression is roughly:
Pragmatists: MacBride, Clark, Paul, Marrou, Barr, Johnson
Purists: Hospers, Bergland, Browne, Badnarik

My personal ranking:
1. Gary Johnson (can't argue with the results or qualifications to run)
2. Ron Paul (his LP presidential run was a bit disappointing but he's RON PAUL)
3. Ed Clark (good template for running with broad appeal)
4. Harry Browne (this is the guy who hooked me on libertarianism; a bit radical sometimes but an engaging person)
5. Bob Barr (not a nice guy but he turned in an OK performance and was relatively qualified)
6. Roger MacBride (not exciting but a principled man who did good work to build the liberty movement early)
7. John Hospers (similar to MacBride)
8. Michael Badnarik (a bit of an oddball who was wildly unqualified and would not have been nominated if it wasn't for his amazing LNC debate performance)
9. David Bergland (should not have been the nominee; tanked compared to Clark)
10. Andre Marrou (worst LP campaign by far, I would not have voted for him in the general)

[Goldwater]

TFW Ron Paul is apparently one of the pragmatic ones.

[Kingpoleon]

After doing a bit more research:
1. Gary Johnson
2. Ed Clark
3. Roger MacBride
4. Andre Marrou
5. Harry Browne
6. Ron Paul
7. John Hospers
8. Bob Barr
9. Michael Badnarik
10. David Bergland

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

[1] Ron Paul: No single person has been such a powerful force for electorally advancing libertarianism and bringing into the “mainstream.” In fifty years or so, Paul will be remembered as the man single handedly responsible for transforming the Republican Party in the same way that Barry Goldwater is responsible for creating the groundworks for the Reagan style conservatism that the GOP until 2016 has embraced year after year.

[2] Gary Johnson: As for the Libertarian Party itself, Johnson, in particular his 2012 campaign, lent badly needed legitimacy to the party. That has been tarnished this year, not by Johnson (though his selection of Weld aggravated a bad situation) but by the committed party activists. Many of these people would prefer the party to be a private club than a political party, and that is why I personally registered with the GOP.

[3] Ed Clark: Most successful candidate in terms of percentage of the vote, though I think that if Libertarian activists had a problem with Johnson, they should’ve hated him considering he promoted the party’s ideology as “low tax” liberalism.

[4] John Hospers: His letters between Ayn Rand and himself are incredibly interesting and should be used more frequently in explaining that Objectivism is fundamentally not libertarianism, unless if you happen to be a snarky Atlas red avatar dick who doesn’t have any actual interest in learning the difference. Plus, he remains the only Libertarian to, you know, get an actual electoral vote…..

[5] Roger MacBride: He would have made an amazing Governor of Vermont had he won the 1964 GOP primary. He could have been Ron Paul before there was a Ron Paul, but alas, that faded away. Still, his decision to ditch Nixon/Agnew to vote for Hospers/Nathan thrusted a political party that was as relevant in 1972 as the Reform Party was in 2012 to suddenly become the nation’s biggest alternative party.

[6] Harry Browne: As a person, Browne ranks much higher than he does as a candidate. His candidacy was complicated by the engrained pettiness and purity of the Libertarian Party that snubbed him (the AZ party even nominated a separate candidate) and tore itself into numerous factions. Reading up on the internal struggles and near stagnation of the Libertarian Party post 1988, I’m amazed it lasted.

[7] David Bergland: A committed party activist and a decent placeholder. I don’t know much about him, besides seeing him appear at the 2012 convention on C-SPAN (a quick search showed that his only appearance on the network, active long before he ran for President, was indeed at that convention).

[8] Michael Badnarik: A complete weirdo. I don’t see how the party nominated him over their literal founder David Nolan at the 2004 convention. Besides Bergland, he’s probably the most boring nominee.

[9] Andre Marrou: Total scumbag from what I’ve read. The Wikipedia article alone paints him as a deadbeat dad, and I suspect that the words from older, active Libertarians will say even worse.

[10] Bob Barr: If I were a Libertarian, I’d usually support pragmatism over purity, but as Barr’s campaign and post 2008 activities show, he’s an asshat. Remember in 2008 when Ron Paul endorsed Barr, Baldwin, McKinney, and Nader? Barr refused to even show up at the last minute (delaying Paul’s televised speech-a rarity for him considering the media blackout in 2008 and to a lesser extent in 2012) and then angrily demanded that Paul solely endorse one candidate as it “hurt” the Libertarian movement. Paul, insulted by the pro-Iraq, pro-Patriot Act, philandering douche, promptly followed the unsolicited advice. He endorsed Chuck Baldwin, who I also would have voted for in that election.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Which are from the more pragmatic wing? I know Bob Barr freaked out my mother once on a plane and is a well known psychopath.

The members of Molly Hatchet once sexually harassed my mom on a plane....anywho, dish dish dish! I love to hate Bob Barr, and I could use a new reason.

[sparkey]

[8] Michael Badnarik: A complete weirdo. I don’t see how the party nominated him over their literal founder David Nolan at the 2004 convention. Besides Bergland, he’s probably the most boring nominee.

Badnarik didn't defeat David Nolan for the nomination, he defeated Gary Nolan, a radio talk show host and Browne's chosen successor. He also defeated Aaron Russo, a movie producer. Either Nolan or Russo would have been better than Badnarik in retrospect. Dat LNC debate performance tho.

[PPT Spiral]

[8] Michael Badnarik: A complete weirdo. I don’t see how the party nominated him over their literal founder David Nolan at the 2004 convention. Besides Bergland, he’s probably the most boring nominee.

Badnarik didn't defeat David Nolan for the nomination, he defeated Gary Nolan, a radio talk show host and Browne's chosen successor. He also defeated Aaron Russo, a movie producer. Either Nolan or Russo would have been better than Badnarik in retrospect. Dat LNC debate performance tho.

Gary Nolan hosts his radio show in my city these days. His 2004 bid was a scarring experience for him, to say the least.

[Kingpoleon]

Wasn't Gary David's son?

[LLR]

1. Ron Paul (a real person)
2. Gary Johnson (almost real)
3. John Hospers (got that faithless elector)
4. Roger MacBride
5. Ed Clark
6. Bob Barr
7. Harry Browne
8. Michael Badnarik
9. David Bergland
10. Andre Marrou

[sparkey]

Wasn't Gary David's son?

Nope, they're not related. They don't even look alike at all.

[sparkey]

This got me thinking: How would some of our more high-profile candidates who didn't get the nod have ranked? I'm thinking in particular of Russell Means, Mike Gravel, and John McAfee.

A lot of our candidates had a habit of trying to run for the LP nod too many cycles late. Russell Means, Mike Gravel, and John McAfee all were great candidates who ran too late. I mean, how cool would McAfee 2k have been? Instead, he ran when he was 70 after his Belize garbage. Similarly, Gravel ran when he was in his mid 70s, and Means ran an unsuccessful VP campaign for Larry Flynt in 1984 when he could have gotten the LP nod instead and been much more successful.

This would have been a great series of candidates since 1984:
84 Means instead of Bergland
88 Paul (good)
92 Gravel instead of Marrou
96 Browne (good enough)
00 McAfee instead of Browne 2.0
04 Nolan (shoulda been)
08 Barr (good enough)
12 Johnson (good)
16 Johnson (good)

[Kingpoleon]

Ed Clark would have done pretty well, IMO.