Opinion of the Libertarian Party

[Lambsbread]

Horrible Party.

As a Libertarian in philosophy, the idea of the Libertarian philosophy having a party is absolutely ridiculous. The party steals votes from candidates (mostly Republicans,) and hands elections to candidates who wouldn't necessarily win in a head-to-head match up. If Libertarians truly wanted to "fix" the system, they'd infiltrate the Republican and Democratic parties and have them change their platforms. But instead, they want to start their own club at the expense of true democracy. Don't get me wrong, I support their right to exist, but their existence, frankly, isn't necessary.

[Lambsbread]

They've done good things in Ohio, and presumably other states, when it comes to fighting legal battles in favor of increased ballot access for third parties.

I also find your opinion that they should just infiltrate the Republican Party and try to change it from within, instead of trying to build a separate institution, ridiculous and amusingly American. As if the Republicans have and must always exist and no party has a right to ever dethrone the two-party system. Such opinions are why our political system sucks.

If you honestly believe a third party will rise and challenge the two major parties any time soon, you should have your head checked cuz it ain't gonna happen.

[Lambsbread]

I'm inclined to agree that for third parties, it's better to infiltrate the two main parties and try to steer them in the direction you want them to go. To use an example, most, though not all, Libertarians at least were favorable to Ron Paul. Had the party made a full fledged effort to register its voters for the Republican primary, maybe he could have won Iowa and done better in New Hampshire. A stronger Paul candidacy in the Republican party would arguably do more for the cause of liberty(as Libertarians see it) then a third party Libertarian ticket, even one as relatively strong as Gary Johnson.

That being said, ether way Paul was unlikely to be successful, and what are Libertarians to do then when Romney ends up being the nominee?  Heck, what if Santorum had become the nominee, someone most Libertarians strongly dislike? If there was no third party alternative, those voters would be left with no option but to stay home or cast a vote for one of two options they find repugnant. So I think there's a role for third parties to play in serving as a sort of "non dirty" option. Some people just can't vote for someone whose not completely pro life, or completely non interventionist. I think they deserve an option they can support in good faith. So definitely freedom party.

Now, ideally though, I think the the Constitution party should infiltrate the Republicans, the Greens should infiltrate the Dems, and  the Libertarians should work with whichever party was more dominant on a local level. It seems to me that this sort of activism within the major parties is more likely to accomplish something then a third party campaign that counts itself as extremely successful if it can crack 5% of the vote in a statewide election. And if we look at some of the third party friendly candidates (such as Medina, Schiff, and the Pauls, for the Republicans, and that guy who ran against Graham for the dems) that ran in a major party's primary, they tend to get far more votes and raise more awareness for their cause then they would running a longshot third party campaign.  

Agreed in principle.

[Lambsbread]

Who said I was trying to "talk sh*t" on the potential rise of a third party? I was simply expressing my dislike of the Libertarian Party.

[Lambsbread]

My apologies for coming off strongly recently. I've been sleep deprived and angry and for some reason I took it out on the Libertarian Party. I don't dislike the Libertarian Party and I've been extremely arrogant in my past few posts. My deepest apologies.

[Lambsbread]

Yeah now that I've slept a bit even I can't make sense out of the OP of this thread

[Lambsbread]

No that's the Green Party. Libertarians help Democrats.

^^^^

left wing minor party candidates hurt left wing major parties and right wing minor party candidates hurt right wing major parties.